For me, going by a symbol was probably the coolest, most DEFIANT thing Prince did. He basically purposely, sabotaged his own career.

It was like the inside of cool. A man so hip he need not even a name.

Now, we alll know his name was never LEGALLY changed, but it was his "name."

I guess it was inevitable that he go back to "Prince." But it seemed for a time, he just didn't care, at all, about fitting in to society's standards.

Then he became a bit more conventional in many ways.

???

I love his name but i get the individuality thing

I actually thought it was cool when he changed it to .


by 2000, the novelty had worn off and it was getting tired

No. His Mama named him Prince.

Prince can get away with alot of stuff us regular folks couldnt get away with in everyday life

if i was like "im changing my name to the # symbol"

my friends would be like "Girl PlEASE! shut your crazy a$$ up !! im not calling you #! deal with it !"

a very clever way to get out of his contract, the energy of the symbol was very powerful, but Prince is his name.

I never stopped calling him Prince anyway. Plus, it was a little annoying when he was referred to as "the artist" or that symbol wasa held up to introduce him. Most people thought he had either lost his mind or was fully self-absorbed.

xpertluva said:

I hated when I would say "Prince" and some jerk would say, "You mean the Artist Formerly Known as..."
No. I meant Prince. That's what I said. If they knew who I was talking about, they didn't need to correct me.

chocolate1 said:

Agreed, i am a Prince fan since 1984, and i would get folks who knew nothing of him except Purple Rain trying to tell me what his name was.
"NO.....his name is THE ARTIST"....

MikeyB71 said:

I still say: "His Mama named him PRINCE."

errant said:

This. I think tangling the whole 'slave' thing up with the stage name change tarnished it a lot.

A lot of people still actually think he goes by and seem surprised when told it's been a whole decade since the switch back.

errant said:

Very true.


The problem for me is that the symbol could have been an artistic statement. Alot of artists go through big shifts in their career and the symbol seemed to be one of those.

But in reality, he just ended up rehashing his old hits on during the Emancipation concerts, his new music did little more than remind of us older, better tunes, and so forth.

When he changed it back, it was basically just an admission that "Yup. I through a tantrum and this 'the dawn' crap was all bullshit. That'll be $77. Thanks. "

Disappointed? I was thrilled I thought he had gone insane when he changed his name to that silly symbol.I was happy to see him come back to Earth and reclaim his real name.

xpertluva said:

Exactly

xpertluva said:

Was fully Self-absorded? He still is . Out with the "a spirit" told him to change his name, then calls a press conference to say he is no longer legally bound by the contracts so BING! I am now Prince!

Maybe he just had a kinky thing for wearing one of Mayte's stockings over his head lol!

Nah. I thought it was dumb, and i called him Prince the whole time anyways.

I think the symbol is now synonymous with PRINCE. Anytime one sees the symbol it’s instantly recognized that it’s PRINCE. I personally dig the symbol and now that he is back to PRINCE it’s kind of cool that he’s got his own logo that he can use on anything. It’s like he has his own Superman shield! So yeah…Prince is a superhero in the music world. The PURPLE FUNK! Hahahaha

I was disappointed. I thought this symbol thing was so cool!!!

Were you disappointed when he used Christopher for "Manic Monday"?
Were you disappointed when he used Asifwekare for "Face Down"?
Were you disappointed when he used Joey Coco for "You're My Love?
Were you disappointed when he used Alexander Nevermind for "Sugar Walls"?
Were you disappointed when he used Paisley Park in the 90's?
Were you disappointed when he used Jamie Starr on production notes?
Were you disappointed when he used Tora Tora during the mid 90's?

ernestsewell said:

Right on Ernest!

Whichever way the wind blows for Prince.

robinhood said:

it did no such thing.

ernestsewell said:

I wonder how many people have no idea about "You're My Love"

xpertluva said:

He did a promo for a radio station when he was there for a concert and he said "this is the Artist on 93.3 " He actually said "the Artist"

OnlyNDaUsa said:

Boy I would've died to hear that.! Too fucking cool!

I've often wondered about concert promos and stuff where they actually say "The Artist" because I'm not aware any exist.

OnlyNDaUsa said:

semantics? or do you know what i mean?

robinhood said:

I always thought changing his name to a symbol was #1 in a long list of stupidities the man did along his career.

Coming back to Prince was just a natural move. And denotes how stupid he was when he 'became' o(+>.

How I miss WB being on the picture!

robinhood said:

I know. Changing your name can not get you out of a contract. He was still the same person. Not to mention he never changed his name in the first place.

If changing your name could get you out of a contract then people would do it all the time.