"of each year, though the format has varied over the years. During the show's original run, the 2-week Top 100 programs came with special instructions for editing the show into one 8-hour block. Conversely, the 1-week Top 100 programs came with instructions to split the show into two 4-hour blocks. In 1971 and 1973, only the top 40 was counted down due to AT40's Top 40 Christmas Countdowns which aired the week prior. The show did not air Christmas countdowns again until the spinoff shows ""American Top 20"" and ""American Top 10"" came into existence, as both of these spinoffs"
"sold over 150 million records worldwide, including 48.9 million certified units in the United States, 4.75 million in France, over 1 million in Canada and over 10 million records in the United Kingdom. Prince accumulated five U.S. number-one singles and 15 worldwide #1 hits, as well as 8 worldwide number one albums. He was the most successful artist on the ""Billboard"" charts from 1980-2000, scoring 8 #1 R&B singles and 7 #1 Dance singles (tied for second place for male entertainers with Enrique Iglesias and Michael Jackson). He scored over 50 top 40 hits around the world since 1979. He"
"popular stars of the 1980s and the most successful chart act of the decade. His breakthrough album ""1999"", released in 1982, produced three top-ten hits and the album itself charted at No 9. on the ""Billboard"" Hot 100. His sixth studio album ""Purple Rain"" was an international success, boosting Prince to superstardom and selling over 25 million copies worldwide. The album produced the US No 1. singles, ""When Doves Cry"" and ""Let's Go Crazy"" and sold 13 million copies in the United States as of 1996. Prince released an album every year for the rest of the decade, all charting"
"entries, and being the most successful chart act of the 1980s, and tenth most successful chart act of the 1990s. Prince's music career began when he signed a record deal with Warner Bros. Records in 1977 at 18 years of age. In 1978, he released his debut album, ""For You"". He followed the release with ""Prince"" (1979), ""Dirty Mind"" (1980), and ""Controversy"" (1981), three albums that were certified platinum and shifted from ""For You""'s disco/soul route and instead blended New Wave, rock, pop, R&B, and funk, building up his success. His 1982 album ""1999"", credited for being an enormous influence"
"next two albums, ""Dirty Mind"" (1980) and ""Controversy"" (1981), furthered his success on the dance/R&B charts, spawning the top-five hits ""Dirty Mind"", ""Uptown"", ""Head"", ""Controversy"", and ""Let's Work"". In 1982, Prince released the album ""1999"", which spawned the ""Billboard"" Hot 100 hits ""1999"", ""Little Red Corvette"", and ""Delirious"" throughout 1983, during which time he earned distinction as one of the first black artists to be played on MTV alongside Michael Jackson. ""Purple Rain"" (1984) gave Prince two American number one singles (""When Doves Cry"" and ""Let's Go Crazy"") while the three other singles, ""Purple Rain"", ""I Would Die 4 U"","
"duet with The Look, he wrote ""Manic Monday"", a number two pop hit for the Bangles. Artists that covered his music included Tom Jones, who brought his version of the song ""Kiss"" into the top 40 for the second time in the decade. Melissa Morgan brought her cover of ""Do Me, Baby"" to the top of the R&B charts in 1986. Other notable artists that covered Prince during the 1980s were The Pointer Sisters and Cyndi Lauper. He also won an Academy Award for the song ""Purple Rain"". In 1989, Irish singer Sinead O'Connor would record a cover of his"
"as a lower baritone range in one small segment. The song was a worldwide hit and established Prince's ability to succeed commercially under his new name, peaking at No. 3 on the ""Billboard"" Hot 100. It was certified gold by the RIAA and sold 700,000 copies domestically. However, the song was his last top 10 hit on the ""Billboard"" Hot 100 during his lifetime. It became his first and only United Kingdom No. 1 single under any name as a performer. He did have two other United Kingdom number ones as a songwriter: the 1984 hit single ""I Feel for"
"release of 2004's comeback record ""Musicology"", the title track and ""Call My Name"" reached top 40 positions. In 2006, several compositions including ""Black Sweat"", ""Fury"", and ""Te Amo Corazon"" reached the top 20 of charts throughout Europe and Asia. Prince has sold over 150 million records worldwide, including 48.9 million certified units in the United States, 4.7 million in France and over 5 million records in the United Kingdom, making him one of the best-selling artists of all time. He has accumulated five US number-one singles and fifteen worldwide number 1 hits, as well as 8 worldwide number one albums."
"and ""Take Me with U"" became worldwide top-10 hits and established him as one of the most popular performers of the decade. Throughout 1985 and 1986, Prince scored the worldwide top-40 hits ""Raspberry Beret"", ""Pop Life"", ""Paisley Park"", ""America"", ""Girls & Boys"", ""Mountains"", and ""Anotherloverholenyohead"", as well as the number-one hit ""Kiss"", from the musically diverse albums ""Around the World in a Day"" and ""Parade"". His 1987 double-album ""Sign o' the Times"" garnered a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year and spawned the top-20 hits ""Sign o' the Times"", ""If I Was Your Girlfriend"", ""I Could Never Take the"
"and ""I Wanna Be Your Lover"". ""I Wanna Be Your Lover"" sold over two million copies and received a platinum disc, rushing to No. 11 on the ""Billboard"" Hot 100 (becoming Prince's first hit single) and topped the R&B charts. In addition, it peaked at No. 41 in the United Kingdom (his first entry in the country) and reached number 2 on the ""Billboard"" Dance/Disco Singles chart. Prince performed both ""I Wanna Be Your Lover"" and ""Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad?"" on ""American Bandstand"" on 26 January 1980. Overall, the success of this album geared Prince towards his"
"the show but decided that Prince and the band needed more time to develop his music. In October 1979, Prince released the album ""Prince"", which was No. 4 on the ""Billboard"" Top R&B/Black Albums charts and No. 22 on the ""Billboard"" 200, and went platinum. It contained two R&B hits: ""Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad?"" and ""I Wanna Be Your Lover"", which sold over a million copies, and reached No. 11 on the ""Billboard"" Hot 100 and No. 1 for two weeks on the Hot Soul Singles chart. Prince performed both these songs on January 26, 1980, on"
"$170,500 (US$ in dollars) – three times more than was budgeted by Warner. With all the work, including 46 vocal lines layered into the first track, Prince was exhausted. He later said, ""I was a physical wreck when I finished."" The album was released on April 7, 1978. Its lead single, ""Soft and Wet"", became a minor hit on the US ""Billboard"" Hot 100, peaking at number 92. However, it became a top 20 hit on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, peaking at number 12 and establishing Prince as a popular teen star in the market. The second single released"
"to several pop and R&B hits, music videos and occasional TV performances. This resulted in the hit film ""Purple Rain"" (1984), which starred Prince and was loosely autobiographical, and the eponymous studio album, which was also the soundtrack to the film. The ""Purple Rain"" album sold more than 13 million copies in the US and spent 24 consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the ""Billboard"" 200 chart. The film won Prince an Academy Award for Best Original Song Score and grossed over $68 million in the US ($ million in dollars). Songs from the film were hits on pop charts"
"signing a contract with Warner Bros. Records in 1977 at age 18, he released his debut album ""For You"" the following year. Prince's first entry on the ""Billboard"" Hot 100 was ""Soft and Wet"" (1978), which peaked at number 92. The following year, he released ""I Wanna Be Your Lover"", which became a top-40 hit in several countries and peaked at number 11 in the United States; it topped the ""Billboard"" R&B chart in early 1980. The album ""Prince"" spawned a top-20 R&B hit single (""Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad?"") and a top-five dance hit (""Sexy Dancer""). His"
"Prince. In the late 1970s, after Prince released his debut album, ""For You"", Prince recruited Cymone as bassist for his touring band. Cymone stayed with Prince until 1981 when he quit the band over tensions with Prince. The two later resolved their issues and Cymone, managed by Owen Husney, went on to release 3 solo albums – ""Livin' in the New Wave"" (1982), ""Survivin' in the 80s"" (1983), and ""AC"" (1985). All were out of print for a long period of time, but all three of his solo records have been remastered, and expanded with extra tracks. His most successful"
"by the Recording Industry Association of America in 1984, shipping one million units in the United States, and was certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry in 2013. Following Prince's death in 2016, the song rose to number one on the US and UK iTunes Charts, allowing ""Purple Rain"" to re-enter the ""Billboard"" Hot 100 at number 17, later reaching number four. It also re-entered the UK Singles Chart at number 6, making it two places higher than its original peak of number 8. Originally peaking at number 12 in France, ""Purple Rain"" reached number one on the national singles"
"around the world; ""When Doves Cry"" and ""Let's Go Crazy"" reached No. 1, and the title track reached No. 2 on the ""Billboard"" Hot 100. At one point in 1984, Prince simultaneously had the No. 1 album, single, and film in the US; it was the first time a singer had achieved this feat. The ""Purple Rain"" album is ranked 72nd in ""Rolling Stone""'s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time; it is also included on the list of ""Time"" magazine's All-Time 100 Albums. The album also produced two of Prince's first three Grammy Awards earned at the 27th Annual Grammy"
"was ranked as the 21st most successful act of all time, the 26th most successful chart artist worldwide, including 27 overall number-one entries, and being the most successful chart act of the 1980s. His most commercial period was from 1982's ""1999"" to 1996's ""Emancipation"", though he maintained a loyal audience since and experienced a commercial resurgence with 2004's ""Musicology"", paving the way for several successful albums to follow including his final, ""Hit n Run Phase Two"", released in December 2015. Prince discography This article includes the discography of Prince. Also included is a list of the songs and recordings he"
"himself from contractual obligations. He released five records between 1994 and 1996 before signing with Arista Records in 1998. In 2000, he began referring to himself as ""Prince"" again. He released 16 albums after that, including the platinum-selling ""Musicology"" (2004). His final album, ""Hit n Run Phase Two"", was first released on the Tidal streaming service on December 2015. Five months later, at the age of 57, Prince died of an accidental fentanyl overdose at his Paisley Park recording studio and home in Chanhassen, Minnesota. Prince has sold over 100 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music"
"Prince albums discography Prince's albums discography consists of thirty-nine studio albums (including five soundtrack albums), four live albums, eight compilation albums, seventeen video albums, thirteen extended plays and one posthumous album. See Prince singles discography for his singles and EPs, and Prince videography for his music videos and video albums. Prince has sold over 100 million records worldwide, including 48.9 million certified units in the United States, and over 10 million records in the United Kingdom. Prince has been ranked as the 21st most successful act of all time, the 26th most successful chart artist worldwide, including 27 overall number-one"
"the early '80s"". According to ""The New Rolling Stone Album Guide"" (2004), """"Dirty Mind"" remains one of the most radical 180-degree turns in pop history."" Robert Hilburn of the ""Los Angeles Times"" described the music from the album as ""confident and highly danceable blend of post-disco funk and tasty, hard-line rock"". Prince's songwriting contains prominently sexual lyrics. Keith Harris of ""Blender"" characterizes its songs as ""confessions of a sex junkie"" with ""new-wave funk"". ""Pitchfork"" ranked ""Dirty Mind"" number 87 on its list of the Top 100 Albums of the 1980s. ""Slant Magazine"" listed the album at number 53 on its"
"six worldwide number-one singles. Prince entered the 1990s with the soundtrack to ""Graffiti Bridge""; the album spawned the top-10 hit ""Thieves in the Temple"" and the top-40 hit ""New Power Generation"". His 1991 album ""Diamonds and Pearls"" spawned several hit singles including the title track, the number-one hit ""Cream"", ""Insatiable"", ""Money Don't Matter 2 Night"", ""Gett Off"", and ""Thunder"". The 1992 follow-up record, the ""Love Symbol Album"", scored several top-40 hits including ""Sexy MF"", ""My Name is Prince"", ""7"", ""Damn U"", and ""The Morning Papers"". Prince's first compilation album, ""The Hits/The B-Sides"" (1993) included the top-40 hits ""Pink Cashmere"" and"
"ever. In 2012, ""Slant Magazine"" listed the album at #2 on its list of ""Best Albums of the 1980s"" behind only Michael Jackson's ""Thriller"". ""Purple Rain"" sold over 1.5 million copies its first week in stores, and sold over 13 million copies in the United States alone, with a total of 25 million copies sold worldwide.April 2016, the album re-charted at No. 2 on the ""Billboard 200"" after Prince's death, selling over 69,000 copies in the following week, and one of the best-selling albums of the year in the US with 487,000 sold in 2016. According to Billboard, within less"
"so they were not allowed to chart on the Hot 100—only on the Hot 100 Airplay. Several Prince songs also returned to the Top 40 in 2016, the year of his death, as re-entries; none were songs appearing in the top 40 for the first time). ""I Hate U"" was very successful on the charts. It peaked within the top 10 of the R&B/Hip-Hop and Rhythmic charts and it reached number 12 on the ""Billboard"" Hot 100. Unlike the last two Prince singles, ""I Hate U"" was less successful on Mainstream/Top 40 radio, as it did not chart on the"
"a Top 10 hit in both the US and the UK; the group also won three categories at that year's Grammy Awards. Prince's fortunes in the Nineties were mixed; he scored more hits and renewed his contract in 1992, but his relationship with Warner Bros. Records soon soured, climaxing in a highly publicized legal battle and his eventual departure from the label. Although his fourth film, ""Graffiti Bridge"" was panned by critics and bombed at the box office the album of the same name was very successful—it reached #6 on both the Billboard Hot 200 and R&B album chart and"
"Can't This Be Love"" (US #3) and ""Dreams"" (#22). Their four subsequent studio albums (""OU812"", ""For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge"", ""Balance"", and ""Van Halen III"") all reached #1 and the band scored 17 US Top 20 singles, including 1988's ""When It's Love"" (US #5), but their overall sales gradually declined, with each album selling less than its predecessor. The same was true of Prince. He scored numerous hit albums and singles through the latter half of the 1980s, but his record sales declined and Warner Bros. executives became increasingly concerned that he was producing far more material than they could release."
"record award; the first single lifted from the album, ""I Wanna Be Your Lover"" became Prince's first crossover hit, reaching #1 on the R&B chart and #11 on the main pop chart, while the follow-up single ""Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad?"" reached #13 on the R&B chart. Although he was still little known outside the US at this stage, this early success set the stage for his major commercial breakthrough in the 1980s. Another valuable late 1970's discovery was metal-pop band Van Halen, who were spotted at a Hollywood club by Mo Ostin and Ted Templeman in 1977."
"the first song by Prince released in proper form in the United Kingdom to miss the top 40 since ""Mountains"" in 1986, seven years earlier (this means that 23 of Prince's songs in a row had made the top 40 before ""The Morning Papers""). The song, despite missing the ""Billboard"" top 40, made the Top 40 mainstream chart, meaning it received significant radio airplay in America. The Morning Papers ""The Morning Papers"" is a song by Prince and The New Power Generation, from the 1992 ""Love Symbol"" album. It was released as the fourth worldwide (and fifth overall) single from"
"regularly ranked among Prince's greatest albums and generally considered his masterpiece alongside ""Purple Rain"". The album produced three top-ten hit singles, ""U Got the Look"", ""I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man"", and the title track ""Sign o' the Times"". ""Sign o' the Times"" was Prince's first solo album after the disbandment of The Revolution. ""Sign o' the Times"" was voted the best album of 1987 by Pazz & Jop crtitics poll. In 2003, ""Rolling Stone"" ranked the album at 93 on their 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. All songs written by Prince, except where noted. Disc"
"on the next few decades of dance, electro, house, and techno music, sold over six million copies worldwide and became the fifth best-selling album of 1983. The next album, ""Purple Rain"", the first of three credited to Prince and The Revolution, was the 1984 soundtrack to his film-debut of the same name. In a runaway phenomenon of success, it sold over 22 million copies around the world and at one point, Prince had the number-one song, album, and film in the United States, a feat matching The Beatles' 1964 achievement with ""A Hard Day's Night"". Soon tiring of the project's"
"follow-on live album ""Indigo Nights"" (2008), a collection of aftershow performances at the venue, was marketed within an expensive coffee-table book. The three-disc 2009 set ""Lotusflow3r"" sold very well via the Target retailer in the US again seeing the inside of the top three in the ""Billboard 200"". A further British newspaper cover-mount deal distributed ""20Ten"" in 2010 although the exercise had reduced impact on the second outing and critical reception was poor. It was with the solo album ""Art Official Age"" and his new band 3rdeyegirl's debut ""Plectrumelectrum"" in 2014, that Prince finally returned to critical favour and headlines"
"release, spending 24 consecutive weeks atop the ""Billboard"" 200 and selling over 20 million copies worldwide. After releasing the albums ""Around the World in a Day"" (1985) and ""Parade"" (1986), The Revolution disbanded, and Prince released the double album ""Sign o' the Times"" (1987) as a solo artist. He released three more solo albums before debuting The New Power Generation band in 1991. In 1993, while in a contractual dispute with Warner Bros., he changed his stage name to an unpronounceable symbol (), also known as the ""Love Symbol"", and began releasing new albums at a faster rate to remove"
"the ""Rolling Stone"" list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and is included in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. Following Prince's death, the song re-charted on the ""Billboard"" Hot 100 chart at number eight, its first appearance in the top 10 since the week ending September 1, 1984. As of April 30, 2016, it has sold 1,385,448 copies in the United States. According to the ""Purple Rain"" DVD, Prince was asked by the director to write a song to match the theme of a particular segment of the film"