Controversy Era

Dirty Mind

Prince gained critical acclaim with his 1980 release of Dirty Mind, again entirely self-recorded and released using the demos of the songs. Dirty Mind is particularly notable for its sexually explicit material, in particular the title track, Head, and controversial Sister. During this period, Prince began to attract attention for the clothes he wore on-stage: high-heeled shoes, boots and black bikini briefs and tended to flaunt and express an intense sexuality on-stage. On tour, Lisa Coleman replaced keyboardist Gayle Chapman in the band, who felt the sexually explicit lyrics and stage antics of Prince's concerts conflicted with her religious beliefs.

His stylistic choices brought him trouble as an opening act for The Rolling Stones' for two Los Angeles Coliseum shows in 1981, where he was infamously pelted with garbage while wearing bikini briefs, leg warmers, high-heeled boots, and a trench coat, eventually booed off the stage for his wardrobe and androgynous lyrics. These shows occurred just before the release of Controversy and also when he was breaking in his new bassist Mark Brown (later Brown Mark), who was then just 18 and out of high school.

Controversy

Soon after he released the album Controversy, with the single of the same name charting internationally for the first time. In February 1981, Prince made his first appearance on Saturday Night Live performing Partyup. Starting with the album Controversy, Prince used Controversy Music[8] – ASCAP for publishing his songs, which he would use for his following sixteen records until Emancipation in 1996.

In 1981, Prince formed a "side project" (a misnomer label, given that his band was only used for performances and contributed little to recording sessions) band called The Time. Prince was able to do this thanks to a clause in his contract with Warner Bros. The Time released four albums between 1981 and 1990, with Prince writing and performing all instruments and backing vocals throughout, with the lead vocals handled by Morris Day.

1999

In 1982, he released the 1999 double-album (released in some countries as a single-album) which "broke" Prince into the mainstream in the US and internationally, selling over three million copies. The title track was a protest against nuclear proliferation and became his first top ten hit internationally.
With his video for Little Red Corvette he joined Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie as part of the first wave of African American artists on MTV. The song Delirious also went top ten on the Billboard Hot 100. The album was placed at number six in The Village Voice's annual Pazz & Jop critics poll for 1983. Around this time Prince began crediting his band as The Revolution, which consisted of Dez Dickerson on guitar, Lisa Coleman and Dr. Fink on keyboards, Bobby Z. on drums, and Brown Mark on bass.

The band's name was printed in reverse on the cover of 1999; however Prince refrained using the name "The Revolution" until Dickerson left the band due to religious reasons, while in the 2003 book Possessed: The Rise and Fall of Prince, Alex Hahn states that Prince wanted Dickerson to commit to a new three year contract with the group, but Dickerson refused and struck out on his own. Dickerson was replaced by Wendy Melvoin, a childhood friend of Lisa. The band members were known for being solid musicians and a strong live act, but their talents would be used sparsely in the studio. Their presence in Prince's recordings, however, would increase through the mid-1980s.

The Revolution

Purple Rain

Prince's 1984 album, Purple Rain (concurrent with the film of the same name) sold more than thirteen million copies in the US and spent twenty-four consecutive weeks at #1 on the Billboard 200. The Academy Award-winning film grossed more than $80 million in the US alone, and has proved to be Prince's biggest cinematic success to date.

Two songs from Purple Rain, When Doves Cry and Let's Go Crazy, topped the US pop singles chart and were hits around the world, while the title track reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. Prince simultaneously held the spots #1 film, #1 single, and #1 album in the US. He won the Academy Award for Best Original Song Score for Purple Rain", and the album ranks at 72 in the top 100 of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list; the album is also listed in The All-TIME 100 Albums of TIME Magazine.

It was the album's song Darling Nikki that Tipper Gore overheard her twelve-year-old daughter, Karenna, listening that inspired her to found the Parents Music Resource Center. The center has advocated the mandatory use of a warning label ("Parental Advisory: Explicit Lyrics") on the covers of records that have been judged to contain language or lyrical content unsuitable for minors. The recording industry voluntarily complied with their request in response to the Senate hearings.

Around The World In A Day

In 1985, after the successful Purple Rain Tour, Prince announced that he would discontinue both live performances and music videos after the release of Around The World In A Day, which held the #1 spot on the Billboard 200 for three weeks. Prince's ban on music videos supposedly ended when the album stalled in the charts and, after a video for Raspberry Beret, then reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100.

Parade

Prince released the album Parade in 1986. The album hit #3 on the Billboard 200 and #2 on the R&B charts. The first single, Kiss, would top the Billboard Hot 100. The song was originally written for another Prince side project, Mazarati. At the same time, another song originally written for Apollonia 6, Manic Monday by The Bangles, reached #2 on the Hot 100. Parade served as the soundtrack for Prince's second film Under the Cherry Moon.

Prince both directed and starred in the movie, that also featured Kristen Scott Thomas as his love interest, Mary Sharon, in her first feature film role. Following the film and album release, Prince returned to touring with several scattered Hit N Run shows in the U.S. and embarked on his first full scale European tour, the Parade Tour in the summer of 1986, and ending the tour in September with his first appearance in Japan.

At the end of the Hit N Run - Parade Tour, Prince disbanded The Revolution, as he let go Wendy and Coleman|Lisa, replaced Bobby Z. with Sheila E., and Brown Mark quit, having wanted to leave before the Parade Tour. All that remained of the original line-up was keyboardist Matt Fink. Brought in to replace them were Miko Weaver on guitar, Atlanta Bliss on trumpet, Eric Leeds on saxophone, (all of whom had joined the expanded "Counter-Revolution" line-up on the Parade Tour) Boni Boyer on keyboards, Levi Seacer, Jr. on bass, as well as dancer and love interest, Cat Glover.

Prince also appeared on Madonna's studio album Like a Prayer, co-writing and singing the duet Love Song and playing electric guitar (uncredited) on "Like a Prayer", "Keep It Together", and "Act of Contrition".

Solo Again

Sign O' The Times

Prior to the disbanding of The Revolution, Prince was working on two separate projects. The Revolution album, Dream Factory and a solo effort, Camille. Unlike the three previous band albums, Dream Factory included significant input from the band members and even featured a number of songs with lead vocals by Wendy and Lisa, while the Camille project saw Prince create a new persona primarily singing in a sped up, female-sounding voice. With the dismissal of The Revolution, Prince consolidated material from both shelved albums, along with some new songs, into a three-LP album to be titled Crystal Ball. However, with the low sales of his previous two albums, Warner forced Prince to make the release a double album and Sign O' The Times was released on March 31, 1987.

The album peaked at #6 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. The first single, Sign O' The Times, would chart at #3 on the Hot 100. The follow-up single, If I Was Your Girlfriend charted poorly at #67 on the Hot 100, but went to #12 on R&B chart. The third single, a duet with Sheena Easton, U Got The Look charted at #2 on the Hot 100, #11 on the R&B chart, and the final single I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man finished at #10 on Hot 100 and #14 on the R&B chart.

Despite the album receiving the greatest critical acclaim of any album in Prince's career, including being named the top album of the year by the Pazz & Jop critics' poll, album sales steadily declined, although it eventually sold 3.2 million copies. In Europe however, it performed well and Prince promoted the album overseas with a lengthy tour. Putting together a new backing band from the remnants of The Revolution, Prince added bassist Levi Seacer, Jr., Boni Boyer on keyboards, and dancer/choreographer Cat Glover to go with new drummer Sheila E. and holdovers Miko Weaver, Dr. Fink, Eric Leeds, Atlanta Bliss, and 'the Bodyguards' (Jerome Benton, Wally Safford, and Greg Brooks) for the Sign O' The Times Tour.

The tour was a huge success overseas with Warner and Prince's managers wanting to bring it to the U.S. to resuscitate sagging sales of Sign O' The Times, however Prince balked at a full U.S. tour, as he was ready to produce a new album. A compromise was made where he filmed the last two nights of the tour to be released in movie theaters as a concert film. Unfortunately, the film quality was deemed sub-par and reshoots were performed at his Paisley Park studios. The film Sign O' The Times was released on November 20, 1987. Much like the album, the film was critically praised, (at least more than the previous year's Under The Cherry Moon) however its box office receipts were minimal and it quickly left theaters.

Lovesexy

The next album intended for release was to be The Black Album. More instrumental and funk and R&B themed than recent releases, The Black Album also saw Prince experiment with rap on the songs Bob George and Dead On It. Prince was set to release the album with a complete monochromatic black cover with only the catalog number printed, but at the last minute, even though 500,000 copies had been pressed, Prince had a spiritual epiphany that the album was evil and had the album recalled. (Although it would later be released by Warner Bros. as a limited edition album in 1994.) Prince went back in the studio for eight weeks and recorded Lovesexy.

Released on May 10, 1988, Lovesexy serves as a spiritual opposite to the dark The Black Album. Every song is a solo effort by Prince, with exception of No which was recorded with his backing band at the time, dubbed the "Lovesexy Band" by fans. Lovesexy would reach #11 on the Billboard 200 and #5 on the R&B albums chart. The lead single, Alphabet St., peaked at #8 on the Hot 100 and #3 on the R&B chart, but finished with only selling 750,000 copies.

Prince again took his post-Revolution backing band (minus 'the Bodyguards') on a three leg, 84 show Lovesexy Tour, that although, it played to huge crowds and were well received shows, financially lost money due to the expensive sets and props incorporated.

Batman

In 1989, Prince began work on a number of musical projects, including Rave Unto the Joy Fantastic and early drafts of his Graffiti Bridge film, but both were put on hold when he was asked by Batman director Tim Burton to record several songs for the upcoming live-action adaptation. Prince went into the studio and produced an entire 9-track album that Warner released on June 20, 1989. Batman peaked at #1 on the Billboard 200, selling 4.4 million copies.

The single Batdance topped the Billboard and R&B charts. Additionally, the singles Partyman (also featuring the vocals of Prince's then girlfriend, nicknamed Anna Fantastic) charted at #18 on the Hot 100 and at #5 on the R&B chart, while the love ballad Scandalous went to #5 on the R&B chart. However, he did have to sign away all publishing rights to the songs on the album to Warner Bros. as part of the deal to do the soundtrack.

NPG & Name Change

Graffiti Bridge

In 1990, Prince went back on tour with a revamped band for his stripped down, back-to-basics Nude Tour. With the departures of Boni Boyer, Sheila E., the horns, and Cat, Prince brought in Rosie Gaines on keys, drummer Michael B, and dancing trio, The Game Boyz, Tony M., Kirk Johnson, and Damon Dickson. The European and Japanese tour was a financial success with its short, greatest hits setlist.

As the year progressed, Prince finished production on his fourth film, Graffiti Bridge and the album of the same name. Initially, Warner Bros. was reluctant to fund the film, however with Prince's assurances it would be a sequel to Purple Rain as well as the involvement of the original members of The Time, the studio green-lit the project. Released on August 20, 1990, the album reached #6 on the Billboard 200 and R&B albums chart. The single Thieves In The Temple reaching #6 on the Hot 100 and #1 on the R&B chart.

The film, released on November 20, 1990, was a critical and box office flop, grossing just $4.2 million. After the release of the film and album the last remaining members of The Revolution, Miko Weaver and Dr. Fink left Prince's band.

Diamonds And Pearls

1991 marked the debut of Prince's new band, the The New Power Generation. The name come from a concept developed into his previous album, through the number New Power Generation. With guitarist Miko Weaver and long-time keyboardist Doctor Fink gone, Prince added bass player Sonny T., Tommy Barbarella on keyboards, and a brass section known as the Hornheadz to go along with Levi Seacer, Jr. (taking over on guitar), Rosie Gaines, Michael Bland, and Game Boyz.

With significant input from his band members, Diamonds And Pearls was released on October 1, 1991. Reaching #3 on the Billboard 200 Diamonds And Pearls saw the singles Gett Off chart at #21 on the Hot 100 and #6 on the R&B charts while Cream gave Prince his fifth US number one single.

1992 saw Prince and The New Power Generation release his twelfth album titled with an unpronounceable symbol: (later copyrighted as Love Symbol #2). would peak at #5 on the Billboard 200. While the label wanted 7 to be the first single, Prince fought to have My Name Is Prince as he "felt that the song's more hip-hoppery would appeal to the same audience" that had purchased the previous album.

Prince got his way but My Name Is Prince only managed to reach #36 on Billboard Hot 100 and #23 on the R&B chart. The follow-up single Sexy M.F. fared worse, charting at #66 on the Hot 100 and #76 on the R&B chart. The label's preferred lead single choice 7 would be the album's lone top ten hit reaching #7. would go on to sell 2.8 million copies worldwide.

The Hits / The B-Sides

After two failed attempts in 1990 and 1991, Warner Bros. finally released a greatest hits compilation with the three-disc The Hits / The B-Sides in 1993. The first two discs were also sold separately as The Hits 1 and The Hits 2.

In addition to featuring the majority of Prince's hit singles (with the exception of Batdance and other songs that appeared on the Batman soundtrack), The Hits / The B-Sides includes an array of previously hard-to-find recordings, notably B-sides spanning the majority of Prince's career, as well as a handful of previously unreleased tracks such as The Revolution-recorded Power Fantastic and a live recording of Nothing Compares 2 U with Rosie Gaines. Two new songs, Pink Cashmere and Peach, were chosen as promotional singles to accompany the compilation album.

1993 also marked the year in which Prince changed his stage name , which is a combination of the symbols for male (♂) and female (♀). Because the symbol was and is unpronounceable, he was often referred to as "Symbol", "The Artist Formerly Known as Prince", or simply "The Artist".

Increased Output

The Black Album

In 1994, Prince's attitude towards his artistic output underwent a notable shift. He began to view releasing albums in quick succession as a means of ejecting himself from his contractual obligations to Warner Bros. The label, he believed, was intent on limiting his artistic freedom by insisting that he release albums more sporadically. He also blamed Warner Bros. for the poor commercial performance of the album, claiming that it was insufficiently marketed by Warner. It was out of these developments that the aborted Black Album was officially released, approximately seven years after its initial recording and near-release.

The "new" release, which was already in wide circulation as a bootleg, sold relatively poorly.

Come

Following that disappointing venture, Warner Bros. succumbed to Prince's wishes to release an album of new material, to be entitled Come. When Come was eventually released, it confirmed all of Warner's fears. It became Prince's poorest-selling album to date, struggling to even shift 500,000 copies. Even more frustrating was the fact that Prince insisted on crediting the album to "Prince 1958–1993".

The Gold Experience

Prince pushed to have his next album The Gold Experience released simultaneously with -era material. Warner Bros. allowed the single The Most Beautiful Girl In The World to be released via a small, independent distributor, Bellmark Records, in February 1994. The release was successful, reaching #1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and #1 in many other countries, but it would not prove to be a model for subsequent releases. Warner Bros. still resisted releasing The Gold Experience, fearing poor sales and citing "market saturation" as a defense.

When eventually released in September 1995, The Gold Experience failed to sell well, although it reached the top 10 of the Billboard 200 initially, and many reviewed it as Prince's best effort since Sign O' The Times. The album is now out-of-print.

Chaos And Disorder

Chaos And Disorder, released in 1996, was Prince's final album of new material for Warner Bros. as well as one of his least commercially successful releases.

Free at last

Emancipation

Prince attempted a major comeback later that year when, free of any further contractual obligations to Warner Bros. he released Emancipation. The album was released via his own NPG Records with distribution through EMI. To publish his songs on Emancipation, Prince did not use Controversy Music – ASCAP, which he had used for all his records since 1981, but rather used Emancipated Music Inc. – ASCAP.

While certified Platinum by the RIAA, some critics felt that the sprawling 36-song, 3-CD set (each disc was exactly 60 minutes long) lacked focus, and might have worked better as a single or double disc set. Emancipation is the first record featuring covers by Prince of songs of other artists: Joan Osborne's top ten hit song of 1995 One Of Us; Betcha By Golly Wow! (written by Thomas Randolf Bell and Linda Creed);  Can't Make U Love Me (written by James Allen Shamblin II and Michael Barry Reid); and La, La, La Means  Love U, originally La-La Means I Love You (written by Thomas Randolf Bell and William Hart).

Crystall Ball

Prince released Crystal Ball a 5-CD collection of unreleased material, in 1998. The distribution of this album was disorderly, with some fans pre-ordering the album on his website up to a year before it was eventually shipped to them, and months after the record had gone on sale in retail stores. The retail edition has only four discs, as it is missing the Kamasutra disk. There are also two different packaging editions for retail, one being in a 4-disc sized jewel case with a simplistic white cover and the -symbol in a colored circle; the other is all four discs in a round translucent snap jewel case. The discs are the same, as is the CD jacket.

Newpower Soul

The Newpower Soul album released three months later failed to make much of an impression on the charts. His collaboration on Chaka Khan's Come 2 My House, and Larry Graham's GCS2000, both released on the NPG Records label around the same time as Newpower Soul met with the same fate, despite heavy promotion and live appearances on Vibe with Sinbad, and the NBC Today show's Summer Concert Series.

Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic

In 1999, Prince once again signed with a major label Arista Records to release a new record, Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic. In an attempt to make his new album a success, Prince easily gave more interviews than at any other point in his career, appearing on MTV's TRL (with his album cover on the front of the Virgin Megastore, in the background on TRL throughout the whole show), Larry King Live (with Larry Graham) and other media outlets. Nevertheless, Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic failed to perform well commercially.

The Vault... Old Friends 4 Sale

A few months earlier, Warner Bros. had also released The Vault... Old Friends 4 Sale, a collection of unreleased material recorded by Prince throughout his career, and his final recording commitment on his contract with Warner Bros.

The greatest success he had during the year was with the EP 1999: The New Master, released in time for Prince to collect a small portion of the sales dollars Warner Bros. had been seeing for the album and singles of the original 1999. Both critics and fans panned 1999: The New Master, declaring it unimaginative.

The pay-per-view concert, Rave Un2 the Year 2000, was broadcast on 31 December 1999 and consisted of footage from the 17 December and 18 December concerts of his 1999 tour. The concert featured appearances by many guest musicians including Lenny Kravitz, George Clinton, and The Time. It was released to home video the following year. A remix album, Rave In2 The Joy Fantastic (as opposed to "Un2") was released exclusively through Prince's NPG Music Club in April 2000.

Turnaround

On 16 May 2000, Prince ceased using the moniker and returned to using "Prince" again, after his publishing contract with Warner/Chappell expired. In a press conference, he stated that, after being freed from undesirable relationships associated with the name "Prince", he would formally revert to using his real name. Prince still frequently uses the symbol as a logo and on album artwork and continues to play a -shaped guitar.

The Rainbow Children

For several years following the release of Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic, Prince primarily released new music through his Internet subscription service, NPGOnlineLtd.com (later NPGMusicClub.com). Two albums that show substantive jazz influence were available commercially at record stores: 2001's The Rainbow Children and, later, the 2003 instrumental record N.E.W.S. which was nominated for a Best Pop Instrumental Album Grammy. Another album of largely jazz-influenced music, Xpectation, was released via download in 2003 to members of the NPG Music Club.

One Nite Alone...

To be completed

One Nite Alone... Live!

In 2002, Prince released his first live album, One Nite Alone... Live!, which features performances from the One Nite Alone tour. The 3-CD box set, which also includes a disc of "aftershow" music entitled One Nite Alone... The Aftershow: It Ain't Over!, failed to chart. During this time, Prince sought to engage more effectively with his fan base via the NPG Music Club, pre-concert sound checks, and at yearly "celebrations" at Paisley Park, his music studios.

Fans were invited into the studio for tours, interviews, discussions and music-listening sessions. Some of these fan discussions were filmed for an unreleased documentary, directed by Kevin Smith. Smith discusses what happened during those days at length in his An Evening with Kevin Smith DVD. Performances were also arranged to showcase Prince's talents, as well as to collaborate with popular and well-established artists and guests including Alicia Keys, The Time, Erykah Badu, Nikka Costa, George Clinton, Norah Jones.

N.E.W.S.

To be completed

Xpectation

To be completed

Musicology

On 8 February 2004, Prince appeared at the Grammy Awards with Beyoncé Knowles. In a performance that opened the show, Prince and Knowles performed a medley of Purple Rain, Let's Go Crazy, Baby I'm A Star, and Knowles' "Crazy in Love" to positive reviews (video). The following month, Prince was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The award was presented to him by Alicia Keys along with Big Boi and André 3000 of OutKast. As well as performing a trio of his own hits during the ceremony, Prince also participated in a tribute to fellow inductee George Harrison in a rendition of the deceased artist's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", playing a long guitar solo that ended the song (video).

On 19 February, The Tavis Smiley Show broadcast included a performance of Reflection from Prince's Musicology album. Prince was accompanied by Wendy Melvoin, formerly of The Revolution.

In April 2004, Prince released Musicology through a one-album agreement with Columbia Records. The album rose as high as the top five on a number of international charts (including the United States, United Kingdom, Germany and Australia). The US chart success was assisted by the CD being included as part of the concert ticket purchase, and each CD thereby qualifying (as chart rules then stood) towards US chart placement.

That same year, Pollstar named Prince the top concert draw among musicians in USA. Grossing an estimated $87.4 million, Prince's Musicology Tour was the most profitable tour in the music industry for 2004. The artist played an impressive run of 96 concerts; the average ticket price for a show was US$61. Further highlighting the success of the album, Prince's Musicology went on to receive two Grammy wins, for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for Call My Name and Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance for the title track.

Musicology was also nominated for Best R&B Song, Best R&B Album, while Cinnamon Girl was nominated for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. The album became the artist's most commercially successful since Diamonds And Pearls, partly due to a radical scheme devised which included in Billboard's sales figures those that were distributed to each customer during ticket sales for the Musicology Tour.

Prince was ranked 7th Greatest Artist of All Time in Acclaimed Music's list of The 1000 Greatest Artist of All Time. In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Prince #28 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. In December 2004, Prince was ranked #5 on the Top Pop Artists of the Past 25 Years list by [www.rockonthenet.com]. He was the highest-ranked male performer on the list.

In April 2005, Prince played guitar (along with En Vogue singing backing vocals) on Stevie Wonder's single "So What the Fuss", Wonder's first since 1999.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, which devastated the city of New Orleans on 29 August 2005, Prince offered a personal response by recording two new songs, S.S.T. and the instrumental Brand New Orleans, at Paisley Park in the early hours of 2 September. Prince again performed all instrumental and vocal parts. These recordings were quickly dispersed to the public via Prince's NPG Music Club, and S.S.T. was later picked up by iTunes, where it reached #1 on the store's R&B chart. On 25 October, Sony Records released a version of the single on CD.

Move To Universal

3121

In late 2005 Prince signed with Universal Records to release his album, 3121, on 21 March 2006, (3/21). The first single was the Latin-tinged Te Amo Corazón, the video for which was directed by actress Salma Hayek and filmed in Marrakech, Morocco, featuring Argentine actress and singer Mía Maestro. The song was covered by Viktoria Tolstoy on her album Pictures of Me, along with another Prince song, Strollin'. The video for the second single, Black Sweat, was nominated at the MTV VMAs for Best Cinematography. The immediate success of 3121 gave Prince his first #1 debut on the Billboard 200 with the album.

To promote the new album, Prince was the musical guest on Saturday Night Live on February 4, 2006, seventeen years after his last SNL appearance. He performed two songs from the album, Fury and Beautiful, Loved And Blessed, with Tamar Davis. Prince also held a contest to win a trip to see a 'Purple Ticket Concert' at his private residence in Hollywood, California. Seven winning tickets were placed inside 3121 CD packages in the US, and other tickets were given away in various contests on the internet and around the world. On 6 May 2006, twenty-four prize winners (with a guest each) attended a star-studded private party and performance at Prince's home.

On June 12, 2006, Prince received a Webby Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his "visionary" use of the Internet; Prince was the first major artist to release an entire album, 1997's Crystal Ball, exclusively on the internet. A few weeks after winning the award, Prince abruptly shut down his official NPG Music Club website at 12:00 AM on July 4, 2006 after over five years of operation. The NPG Music Club sent out an email, claiming that: "In its current 4m there is a feeling that the NPG Music Club gone as far as it can go. In a world without limitations and infinite possibilities, has the time come 2 once again make a leap of faith and begin anew? These r ?s we in The NPG need 2 answer. In doing so, we have decided 2 put the club on hiatus until further notice."

On the day of the music club's shutdown, a lawsuit was filed against Prince by the British company HM Publishing (owners of the Nature Publishing Group, also NPG). Despite these events occurring on the same day, Prince's attorney has called it pure coincidence and stated that the site did not close due to the trademark dispute.

Prince appeared at multiple award ceremonies in 2006. On February 15, 2006, Prince performed at the BRIT Awards along with Wendy and Lisa and Sheila E. He played Te Amo Corazón and Fury from 3121 and Purple Rain and Let's Go Crazy from Purple Rain. On June 27, 2006, Prince appeared at the BET Awards, where he was awarded Best Male R&B Artist.

In addition to receiving his award, Prince performed a medley of Chaka Khan songs for Khan's BET Lifetime Award. Prince had previously written and performed several songs with the singer. In November 2006, Prince was inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame, appearing to collect his award but not performing. Also in November 2006, Prince opened a nightclub named 3121 in Las Vegas at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino. He performed weekly on Friday and Saturday nights until April 2007 His contract with the Rio ended.

Ultimate

On August 22, 2006, Warner Bros. Records released Ultimate, a compilation of remastered material. The double disc set contains one CD of previous hits, and another of extended versions and mixes of material that had largely only previously been available on vinyl record B-sides.

Prince wrote and performed a song for the hit 2006 animated film "Happy Feet". The song, entitled The Song Of The Heart, appears on the film's soundtrack, which also features a cover of Prince's 1986 hit Kiss, sung by Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman. In January 2007, "Song of the Heart" won a Golden Globe for Best Original Song. Prince arrived late supposedly due to traffic problems and thus was unable to make an acceptance speech, but actor Hugh Grant prompted him later in the ceremony to take a bow.

21 Nights

On February 2, 2007, Prince played at the Super Bowl XLI press conference. He and the band played a set comprising of Chuck Berry's hit, Johnny B. Goode", Anotherloverholenyohead from Parade and Get On The Boat from 3121. Prince performed at the Super Bowl XLI halftime show in Miami, Florida on February 4, 2007. The performance consisted of three Purple Rain tracks (Let's Go Crazy, Baby I'm A Star and the title track), along with cover versions of "We Will Rock You" by Queen, "All Along the Watchtower" by Bob Dylan, the Foo Fighters song "Best Of You" and "Proud Mary" by Creedence Clearwater Revival. Coincidentally, Miami had rain on the day of the Super Bowl, which was lit purple during the performance of Purple Rain. He played on a large stage shaped as his famous symbol. The event was carried to 140 million television viewers, the largest audience of his life.

Prince announced that he would play 21 concerts in London over the summer of 2007. The 21 Nights In London : The Earth Tour included 21 nights at the 20,000 capacity O² Arena. Tickets for the O² Arena were priced at £31.21 (including a free copy of Prince's latest album), in order to make the concerts "affordable for everybody". The residency at the O² Arena was increased to 15 nights after all 140,000 tickets for the original seven sold out in just 20 minutes. It was then further extended to 21 nights.

On 10 May, 2007, Prince performed a 'secret' gig at London's Koko in front of a small crowd (between) fans and celebrities. Tickets went on sale that morning on a first-come-first-served basis (again at £31.21). A prelude to the forthcoming summer gigs in London, Prince played a relaxed set of classic hits including "Kiss (changing the lyric from "You don't have to watch Dynasty" to "Desperate Housewives"), Girls & Boys and Nothing Compares 2 U alongside more recent tracks, plus a well-received cover version of Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy".

Prince made an appearance at the 2007 ALMA Awards, performing with Sheila E. in June 2007.

Planet Earth

On 28 June, 2007, the UK national newspaper The Mail on Sunday revealed that it had made a deal to give Prince's new album, Planet Earth, away for free with an "imminent" edition of the paper, making it the first place in the world to get the album. This move sparked controversy among music distributors and also led the UK arm of Prince's distributor, Sony BMG, to withdraw from distributing the album in UK stores. The UK's largest high street music retailer, HMV decided to stock the paper on release day due to the giveaway.

On 7 July, 2007 Prince returned to his hometown of Minneapolis to perform three shows in what was unofficially declared Prince Day in Minnesota. He performed concerts at the Macy's Auditorium on Nicollet Mall, the Target Center and First Avenue.

Prince at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 2007. To be developped.

On 25 April, 2008, Prince performed on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, where he debuted a new song, "Turn Me Loose". Days after, he headlined the Coachella Festival 2008.

Indigo Nights

In October 2008 Prince released a live album entitled Indigo Nights, as well as 21 Nights, an accompanying book of poems, lyrics and photos. The book chronicled his record-breaking tenure at London's O² Arena in 2007, while the album is a collection of songs performed live at aftershows in the IndigO².

LotusFlow3r

On 18 December, 2008, Prince premiered 4 songs from his new album on LA's Indie 103 radio show, comprising a cover of Crimson And Clover by Tommy James and the Shondells, together with Colonized Mind, Wall Of Berlin and 4ever. The same day, another new Prince composition entitled (There'll Never B) Another Like Me premiered on the website, www.mplsound.com - replacing a shorter, instrumental version of the song which streamed several days previously. In a subsequent interview with the Los Angeles Times, Prince announced his intention to release three separate albums in 2009: LotusFlow3r, MPLSound, and an album, credited to the new protege, Bria Valente, called Elixer.

On 3 January, 2009, a new website (http://www.lotusflow3r.com) was launched, streaming some of the recently-aired material (Crimson And Clover, (There'll Never B) Another Like Me and Here Eye Come) and promising opportunities to listen to and buy music by Prince and guests, watch videos and buy concert tickets for future events. Prince recently released 3 more songs on his new website: Chocolate Box, Colonized Mind, and All This Love.

On 31 January, 2009, Prince launched more music on the Lotusflow3r website, releasing two new songs: Disco Jellyfish, and Another Boy by Bria Valente.

Prince set a new standard for his live performances on March 28th 2009, in Los Angeles, playing 3 concert within a single day at 3 different venues. He revised the idea later in the year with the "2 in 1" night formula, a concept he previewed in Montreux, on July 18th: 2 concerts the same night in the same venue. He refined it a month later on August 13th in Monaco, finding in Salle Garnier a venue of exception. After seeing a fashion show in Le Grand Palais, in Paris, Prince revamped "2 in 1" into "All Day, All Night" and performed 2 consecutives concerts on October 11th 2009.

Prince closed the decade with a one-off concert in his hometown, on October 24th, 2009.

A newly written song, Purple And Gold, was made available to stream on www.vikings.com from 21 January, 2010 as a "fight-song" to support the Minnesota Vikings (football team) in the NFL playoffs.

The following month, Prince let Minneapolis-area public radio station 89.3 The Current premiere his new song Cause And Effect as a gesture in support of independent radio.

In a poll by BBC 6 Music listeners in April 2010, Prince was ranked the eighth-best guitarist of the previous 30 years.

Prince released a new single on Minneapolis radio station 89.3 The Current called "Hot Summer" on June 7, his 52nd birthday. Also in June, Prince appeared on the cover of the July 2010 issue of Ebony and he received a "Lifetime Achievement Award" at the 2010 BET Awards.

Rejection of the Internet and touring.

20Ten

Prince released his album 20Ten in July 2010 as a free covermount with publications in the UK, Belgium, Germany, and France. Prince has refused access to the album to digital download services. He also closed his official website, LotusFlow3r.com. In an interview with the Daily Mirror, Prince said: "The Internet's completely over. I don't see why I should give my new music to iTunes or anyone else. They won't pay me an advance for it and then they get angry when they can't get it... Anyway, all these computers and digital gadgets are no good. They just fill your head with numbers and that can't be good for you."

On July 4, 2010 Prince began his 20TEN Tour, a summer concert tour in Europe. The second leg, named Prince Live 2010 began on October 15 and ended with a concert following the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on November 14. Prince Live 2010 feature a new NPG line-up including John Blackwell on drums to replace Cora Coleman-Dunham, Ida Kristine Nielsen on bass instead of Josh Dunham, and Sheila E. on percussions.

Welcome 2 America Tour

On 8 October, 2010, french radio station Europe 1 debut the clip of a new song, Rich Friends, from 20Ten Deluxe (thought to be a deluxe edition of 20Ten that never materialized). The track, a previously-unreleased song, was streamed in full (with three station IDs overdubbed onto the track) on KTU.com (the website of New York, NY, USA, radio station 103.5 KTU), beginning on 14 October, 2010.

A live recording of Stratus, a cover version of the 1973 Billy Cobham track, was streamed on Drfunkenberry.com, beginning on 2 November, 2010. The recording, taken from 22 October, 2010, MCH MultiArena / Jyske Bank Boxen, Herning, Denmark, is the first available recording to feature new bass guitarist Ida Nielsen.

Prince was inducted in the Grammy Hall of Fame on December 7, 2010.

On 13 December, 2010, KTU.com released an audio podcast of Prince's appearance the same day on New York, NY, USA, radio station 103.5 KTU, giving a brief interview about the upcoming Welcome 2 America Tour, due to start 2 days after, on December 15, 2010. This is believed to be the first authorized podcast of a Prince interview.

Prince took the opportunity of the Welcome 2 America Tour to preview new songs: Black Muse, sung by Shelby J., Liv Warfield & Elisa Dease while Prince was offstage, was played during the first Welcome 2 America Tour show, 15 December, 2010., Welcome 2 America was premiered on 18 December, 2010, and lyrics from the track have been included a few times in performances of Dreamer since then. The lyrics of Gingerbread Man have been sung over the backing music of The Question Of U/The One a few times, beginning 29 December, 2010.

On February 12, 2011, Prince presented Barbra Streisand with an award and donated $1.5 million to charities. On the same day, it was reported that he was unimpressed about Glee covering his hit "Kiss", and that he had not authorized this.

A digital album titled The Best Of Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame + Museum Live was released on 15 March, 2011, including Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne, Steve Winwood, Dhani Harrison and Prince's live version of While My Guitar Gently Weeps, marking its first audio release (the song was previously released on DVD).

94 East released a digital collection of The Cookhouse Five sessions on 5 April, 2011. This set includes If We Don't, If You See Me, I'll Always Love You, Games and Better Than You Think, featuring Prince as a musician, to mark the 35th anniversary of their recording (although the tracks were recorded in 1975). The tracks are remixed by Matt "Dr." Fink.

Welcome 2 America Euro 2011 Tour

On May 18, 2011, it was announced that Prince would be headlining Hop Farm Festival on July 3, 2011, marking his first UK show since 2007 and his first ever UK festival appearance.

Like he did during the Welcome 2 America Tour, Prince previewed new songs during the Welcome 2 America Euro 2011 Tour: We Live (2 Get Funky), was performed on the French TV show Le Grand Journal, broadcast live on TV and online (although the song was first played live three days earlier, 24 June, 2011) and he sang lyrics to a new song, Only Heaven Knows (over the music of Thank You For Talkin' To Me Africa on 30 June, 2011 at Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France.

Also played were: a previously-unknown song by new bandmember Andy Allo, People Pleaser, which contains writing input by Prince, a song tentatively known as When She Comes, performed at the one-off show on 11 May, 2011 and another song tentatively titled U Will B was played on 5 May, 2011.

On 14 August, 2011 a 4:40 video of Hot Thing (including a sample from Alphabet St.) as performed on 12 August, 2011, Slottsskogen, Gothenburg, Sweden at the Way Out West Festival was streamed on Andy Allo's Facebook page, as "Hot Thing, Way Out West Fest 8/12/11". The video also included clips of 777-9311 and I Would Die 4 U.

On 18 August, 2011 a 2:15 video of Empty Room as performed on 17 August, 2011 at Hallenstadion, Zürich, Switzerland was streamed on Andy Allo's Facebook page, as "Empty Room, Zurich Switzerland". The video was an excerpt of the last quarter of the song, and over the end the video has the text: Thanks Euro 4 the best summer ever.

Later in the summer, Zürcher Oberländer reported that Prince recorded at Powerplay Studios, Maur, Switzerland, from 20-31 August, 2011.

Welcome 2 Canada Tour

Despite having previously rejected the internet for music distribution, On 23 November, 2011 a single of Extraloveable, containing a 2011 re-recording of the previously-unreleased 1982 track Extraloveable, was released on iTunes Canada. The song features a rap by Andy Allo, and was presented as a Canadian exclusive to celebrate the tour to come, but it was also available in Europe and in Australia from the 24th onwards. It was also made available on Spotify. The digital single was released in the USA a few days after on 29 November, 2011.

On 25 November, 2011, ChumFM.com released an audio podcast of Prince's appearance the same day on Toronto, ON, Canada, radio station 104.5 CHUM FM, giving a brief interview about the upcoming Welcome 2 Canada Tour. The podcast lasts 46:25 and includes highlights of the whole show; Prince appears only in the final ten minutes.

On 27 November, 2011 a 1:35 video of Cool from 26 November, 2011 Toronto, CA - Air Canada Center concert was streamed on Andy Allo's Facebook page. This was followed hours later by a 2:25 video of Angel from the same show, which was removed and replaced by a full 6:59 video the following day, 27 November, 2011.

On 9 December, 2011 a 6:32 video of Sly and the Family Stone's Stand!, from the 8 December, 2011, MTS Centre, Winnipeg, MB, Canada concert, was streamed on Andy Allo's Facebook page.

Swiss record label Purple Music released a new version of the 2009 single Dance 4 Me on 9 December, 2011, containing newly-created remixes of the track. The single was available under Vinyl, Vinyl Picture Disc and CD formats.

On 14 December, 2011 a 0:42 video of Shockadelica, from the 13 December, 2011, Rexall Place, Edmonton, AB, Canada concert, was streamed on Andy Allo's Facebook page. On 21 December, 2011 a live video of Take Me With U, from the 16 December, 2011, Rogers Arena, Vancouver, BC, Canada concert, was streamed on Andy Allo's Facebook page.

On 23 February, 2012 Swiss record label Purple Music released 2nite, a Bria Valente single, containing newly-created remixes of the track written and produced by Prince (originally from her 2009 album Elixer).

On 8 March, 2012, a 1:09 clip of the studio version of People Pleaser by Andy Allo (executive produced by, and likely featuring Prince) was streamed on drfunkenberry.com to accompany an announcement about the album Superconductor. The album includes three songs co-written by Prince: Superconductor, The Calm and Long Gone. Prince is also the album's executive producer, along with Trombone Shorty (marking his first appearance on a Prince-related album), Maceo Parker and the Hornheadz (making their first appearance on a Prince-related album since 2001's The Rainbow Children) and members of the New Power Generation.

Welcome 2 Australia Tour

On 16 April, 2012, a 8:37 rehearsal version of The Dance Electric by Prince and the New Power Generation was streamed on drfunkenberry.com to promote the forthcoming Welcome 2 Australia Tour. A week later, on 23 April, 2012, another rehearsal track, a 9:54 rehearsal version of Mutiny containing an interpolation of Ice Cream Castles by Prince and the New Power Generation was streamed on drfunkenberry.com. The file was also posted via Soundcloud by Paul Peterson on behalf of fDeLuxe.

The Welcome 2 Australia Tour started on 11 May, 2012 in Sydney, at the Allphones Arena and stopped in Melbourne, on 30 May, 2012 at the Rod Laver Arena.

On 23 April, 2012, a 9:54 rehearsal version of Mutiny containing an interpolation of Ice Cream Castles by Prince and the New Power Generation was streamed on drfunkenberry.com to promote the forthcoming Welcome 2 Australia Tour. The file was also posted via Soundcloud by Paul Peterson on behalf of fDeLuxe.

On 30 May, 2012, TripleM.com.au released an audio podcast of Prince's telephone interview the same day on Melbourne, Australia, radio station 105.1 Triple M, giving a brief interview about the Welcome 2 Australia Tour on the day of its final show during an in-studio interview with tour dancer Damaris Lewis.

On 10 June, 2012 a live video of Something In The Water (Does Not Compute), from the 30 May, 2012: Rod laver Arena, Melbourne, Australia concert, was streamed on Andy Allo's Facebook page.

"On April 17, 2012, several bystanders in the streets of Chanhassen, Minnesota saw Paisley Park swaying back and forth 2 the sound of "Days of Wild and Loose". This is a copy of the 19 minute rehearsal of that jam! Thank U, Prince and The New Power Generation..."Aint nobody LOVE YA betta than AUSTRALIA!".

Welcome 2 Chicago Residency

On 31 August, 2012, a residency at Chicago's United Center was announced for September. Falling somewhat short of a residency, only three shows came to fruition.