His name is Prince, and he is funky.
Purple Rain (in conjunction with the film of the same name) sold more than thirteen million copies in the U.S. and spent twenty-four consecutive weeks at the top of the Billboard 200. The film grossed more than $80 million in the United States alone, and would prove to be Prince’s biggest cinematic success.
Two songs from Purple Rain, “When Doves Cry” and “Let's Go Crazy” would both top the U.S. singles charts and were hits around the world, while the title track would go to number two on the Billboard Hot 100. Simultaneously, Prince held the spot of number one film, number one single, and number one album in the U.S. Prince won the Academy Award for Best Original Song Score for "Purple Rain", and the album ranks in the top 100 of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list, released in late 2003; the album is also listed in The All-TIME 100 Albums of TIME Magazine. When Tipper Gore overheard her twelve-year-old daughter, Karenna, playing “Darling Nikki,” she founded the Parents Music Resource Center, which has spurred the use of “explicit lyric” stickers and imprints on album covers.
Sign “☮” the Times, released in 1987 as a double album, reached the top 10 of the Billboard 200 and achieved the greatest critical acclaim of his career, topping the annual and highly reputable Pazz & Jop critics poll, reaching the top 100 of Rolling Stone's list and The All-TIME 100 Albums of TIME Magazine, which declared it was the best album of the 1980s.
