PURPLE TEARS

A purple riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma — with funk. Simply put, that was Prince. From the day he arrived on the music scene in 1978 to his sudden and unexpected death at age 57 in his Paisley Park home studio on Thursday, the man born Princ

THE EARLY DIRTY YEARS (1978-81)

Born June 7, 1958, into a musical family — his father was a pianist and songwriter and his mother a jazz singer — young Prince was something of a musical prodigy, playing multiple instruments and writing his first song at age 7. Not surprisingly, he was signed to a record deal while a teen, and issued his debut album by his 20th birthday. Prince wrote, arranged, produced and played every note on the disc, establishing a control-freak pattern that continued through his career. He got his freak on in other ways, with aggressively sexual songs like Do Me, Baby and Head. ALBUMS: For You (1978); Prince (1979); Dirty Mind (1980); Controversy (1981).

1999 TO SUPERSTARDOM (1982-91)

By 1982, Prince was poised for a breakthrough. It came with 1999, a double album that topped charts and moved millions, thanks to its apocalyptic party-anthem title track and the auto-erotic Little Red Corvette. He capitalized with the 1984 soundtrack Purple Rain, which spawned three hits: When Doves Cry, Let’s Go Crazy and the epic title cut. The disc also helped spawn the notorious Parents Music Resource Centre and Tipper Gore, who put Darling Nikki at the top of their Filthy 15 list of objectionable songs. But it didn’t stop Prince, who spent the ’80s issuing hit after hit — Raspberry Beret, Pop Life, Kiss, Sign o’ the Times, Cream, even Batdance — and using the profits to create his studio complex-compound Paisley Park in Minneapolis. ALBUMS: 1999 (1982); Purple Rain (1984); Around the World in a Day (1985); Parade (1986); Sign o’ the Times (1987); Lovesexy (1988); Batman (1989); Graffiti Bridge (1990); Diamonds and Pearls (1991).

THE GLYPH AND REBELLION (1992-1999)

As grunge and alt-rock took hold, Prince’s popularity began to wane. Undeterred, he continued on his own path. In 1993, he changed his name to an androgynous glyph, becoming The Artist Formerly Known as Prince. He waged war with his label Warner Bros., appearing in public with “slave” on his cheek. His creative output spiked: Reclusively secluded in Paisley Park, where he could work day and night, he churned out albums — partly as a way to fulfil his record deal as quickly as possible. He issued five albums from 1994 to 1996 and four more (including a fivedisc set of rarities) in 1998 and ’99. Not surprisingly, the public couldn’t keep up and left Prince to his own increasingly idiosyncratic devices. ALBUMS: Love Symbol Album (1992); Come (1994); Black Album (1994); Gold Experience (1995); Chaos and Disorder (1996); Emancipation (1996); Crystal Ball (1998); The Truth (1998); The Vault: Old Friends 4 Sale (1999).

THE WILDERNESS (1999-2010)

When the new millennium arrived (soundtracked by 1999, natch), Prince began to emerge from his personal funk. First he reclaimed his name. Then the notorious Lothario — once linked to everyone from Kim Basinger to proteges Vanity and Apollonia — became a Jehovah’s Witness. He got married and moved to Toronto. He cleaned up his act, issuing more uplifting music. Freed from major-label confines, he maintained his prolific ways, releasing albums online with little promotion. He continued to tour small venues, while accepting career-achievement awards and being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He seemed to be done. But he wasn’t ... ALBUMS: Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic (1999); Rainbow Children (2001); One Nite Alone ... (2002); Xpectation (2003); N.E.W.S (2003); Musicology (2004); Chocolate Invasion (2004); Slaughterhouse (2004); 3121 (2006); Planet Earth (2007); Lotusflow3r (2009); MPLSound (2009); 20 Ten (2010).

THE COMEBACK (2011-2016)