Prince: The Man and His Music

by Matt Thorne

Overview

The newest, most updated book on Prince available today

Famously reticent and perennially controversial, Prince was one of the few music superstars who remained, largely, an enigma—even up to his premature death on April 21, 2016. A fixture of the pop canon, Prince is widely held to be the greatest musician of his generation and will undoubtedly remain an inspiring and singular talent.

This meticulously researched biography is the most comprehensive work on Prince yet published. Unlike other Prince books, this one eschews speculation into the artist's highly guarded private life and instead focuses deep and sustained attention exactly where it should be: on his work. Acclaimed British novelist and critic Matt Thorne draws on years of research and dozens of interviews with Prince's intimate associates (many of whom have never spoken on record before) to examine every phase of the musician's 35-year career, including nearly every song—released and unreleased—that Prince has recorded. Originally released in the UK in 2012, this first US publication of Prince includes updated content detailing the artist's two 2014 albums, tour, 2015 Tidal release, and other career events.

This astonishingly rich, almost encyclopedic biography is a must-have for any serious fan of Prince.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781572843264
Publisher:	Agate
Publication date:	08/22/2023
Edition description:	2nd ed.
Pages:	656
Sales rank:	218,778
Product dimensions:	7.90(w) x 5.00(h) x 1.50(d)

About the Author

Matt Thorne was born in Bristol in 1974 and educated at Cambridge Universityand the Universityof St. Andrews. He is the author of six novels, including Eight Minutes Idle, which won an Encore Award and was recently adapted into a film, and Cherry, which was long-listed for the Man Booker Prize. He is also the author of three children’s books and the 39 Castles series, as well as the coeditor of the anthologies All Hail the New Puritans and Croatian Nights. He runs the MA in Creative Writing program at Brunel Universityin London and is a regular reviewer of literature, film, music, and TV for UK radio and newspapers.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations 

Prologue: Come 2 My House (Part 1)

1 Justifications from a Mamma-Jamma

2 The Business of Music

3 Wouldn’t You Love to Love Me?

4 Still Waiting

5 Creating Uptown

6 Gigolos Get Lonely Too (Part 1) 73 7 Royal Jewels 

8 Nikki’s Castle 

9 There Aren’t Any Rules 

10 New Position 

11 Roadhouse Garden and Songs for Susannah 

12 The Story of a Man I Am Not 

13 Rebirth of the Flesh 

14 Crystal Ball . . . 

15 . . . Or Sign o’ the Times? 

16 For Those of U on Valium . . . 

17 Spooky and All That He Crawls for . . . 

18 Cross the Line 

19 Dance with the Devil 

20 What’s Wrong with Graffiti Bridge? 

21 Gigolos Get Lonely Too (Part 2) 

22 Playing Strip Pool with Vanessa 

23 The Chains of Turin 

24 Part I: Introducing the Friction Years 

25 Part 2: ‘It Was Just About Needing to Get It

Done . . .’ 

26 Part 3: ‘All I Gotta Do Is Sell a Million and I Can

Quit . . .’ 

27 Wasted Kisses . . . 

28 . . . And Missed Opportunities 

29 Join My Club 

30 New Directions in Music 

31 True Funk Soldier 

32 Come 2 My House (Part 2) 

33 21 Nights in London: A Fan’s Notes 

34 Gigolos Get Lonely Too (Part 3) 

35 An Entirely New Galaxy Awaits . . . 

36 Ending Endlessly 

Epilogue: Living Out Loud 

Afterword to the American Edition 

Acknowledgements 

Bibliography 

Notes 

Illustration Credits 

General Index

Index of Works by Prince 

About the Author

Editorial Reviews

Praise for Prince: The Man and His Music by Matt Thorne:

"Matt Thorne's Prince is the definitive work on the man; I am listening again to every piece of his music with renewed enthusiasm." —Alexis Taylor, Hot Chip

"[Thorne] brings an enthusiasm, intelligence, and maverick spirit to the 562 pages covering the 35-year career of Prince Rogers Nelson. . . It's to Thorne's credit that through painstaking research and interviews he manages to paint a picture of what the man, rather than the myth, is actually like. A must for the legions of Prince fans out there." —Doug Johnstone, Big Issue

"Thorne brings an exhaustive knowledge and attention to detail to the task. . . if you're as much of a fan as Thorne, you'll be in heaven." —Mick Brown, Daily Telegraph

"The final word on the mad genius known as Prince Rogers Nelson. There is now quite literally nothing more to say about Prince or his music. It's all here—dance, sex, romance, and above all, the music. Downright orgasmic." —Current magazine

"If you've ever craved the empurpled equivalent of Paul Williams' Bob Dylan: Performing Artist. . . you are well served." —Danny Eccleston, Mojo

"Impishly encyclopaedic, brings alert senses to bear. . . in stripping back the purple finery." —Ben Thompson, Independent on Sunday Music Books of the Year

"Thorne is a good stylist and a deep thinker but primarily he's a fan. . . . Thorne is a compelling, emotional narrator." —Kate Mossman, New Statesman

"Highly engaging." —Mark Ellen, Observer

"Everything I love in a book." —Nemone, BBC Radio 6 Music

From the Publisher