Prince
Prince An influential star of the 1980s, Prince wrote and produced funky pop songs that had cross-genre appeal, including the top-sellers 1999, "When Doves Cry" and "Kiss". He became known as something of an eccentric genius: he dressed in high heels and finery and was so multitalented that on many songs he played all the instruments himself. His reputation for independent thinking was reinforced in the 1990s, when he changed his name to The Artist Formerly Known As Prince (or TAFKAP), then to an unpronounceable symbol (reproduced on the Web as O(+>), and finally (in 2000) back to Prince. He has continued to write and perform, operating out of his Minneapolis home base, called Paisley Park Studios. His 2004 album, Musicology, was hailed as a "comeback," and included the song "Call My Name," which earned him a Grammy for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance. Prince's albums include 1999 (1983), Purple Rain (1984), Lovesexy (1988), Newpower Soul (1998) and Musicology (2004). He also starred in the 1984 feature film "Purple Rain." Prince was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004.