Once
upon a time, there was a magical musical kingdom showered with Purple
Rain and ruled by a charismatic Prince whom his female celebrity subjects
adored and allegedly threw themselves at him, such as Kim Basinger, Madonna,
Vanity, Sheila E., Carmen Electra, Susanna Hoffs, Anna Fantastic, Sherilyn
Fenn, Susan Moonsie, and Sherri Shepherd. The Prince was honored by hi
subjects with numerous awards including seven Grammy Awards a Golden Globe,
and an Academy Award, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
in 2004.
The Prince created such
a sexual desire in his female subjects every time that they said his name
that he changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol to protect them from
unexpected orgasms, although he officially gave other reasons for his name
change. According to the artist formerly known as Prince
"The first step I have taken towards the ultimate goal of emancipation from
the chains that bind me to Warner Bros. was to change my name from Prince to
the Love Symbol. Prince is the name that my mother gave me at birth. Warner
Bros. took the name, trademarked it, and used it as the main marketing tool
to promote all of the music that I wrote. The company owns the name Prince
and all related music marketed under Prince. I became merely a pawn used to
produce more money for Warner Bros... I was born Prince and did not want to
adopt another conventional name. The only acceptable replacement for my
name, and my identity, was the Love Symbol, a symbol with no pronunciation,
that is a representation of me and what my music is about. This symbol is
present in my work over the years; it is a concept that has evolved from my
frustration; it is who I am. It is my name."
The Prince also used
pseudonyms to separate himself from the music for which he has had input
including Jamie Starr and The Starr Company, Joey Coco, Paisley Park,
Alexander Nevermind, and Christopher.
His male subjects in
Minnesota also came to adore him when they learned that the Prince loved
football and was a supporter of the Minnesota Vikings. More male subjects
rallied to his reign when the 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 symbol. The event was carried to 140 million television
viewers, the largest audience of his life. On February 4, 2010,
Billboard.com ranked the performance as the greatest Super Bowl performance
ever.
So to celebrate the
Prince's birthday, we suggest renting a copy of Purple Rain (1994)
and throwing back a few raspberry beret cocktails recalling
"Raspberry Beret" by Prince and his former band,
The Revolution, that was the first US single from their 1985 album,
Around the World in a Day.
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