the princepedia says Rogers

The old book by Jon Bream has a photo of birth certificate that says "Roger"...

Where do you even get documentery or even the book i can't seem to find them!

lovingyou said:

I got both Dance Music Sex Romance Prince: The First Decade by Per Nilsen and Prince Inside The Purple Reign by Jon Bream from Amazon.com. I bought used copies (of course), but have been totally satisfied with them. Some sellers have this stuff listed for outrageous prices, so beware unless you have the extra money. If you see a copy of Prince: The Glory Years on dvd I'd recommend that as well. They don't show any copy of his birth certificate, but it's a well done unauthorized documentary imo. Good Luck lovingyou!

Elle85n09 said:

And an old favorite, but not as comprehensive in the recordings department, is Prince: A Pop Life by Dave Hill. That came out around 1989ish I believe. It has been reissued w/ a different cover. Here is the one I have (the first):


Liz Jones' Purple Reign (1998) has been reissued w/ a new cover, and I think a new name. It's FULL of conjecture and uncredited sources, the bulk of which is Prince's interview with Oprah Winfrey only a couple of years prior. It's a poor compilation of that interview, the basis of stories we already know, and her own nonsense thrown in. It's just one of the poorest written books on Prince I'd ever read. Here's the one I have:

The artist formerly known as Prince has a new wife, new baby and a new attitude - Interview - Cover Story

Emancipation is defined as freedom from restraint, control or the power of another, freedom from bondage.

For The Artist Formerly Known As Prince, emancipation is freedom, and much, much more. It is the title of his new, ambitious 36-song, three-compact disc set. Emancipation is also his personal creed and way of life as he celebrates his "freedom" from contractual obligations to Warner Brothers Records. He says emancipation also describes his new life as a husband and family man, his new persona since he left Prince behind. Emancipation describes his new attitude.

On Valentines Day 1996, the Artist, as he is referred to around Paisley Park Enterprises, married Puerto Rican Mayte Garcia during a church ceremony ny in Minneapolis, his hometown. He says in October she gave birth to a child, but he will not disclose the name, birth date, gender or any details about the baby. He refuses to discuss tabloid reports that the child was born with birth defects. "As you can see, my wife is no longer pregnant," he says, gesturing to the beautiful, slim Mayte at his side. She is tastefully attired in a charcoal gray suit with short wrap skirt and knee-length boots. A huge diamond ring adorns her left hand. "l hope to have a bunch more kids running around here."

Later, when interviewed by other national media, he made similar statements. For example, when Oprah Winfrey asked about the new baby, he said: "Our family exists. Its just the beginning." When she followed with a question concerning tabloid reports of birth defects, the Artist said: "It's all good. Never mind what you hear."

Mayte joined his New Power Generation band as a dancer and singer, but the relationship started out as platonic. "Mayte has been my best friend for years and years; she is the, only person who showed me no malice," he says, adding that it was as though he was engulfed by a universal knowledge or awareness. "That was when I realized that I was in love with her, with everything about her, in love with the process itself. Somebody discovered this thing [love]; whoever did was a genius. I fell on my knees and said `thank you' [to God].

"At that point I decided that I did not really ever want to be him [Prince] again," he explains. "The human body will trap you. It is egotistical, flawed. I did not want to go back. Mayte helped me to understand some things."

One of those things is that while growing up in Minneapolis, his nickname friends never called him Prince. "Prince [Rogers Nelson]* is on my birth certificate," says the Artist. "My father wanted me to be a star, so he named me Prince. He was a musician. I've distance not feel right about the name Prince mayte never called me Prince. She just didn't use it. Her soul knew."

In 1978, Prince released his first recording, For you. As a singer musician songwriter, performer, actor dancer and fashion icon, the entertainer quickly established himself as one of the most creative and genuinely talented artist of his generation. He attained commercial and artistic heights with Dirty Mind (1980), 1999 (1982), Purple Rain (1984) and Sign O' The Times (1987). His popularity crossed cultural add racial lines and encompassed fans of all music genres.

The Artist no longer mill get $10 million advances, but he will have complete creative control and, most importantly he mill own the masters for his music. While he retains the publishing lights to all his songs, Warner Brothers owns the master tapes to the 20 albums preceding Emancipation. He cannot release "Purple Rain" or "Little Red Corvette" without consent from Warner Brothers. "I don't own Princes music," he says. "If you don't own your masters, the master owns you.

For Emancipation, released on his NPG Records label, the Artist has a worldwide manufacturing and distribution arrangement with Capitol-EMI."Capitol-EMI had the business vision and sensitivity to enter into a strategic alliance with the Artist," says attorney Londell Millan, "which no doubt mill benefit both parties greatly."

While many of this core fans strayed due to the quality recent recordings, many feel that Emancipation is comparable, if not better, than the music offered on his classic Purple Rain, which sold more than 10 million copies.

He is a profusely creative artist with a backlog of more than 1,000 unreleased songs, and new ones are constantly emerging. "If you hold a man down and tell him what he can or cannot do, he will rebel," & says. "If they rule the artist, is it really art?" As an example, he points to "Holy River," a new song on the Emancipation CD. "The music tells me what to do. It is eight minutes long. I would never have been able to do that with Warner Brothers," he adds. "We are a prisoner of our design. I started examining my life and my career, and you don't want to feel that you got enslaved. When you stop a man from dreaming, he becomes a slave. I had slave on my face. Is that the end of the story?"

When asked about the negativity in some music today, he shakes his head and says: "There's no closure. There's negativity and then it ends with a gunshot. But it is their experience. I'm a big supporter hip/hop, but not the negativity. When hip-hop artists simple my music, they must say something positive. Negativity is not in the spirit of emancipation."

Over a dinner of "mock duck" prepared by his chef, the Artist says he stopped eating red meat nine years ago and recently stopped eating fish and chicken. "Have you ever tried mock duck?" he asks. "It is delicious. A good alternative to the real thing."

When asked if he might do more acting, he shakes his head and says: "Actors portray other peoples lives. My life itself is pretty interesting." However, he adds that he would love to portray the entertainer Little Richard.

After dinner, the Artist invites his guest to sit in on a rehearsal with his band. Studio A is personalized with scented candles, a pink neon depicting the hieroglyph, a huge control board draped in lacy fabric and personal photographs of him as a child and another of his father as a young man. In the control room, there are a half dozen guitars, including one fashioned like the hieroglyph. At the piano, with Mayte beside him, he sings the bluesy, soulful "There's joy in Repetition," the jazzy "Ballad of Dorothy Parker," "Jam Of the Year" from the new album, and the Bill Withers tune "4ever In My Life," which was requested by John F. Kennedy Jr. for his wedding.

"I work through the night all the time," & says, taking a momentary break. "Its hard to sleep when you can do this. I get pretty noisy, pretty rambunctious sometimes. Mayte makes me mellow." He says at times the music comes so fast he has to stop in the midst of creating one song to write down another.

After the music quiets down, he reflects on his personal and professional journey, from party boy to family man, from performer to businessman and entrepreneur, from Prince to &. "I had the knowledge and power all the time but did not know how to use it," he says. "But then I saw it instantaneously. I wasted time out of fear and ego. Other things kept me in a negative space. I now feel at peace.

COPYRIGHT 1997 Johnson Publishing Co.
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group

matthewgrant said:

I always thought people got that confused because of how he was named. We know he was named after a band his father was part of, Prince Rogers Trio. But I figured it was Prince Roger's Trio, Roger's being possessive with the apostrophe S, whereas the name of the person would be Prince Roger, and that that was Prince's name. Prince Roger Nelson, not Prince Rogers (taking on the possessive S, but not the apostrophe). Just a thought.

ernestsewell said:

Tell me about it! The liz Jones book makes him sound horrible
Both of mine have the same covers as yours. While all the books were worth the time to read and the money I spent, I will definitely say the Jon Bream book has a treasure trove of pictures and basic info. while Per Nilsen's book seems to be a fair account from differing views of that decade. Good Grief...don't you hate run-on sentences!

My issue of A Pop Life has a Parade tour picture on the cover, showing Prince from behind, wearing his suit.
Dave Hill´s book may not be as comprehensive as other books but it is one of my favorite bios and still a great read.I´ve never seen the issue that you have.

Assuming the pic of the birth certificate is authentic, a fairly safe bet would be that the hospital screwed up the birth certificate and put the familiar "Roger" on it, even though they were probably told Rogers. Birth certificates didn't show up right away, and were a bitch to change(and usually a financial burden), so plenty of folks let a simple middle name glitch slide. Coincidently, my brother was born at the same hospital in Minneapolis that Prince was and his middle name was, and still is incorrect on his birth certificate.

Just throwin' that out there.



*Author's brackets.

Okay. So, what Prince ACTUALLY said was "Prince is on my birth certificate." The AUTHOR wrote [Rogers Nelson]. When an author uses brackets within a quote it is to signify what the speaker is implying. But, since Prince didn't actually speak the words "Rogers Nelson", then the author's interpretation of implication could have been misconstrued. Confused?

squirrelgrease said:

Okay. So, what Prince ACTUALLY said was "Prince is on my birth certificate." The AUTHOR wrote [Rogers Nelson]. When an author uses brackets within a quote it is to signify what the speaker is implying. But, since Prince didn't actually speak the words "Rogers Nelson", then the author's interpretation of implication could have been misconstrued. Confused?
[Edited 12/22/09 10:54am]

KoolEaze said:

Yeah, that was a later reissue of "Pop Life". The red/yellow one was the original cover.

Dave's book was just a bio indeed, whereas as time rolled on, new books became more comprehensive. The information became more available, and these people who had worked with Prince were easier to find and get in touch with. Things like the recording sessions, and the dates of tracks were all things that might have been near impossible, or at least a much more difficult task to accomplish 20 years ago opposed to just 10 years ago.

ernestsewell said:

I like that new cover!