Prince Greatest Hits

Prince Overview

Prince greatest hits are a review of his songs and his career in music

A Color Photo of Prince The Singer
A Color Photo of Prince The Singer

. He was born Prince Rogers Nelson on June 7, 1958, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He goes by his mononym “Prince” and is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and actor. He writes and produces his own music and plays most of the instruments; he established his own recording studio and record label. This is his story…

Early Life

Prince developed an interest in music at an early age, and writing his first song at the age of seven. Prince’s father was a pianist and songwriter and his mother was a jazz singer. While growing up Prince’s nickname was “Skipper”.

In 1975, Pepe Willie, formed a band called “94 East” and hired Prince to record tracks with “94 East”. Prince co-wrote the first song called “Just Another Sucker”.

In 1976, Prince created a demo tape in Moon’s studio in Minneapolis and was unable to secure a recording contract. When Prince was seventeen, Moon brought the tape to businessman Owen Husney and he singed Prince to a contract and helped Prince to create a demo recording at Sound 80. With the demo recording, Prince eventually signed a contact with Warner Bros. Records and agreed to give Prince creative control on three albums and ownership of the publishing rights.

Music Career

45 RPM Record "When Doves Cry" by Prince
45 RPM Record “When Doves Cry” by Prince

Prince’s first album called “For You”, in 1978, in which he played all 27 instruments on the album. The first song from the album “Soft and Wet” reached #12 on the Hot Soul Singles chart and #92 on the Hot 100 chart which was his first charted single on the Hot 100.

In 1979, Prince released his second album called “Prince” and reached #4 on the R&B Black Album chart, and #22 on Billboard 200 album chart, and went platinum. The song “I Wanna Be Your Lover” reached #11 on the Hot 100 chart.

In 1982, he released an album called “1999” which sold over 3 million copies which was his first successful album. One of the songs from this album “Little Red Corvette” became his first top ten hit on the Hot 100 chart at #6. His first #1 song was “When Doves Cry” in 1984, and was number one for 5 weeks. This song came from his most successful album “Purple Rain” which sold more than thirteen million copies.

Billboard Success

Prince had a total of 5 #1’s, 19 top ten, 23 top 20, 32 top 40 hits and 14 top ten albums all on the Hot 100 chart and Billboard Top 200 Albums chart. His last #1 song was “Cream” in 1991, and was #1 for two weeks. His last top ten hit was “The Most Beautiful Girl In The World” in 1994 at #3. The last top 40 hit was “Betcha By Golly Wow!” His last charted single on the Hot 100 chart is “Black Sweat” at #60, in 2006. Prince charted a total of 54 singles on the Hot 100 chart.

Prince Controversy Album Cover Photo
Prince Controversy Album Cover Photo

According to Billboard, Prince is the #2 artist from 1980-1989, #12 from 1990-1999, and #17 most popular artist of all-time from 1955-2010. Billboard uses the Hot 100 in ranking the most popular artist for each decade and for all-time.

On the R&B chart, Prince had a total of 8 #1’s, 23 Top 10, 37 Top 20, and 49 Top 40 hits. He is ranked as the #1 artist from 1980-1989, the #7 artist from 1990-1999, and the #15 artist of all-time from 1942-2010.

He was voted in the R&R Hall of Fame in 2004. He has won a total of seven Grammy Awards for his music. He also won four MTV music video awards.

Films

Prince stared in four films:

  • Purple Rain in 1984 “The Kid”
  • Under the Cherry Moon in 1986 “Christopher Tracey”
  • Sign o’ The Times in 1987 “Himself”
  • Graffiti Bridge in 1990 “The Kid”

Prince’s Top-Ten & #1 Singles

Below is a complete list of Prince’s top-ten and number one songs in bold. Included is the title, peak date, peak position, and the #1, #2, #3 songs include number of weeks in peak position ().

Hot 100 Chart

  1. Little Red Corvette – February 26, 1983 #6
  2. Delirious – September 3, 1983 #8
  3. When Doves Cry – July 7, 1984 #1 (5)
  4. Let’s Go Crazy – September 29, 1984 #1 (2)
  5. Purple Rain – October 6, 1984 #2 (2)
  6. I Would Die 4 U – December 15, 1984 #8
  7. Raspberry Beret –  May 18, 1985 #2 (1)
  8. Pop Life – July 27, 1985 #7
  9. Kiss – April 19, 1986 #1 (2)
  10. Sign Of The Times – March 27, 1987 #3 (1)
  11. U Got The Look – August 1, 1987 #2 (1)
  12. I Could Never Take The Place Of your Man – November 14, 1987 #10
  13. Alphabet St. – April 30, 1988 #8
  14. Batdance – August 5, 1989 #1 (1)
  15. Thieves In The Temple – May 4, 1990 #6
  16. Cream – November 19, 1991 #1 (2)
  17. Diamonds And Pearls – December 28, 1991 #3 1)
  18. 7 – November 28, 1992 #7
  19. The Most Beautiful Girl In The World – May 5, 1994 #3 (1)

R&B Chart

Below is a complete list of Prince’s top-ten and number one songs in bold. Included is the title, peak date for #1 singles – chart debut date for all others, peak position, and the #1, #2, #3 songs include number of weeks in peak position ().

  1. I Wanna Be Your Lover – December 1, 1979 #1 (2)
  2. Uptown – October 4, 1980 #5
  3. Controversy – September 26, 1981 #3 (4)
  4. Let’s Work – January 23, 1982 #9
  5. 1999 – October 16, 1982 #4
  6. When Doves Cry – June 30, 1984 #1 (8)
  7. Let’s Go Crazy – October 6, 1984 #1 (1)
  8. Purple Rain – October 13, 1984 #4
  9. Raspberry Beret – May 25, 1985 #3 (1)
  10. Pop Life – August 3, 1985 #8
  11. Kiss – April 5, 1986 #1 (4)
  12. Sign O’ The Times – April 11, 1987 #1 (3)
  13. Alphabet St. – April 30, 1988 #3 (1)
  14. Batdance – August 12, 1989 #1 (1)
  15. Partyman – September 2, 1989 #5
  16. Scandalous! – December 2, 1989 #5
  17. Thieves In The Temple – September 29, 1990 #1 (1)
  18. Get Off – July 27, 1991 #6
  19. Insatiable – November 16, 1991 #3 (1)
  20. Diamonds And Pearls – March 21, 1992 #1 (1)
  21. The Most Beautiful Girl In The World – March 5, 1994 #2 (1)
  22. Lettigo – August 20, 1994 #10
  23. Batcha By Golly Wow! – November 30, 1996 #10

Below is his all-time best #1 song.

Shop Prince Greatest Hits

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If You are a huge fan of Prince, I can highly recommend The Very Best of PrinceThe Very Best of Prince album that has 17 tracks and most of his best hit songs.

Now, you can shop for individual Prince Greatest Hits by clicking on the link. You will be taken to Amazon Try Prime Digital Music page where you can download individual Prince songs for a small fee.

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