The incredible musicianship and songwriting of Prince is undeniable, however many people don’t realize that he was one of the first artists to play most, if not all, of the instruments on his recorded music and he also self-produced some of his music.
Born Prince Rogers Nelson, he was a musical innovator who paved the way for so many facets of music and art. His music incorporates a wide variety of genres including funk, rock, R&B, new wave, soul, psychedelia, and pop. He has sold over an incredible 100 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling artists of all time. He has won seven Grammy’s, an American Music Award, a Golden Globe Award, and an Academy Award for his film “Purple Rain”, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004, his first year of eligibility.
Prince is known as “rock’s greatest ever natural talent” because he is a master of so many instruments, whereas most artists will only be proficient in one instrument. Not to say that focusing on one instrument is worse than being incredible at a number of them, but it’s admirable to see a single individual have world-class talent on such a wide spectrum. One of his trademarks is his wide vocal range. He was able to sing from falsetto to baritone with effortless shifts in register. Being considered one of the best guitar players of his time, he also was extremely great at playing drums, percussion, bass, keyboards, and synthesizers.
On his debut album, he recorded all 27 instruments himself. Although most of these instruments were various types of basses, keyboards, and synthesizers, it just goes to show how much effortless talent Prince had. Also to be noted, he was 19 years old when his debut album named “Prince” was released. Most 19 year olds today don't even know what they want to major in, but 19-year-old Prince was a household name. It’s truly incredible to have someone like Prince to look up to and draw inspiration from for those who wish to be successful with music. There's a reason why we all say that today's music is bad and going into 2017, we desperately need another Prince.
