Prince, Inventor of the Portable Electronic Keyboard

He changed his name to a symbol. He has recorded over thirty albums with album sales in the millions. Ten of his albums have gone platinum and thirty or so of his singles have been on the Top Forty charts. His fan base is worldwide. Purple Rain went platinum thirteen times over. His music has accompanied movie soundtracks, sometimes his own movies, and been played at proms.

His mother named him Prince Rogers Nelson after his jazz musician father, John, whose stage name was Prince Rogers.

Released in 1982, the album "1999" was actually Prince's fifth recorded album, but it was the album which put him on the charts. With the singles "1999" and "Little Red Corvette," Prince became a household name.

Throughout his career, Prince has always pushed the edge of the envelope, both with his music and in his personal life.

In protest over a legal battle between himself and Warner Brothers over the creative and monetary control of his music and performances, Prince changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol, known as "Love Symbol #2."

"The first step I have taken towards the ultimate goal of emancipation from the chains that bind me to Warner Bros. was to change my name from Prince to [symbol]. Prince is the name that my Mother gave me at birth. Warner Bros. took the name, trademarked it, and used it as the main marketing tool to promote all of the music that I wrote. The company owns the name Prince and all related music marketed under Prince. I became merely a pawn used to produce more money for Warner Bros....

"I was born Prince and did not want to adopt another conventional name. The only acceptable replacement for my name, and my identity, was [symbol] a symbol with no pronunciation, that is a representation of me and what my music is about. This symbol is present in my work over the years; it is a concept that has evolved from my frustration; it is who I am. It is my name."[1]

But the symbol with no pronunciation was not the first pseudonym used by musician Prince. While writing songs for "The Time," he used Jamie Starr and The Starr Company; Paisley Park for songs written for Martika and Kid Creole, Alexander Nevermind for Sheena Easton's "Sugar Walls" and Christopher for "Manic Monday" for The Bangles.

On January 16, 1992, Prince Rogers Nelson applied for a patent for a portable, electronic keyboard musical instrument. Patent number D349127 was issued to "Prince R. Nelson" on July 26, 1994.

Unlike most patents, Prince's was short and sweet consisting of only two pages with six drawings.

A number of other patents for portable electronic keyboards have been issued since Prince received his, most of them with improvements for musician mobility and less stress on the player's elbows.

However, Prince is another in a list of celebrities who are also inventors.

Sources:

[1] Brendan Howard
Ironic Sans
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