American musician Prince has been one of the most controversial stars in American musical history. Born in 1958 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, as Prince Rogers Nelson, the singer has been known under a variety of different names. One of the most comical was a symbol, called the “love symbol” by some fans.

The symbol on one of his albums also prompted his fans to refer to the star as “The Artist Formerly Known As Prince” or even just “The Artist.”
Throughout his career, Prince won six Grammy Awards, an Academy Award and was even inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004. During the same year, Prince was also at the top of a list comprising of the best male artists of the last 25 years, published by ARC Rock on the Net. Moreover, the famous Rolling Stone Magazine issued a list of 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, and Prince was number 28 on the prestigious list.

Prince’s music was originally derived from R&B, soul and funk, and developed into a remarkable fusion of pop, rock, jazz, new wave, psychedelia, hip hop and other genres and subgenres. Among his musical influences are prominent musicians such as Sly Stone, Curtis Mayfield, Jimi Hendrix, Joni Mitchell, James Brown, Parliament-Funkadelic and Carlos Santana.
 
Prince has had his fair share of lawsuits along the way, and the latest suit against him concerns a perfume company. Prince signed a contract with the perfume company, which entailed that the artist had to promote the “3121” fragrance, named after an album released by the artist in 2006. According to the perfume company, Prince failed to comply with the contract’s provisions, and he and his representatives have avoided contact with the company.