Content area
Full text
The sudden death of Prince (b Prince Rogers Nelson 7 June 1958) on 21 April 2016 shocked music fans worldwide, and prompted a celebration of his artistry. In the wake of his passing, many commentators took a new look at his best-known and best-appreciated recordings, released roughly from 1978 to 1989, and praised the artist for his transgressive approach to visual performance, politics, and music industry structures. Prince's public works from his first decade as a recording artist, commonly discussed as the " Purple Rain era," have been the subject of monographs such as Per Nilsen's Dance Music Sex Romance: The First Decade , documentary films such as Prince: A Purple Reign ,2 and numerous interviews and articles. In contrast, his vibrant later years are less considered. This is especially true of Prince's last decade, a period in which he was engaged in a prolific recording career, committed political activism, and innovative business practices outside the intense public spotlight he generated during his best-known performances.
It's a situation where people want me to go back and do what I used to do. They have to understand that it's my body of work and I'm trying to put in that body of work things that I haven't done. So that, when I finish and I look at all of it, it represents the whole complete pie as opposed to the same thing over and over again.3
2004 was Prince's last stand as a hit-making popular artist. After years of scarce public appearances, he performed with Beyoncé at the Grammy Awards in February and in March, entered the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and released his Musicology album with major label distribution to a robust wave of positive press coverage and record sales. However, he continually sought to transcend traditional music industry structures as an early digital music entrepreneur.
While he was no longer in the pop spotlight by 2006, Prince's last decade is an intriguing period of his career. Reviews became tepid despite the release of more content. The media gave him less attention but he appeared everywhere, with everybody. Perceived as greedy and ungrateful, he promoted a prudent model for artist ownership and revenue generation and put his money, time, and energy...