Prince's Real Name: Prince Rogers Nelson

Quick answer: Prince's real name was Prince Rogers Nelson. He was born on June 7, 1958, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and died on April 21, 2016, in Chanhassen, Minnesota. Prince was both a given name and his primary stage billing—not a nickname layered on a different first name.

Real name and early life

Britannica and the Library of Congress identify Prince Rogers Nelson (Britannica; LOC). Nelson is the family surname; Prince Rogers are given names (his father performed as jazz musician Prince Rogers). He played piano as a child, mastered guitar and drums, joined bands as a teen, and released his debut album in 1978. Early work blended funk, soul, and disco aimed at Black audiences before he crossed into rock, pop, and other styles with often explicit lyrics that made him a controversial star.

Career highlights

“Little Red Corvette” (1983) was a major crossover hit with heavy MTV play. The album and film Purple Rain (1984) made him a global superstar, with singles including “Let’s Go Crazy,” “When Doves Cry,” and “Purple Rain.” In 1993 he changed his public name to an unpronounceable gender-symbol glyph, prompting the press tag “the Artist Formerly Known as Prince,” before resuming the name Prince around 1999–2000 after publishing-contract battles. He wrote hits for other artists, formed associated acts such as the Time, experimented with direct-to-fan distribution, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004. Later critically praised albums included Musicology (2004), Planet Earth (2007), and LotusFlow3r (2009). CSV category “actors” is a mismatch—he belongs under musicians/singers. Across symbols and contracts, the birth name remained Prince Rogers Nelson.

Name notes for searchers

During the mid-1990s, media often avoided typing the glyph and used “the Artist Formerly Known as Prince.” Prefer Britannica and LOC for the civil name. Wikipedia is useful only as a pointer after primary citations.