Is there a biography published of his life? A book? A detailed story? Anything?

There are various ones, the most recent of which is Alex Hahn's "Posessed".

I don't have it so won't comment on it, but you can see the thoughts of others here : http://www.prince.org/msg/7/61566.

There's also Slave to the Rhythm by Liz Jones - it's ok.

Imp of the Perverse by Barry Hoskins, it's years since I read this but I remember enjoying it, covers his career up to Graffiti Bridge, I think.

Controversy by (I think) Per Nilson. Good book, an account of his life and full discography, vidiography, and bootlegography up to the Gold Experience / Slave era (I Think).

There are others but they're the only ones I know of.


There are other people around here with much better (i.e. accurate) information than I have, hopefully one of them will take pity on us and provide it.
[Edited 8/30/05 8:17am]

Theres one called PURPLE REIGN.

AsylumUtopia said:

I have "Possessed".Its an awesome book. It really is...

luv4all7 said:

I've heard of the cover band, but not the book.

Also, the most recent book is not Posessed - well, it might be but it's not the one I was thinking of, which was 'The Vault', details here : http://www.uptown.se/2005...ault.shtml

There should really be a section on Prince related books in the FAQ, which there isn't, unless I managed to miss it.

No-one said DMSR?

DMSR by Per Nilsen. (Amazon have it).

It only goes upto 1987, but is incredibly detailed, based on many interviews with ex-band members and employees. Per is part of the Uptown team, who also have The Vault, which is more of a chronology and reference than a biography, but it's the most informative publication on Prince and his music - http://www.uptown.se/

Alex Hahn's 'Possessed' is probably the easiest available. Opinions on the book are divided since many fans disagree with it's sometimes salacious and critical opinions, but it's worth keeping in mind Hahn was privy to the research done by Per and the Uptown team for their books, so it's hard to disput that much of what is in Possessed is factual. (Hahn represented Uptown when Prince took them to court).

NouveauDance said:

Ah yes, forgot about that one.

And the one I thought was called Controversy by Per Nilson isn't called Controversy after all (although Controversy may well be by him as well, I don't know), it's called "Prince - A Documentary" and it goes up to the end of 1992 (the Symbol album).


So far we have :

Possessed by Alex Hahn
DMSR by Per Nilson
Prince - A Documentary by Per Nilson
Prince - Imp of the Perverse by Barney Hoskyns
Slave to the Rhythm by Liz Jones
The Vault by ??? Uptown ???
Purple Reign by ???
Controversy by ???

Anybody care to fill in the ???'s ?

PURLE REIGN THE ARTIST FORMERLY KNOWN AS PRINCE by LIZ JONES
Copyright 1998