“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to get through this thing called life.”

-Prince, “Let’s Go Crazy”

Last Thursday, the famed musician Prince passed away at the age of 57 at his Paisley Park Studio in the suburbs of Minneapolis. This was a week after he made a surprise landing in Moline, Illinois, due to a medical emergency. Prince was known as a versatile musician who invented his own brand of music known as the “Minneapolis sound”-a synth-heavy sound that blends rock, funk, pop and new wave.

He was born Prince Rogers Nelson on June 7, 1958, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He had musical aspirations from the start since he was the son of two jazz musicians.  Despite having epilepsy, he played in many bands as a teenager. After creating a demo that attracted the interest of several recording companies, Prince signed with Warner Bros. Records. He released his first album “For You” on April 7, 1978. He played all 27 instruments on that particular album.

Although his first top 40 hit was 1979’s “I Wanna Be Your Lover” off of his self-titled second album, his real artistic breakthrough was with his fifth album “1999” in 1983. With his multiracial backing band the Revolution, Prince released his magnum opus “Purple Rain” in 1984. It was the soundtrack of the semi-autobiographical motion picture of the same name. Both the album and the movie were big hits. Not only did the album win the “Best Rock Performance” at that year’s Grammys, it also won “Best Original Score” at the Oscars. Despite having two more successful albums with the band, Prince disbanded the Revolution due to ongoing tension among the band members. Prince went solo for the rest of the 1980s.

Starting with 1991’s “Diamonds and Pearls”, Prince had further success well into the 1990s with his new backing band, the New Power Generation. Despite the continuing success, Prince came into conflict with his record label after they refused to release him from his contract. This resulted in him using the infamous “love symbol” as his surrogate name throughout the duration of the decade. He was finally let go from Warner Bros. in 1996, an event he celebrated with his triple album “Emancipation” released that same year.

In 2004, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. That same year, he released his album “Musicology” that year. The album was his first one in five years at the time. Prince continued to make music until his untimely death.