Image: Prince performs at the Hop Farm Festival near Paddock Wood, southern England July 3, 2011. REUTERS/Olivia Harris
By Dan Whitcomb and Alex Dobuzinskis
(Reuters) – Music superstar Prince died on Thursday at the complex that housed his recording studio and home in a Minneapolis suburb at the age 57. His death stunned a music world heavily influenced by his string of top-selling hits, gifted songwriting and dynamic stage performances.
Here is a look at his legacy:
‘PURPLE RAIN’
Prince’s best-selling album was released in 1984 to accompany the semi-autobiographical film of the same name, which starred him as an up-and-coming singer known as “The Kid” trying to make his mark in the Minneapolis music scene. He earned an Academy Award for best original song score.
The album of the same name spent a total of 24 straight weeks atop the Billboard chart and ranks as one of the top 40 albums of all time in U.S. sales, with sales of 13 million units, according to the Recording Industry Association of America.
In addition to the title track, which reached No. 2 on the U.S. charts, the album spun off other hit’singles: “When Doves Cry,” which went to No. 1 in the United States, “Let’s Go Crazy” and “I Would Die 4 U”.
Prince, who wrote or co-wrote every song on the album, won two Grammy Awards for the release.
‘1999’
Released two years before “Purple Rain,” “1999” was Prince’s breakthrough album and the first to feature his backing band at the time, the Revolution. Also considered deeply influential, “1999” sold more than 4 million copies in the United States and spawned the hit’singles “Little Red Corvette” and the title track.
‘PARADE’
The final album Prince made with the Revolution served as the soundtrack to the 1986 film “Under the Cherry Moon” – which Prince directed and acted in – and was hailed by critics as one of the best releases of that year. It featured one of his biggest hits, “Kiss”.
SALES
Prince has sold more than 36 million albums in the United States during his career, according to the Recording Industry Association of America.
AWARDS
Prince won seven Grammy Awards and was nominated 37 times. His wins included best soundtrack album for his 1984 “Purple Rain” and best R&B vocal performance by a man for the song “Future Baby Mama” from his 2007 album “Planet Earth.”
The movie “Purple Rain” also won an Oscar for Best Original Song Score.
(This version of the story has been refiled to remove extraneous words in first paragraph)
(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis and Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)
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