Prince has been active since 1978 in the music business. Especially in the 1980s, he influenced the international music scene by different genres of music combined together. The stylistic range of his music ranges from R & B, funk, soul, pop and rock to blues and jazz. Prince writes his lyrics, and also composes, arranges and produces his songs by himself. He also plays instruments such as guitar, bass, piano, keyboards, and drums. In some of his songs he played all the instruments himself.

The international breakthrough came in 1984 with the movie, the single and album Purple Rain. So far, he sold more than 100 million records and won seven Grammy Awards, an Academy Award in 1985 and in 2007 a Golden Globe Award. In 2004 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

 Due to differences with his then record company Warner Bros. Records, Prince laid off temporarily, from 1993 to 2000, his stage name. During this time he wore instead  a pronounceable name as a pseudonym and became a symbol often as The "Artist Formerly Known As Prince"  called. After the end of the contract with Warner Bros. Records, in May 2000, he called himself Prince again.

Since the beginning of the 21st century, Prince  distinguishes himself increasingly in the music industry and selected non-conventional distribution channels for his record. Some of his albums were sometimes available only through the Internet or as a side dish of a commercial newspaper.

By Melanie Bradley

Prince Sheet Music, and Songbooks

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