By changing his name to an unpronounceable symbol in June of 1993, The Artist Formerly Known As Prince confounded both fans and critics alike. But that's nothing new in a career that has spanned decades and often incited controversy while inspiring musical change.

Born Prince Rogers Nelson in June 1958 and given his performing father's stage name, he is more often referred to as Prince in public, an American singer, songwriter and musician, who has acted in the past, and a self-proclaimed "talent promoter" for the likes of Carmen Electra, Sheila E., and Vanity 6.

He is also the proud winner of seven Grammy Awards, a Golden Globe and even An Academy Award. In 2004 he made it into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Rolling Stone has also weighed in on him, ranking him No. 27 on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.

No one word can describe his music which reflects the diverse influences of the many types of music and artists who have affected his work, this includes music like: rock and roll, funk, R&B, psychedelia, and singers such as: James Brown, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and even the Beatles.

Known for his colorful stage costumes and attention-grabbing antics he inherited his musical talent from both of his parents; his mother being a jazz singer and his father a pianist and songwriter. He also has one sister, Tika Evene, born in 1960 who shares his musical interests.

In an interesting aside, Prince, whose off-stage persona is extremely shy, has claimed to have been born an epileptic, suffering seizures as a child, and that he was mysteriously cured by an angel who visited him.

Prince formed his own band called Grand Central with a childhood friend and a cousin while still in high school. The funky mix of music he is known for today became his preference around this time with artists like Earth, Wind & Fire and Jimi Hendrix finding their way into his music.

Prince was given his first contract at the age of 17, and released his first album, For You, in 1978. With the exception of one song, the entire album was written and performed by Prince.

The single from the album made it to No. 12 on the Hot Soul Singles chart and hit No. 92 on the Billboard Hot 100. Another song "Just as Long as We're Together" managed to hit No. 91 on the Hot Soul Singles chart.

October 1979 saw the release of his self-titled album, Prince, with its hit R&B songs: "Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad? and "I Wanna Be Your Lover".

The years 1980-84 are known as Prince's era of controversy, because he released the sexually explicit album, Dirty Mind, and the album Controversy. His album 1999, released in 1982, as a protest against nuclear arms soared in popularity and became his first top ten hit in countries other than the United States.

Prince and his band now called The Revolution, found stunning success when his 1984 album Purple Rain and the movie of the same name soared into hits.

After a haphazard tour in 1986 and the failure of his second film titled, Under the Cherry Moon, Prince dissolved his band. Although he received critical praise for his musical efforts and had a successful world tour during this time, his career then hit a downslide for a period of several years.

Revival struck in 1989 when he appeared on Madonna's album Like a Prayer, sang a duet for "Love Song" and contributed his talents playing electric guitar throughout the album, while remaining uncredited.

In 1992 he confounded audiences with the release of his twelfth and oddly titled album, "Love Symbol Album', with the infamously unpronounceable symbol on it's cover. 1993 was the year The Artist Formerly Known As Prince saw the first release of a successful album of his past hits. It was also the year he opted to change his stage name to the what he called the "Love Symbol", a combination of the symbols for male and female. That was when Prince became known as The Artist Formerly Known As Prince because there was no way of saying the symbol he had created.

His career continued to fluctuate up and down for a period of several more years despite the fact that he returned to calling himself "Prince" in the year 2000. But there is always a demand for his funky creative style music and his innovation, and he has earned respect for his determination to remain true to himself and the type of music he wants to make. While he is a far cry from what can be called a mainstream artist, and despite his oft-times odd behavior, Prince is apparently here to stay. In December of 2010 he was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.