Prince Rogers Nelson, the Artist Formerly Known as Prince, has recently died on April 21, 2016 at the age of 57 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His death was a tragedy for family members and the fans that grew up listening to him. His death was a surprise and unsuspected because he was still young enough to perform. Even though he was not as big as he used to be, Prince still performed on stage.

Prince Rogers Nelson started his musical career in 1976 under the stage name Prince. He signed his first recording contract with Warner Bros. at the age of 18. He released his debut album For You in 1978. He made several other albums, getting his first platinum album Prince in 1979, just a year after his debut. His albums in the 80s were what made people fall in love him. Albums like Dirty Mind, Controversy, and Purple Rain were huge successes. One of the reasons he was loved was because he was one of the few people who used sexual lyrics and implemented funky dancing into his music. In 1993, Prince actually changed his stage name to a strange symbol. It is supposed to be a love symbol. This was also the time when there was a contractual dispute between him and Warner Bros. so he became a solo musician. He released albums at a fast pace so that he could remove himself from contractual obligations. It wasn’t until the year 2000 that he changed his name back to Prince.

Prince released over thirty albums, one or two every year or every other year. He was also nominated and won several awards during his career. He has won an Academy Award for Best Original Song Score, two Brit Awards for Best International Solo Artist and Best International Male, a Golden Globe for Best Original Song, seven Grammy Awards for best performance and best song, a Golden Raspberry for Worst Actor, and for MTV Video Music Awards. In total, he has been nominated 48 times and won a total of fourteen awards. Prince has also been in four movies and two TV shows. Prince’s death is a mystery of sort. He was found dead, and there was no evidence of foul play or suicide. Some people believe that could be the case, but others also believe that he may have overdosed because he did take medicine earlier for not feeling well.