Prince

In honor of Black History Month, The Cardinal will feature a prominent and/or historical Black Americans, living or dead, who have worked toward change, advancement, and/or world peace. Some of them are heroes, and some are unsung heroes who deserve recognition, and have made contributions to make society a better place.

Quincy Enyama-Turner, Staff Writer

February 28, 2025

Prince Rogers Nelson or more famously known as Prince was an American singer born on June 7, 1958 in Minneapolis and passed away on April 21, 2016.

Prince was a very influential artist in the funk and soul music scene, which was primarily catered to an African American audience but was also enjoyed by many different people of multiple backgrounds. Regarded as one of the greatest musicians of his generation; he was known for his flamboyant, androgynous persona, wide vocal range, which included a far-reaching falsetto and high-pitched screams, as well as and his skill as a multi-instrumentalist, often preferring to play all or most of the instruments on his recordings.

One of his earliest gigs was when Mick Jagger personally invited Prince to open up for The Rolling Stoners for a pair of shows at The L.A. Coliseum in October 1981, a high-profile string of dates which managed to amass over 90,000 people in the crowd for each show. Prince, aware of some unrest in the audience, even tried to please the crowd by playing more rock-style material. Promoter Bill Graham then reportedly came onto the stage to try and calm the situation down which was to no avail. The verbal abuse then progressed to bottles and anything else that was in their vicinity which they deemed fit to throw. Sadly, Prince and his band left the stage.

The Stones concert did not deter his career. His first major success was the song “Little Red Corvette” in 1983, which earned a lot of attention and airplay on a new and upcoming MTV which did not feature many Black artists at the time. The single was the first release from the film Purple Rain, which is still his best selling artist and solidified Prince as a major artist in the 1980s. Purple Rain was an Academy Award winning soundtrack and earned itself a Grammy. In a lifetime, Prince would receive 76 nominations and 30 wins as both entertainer and musical artist, marking him as one of the most decorated entertainers of all time.

About the Contributor

Quincy Enyama-Turner, Junior Editor

Quincy Enyama-Turner is a junior student at Hoover High School. Quincy is a current member and team captain of the Hoover Cardinal Baseball team. He hopes to continue his baseball career into college and also continue his education. Outside of baseball, Quincy loves fashion and frequently searches for different styles of clothing to see different ways he can express himself. His biggest critics are his friends when it comes to fashion because he thinks very highly of them and their opinions. Quincy is as much friend oriented as he is family oriented due to their major effect on his decisions and how he carries himself. Quincy comes from an African American and Japanese background. His mom is from Japan and his dad is from Cleveland, Ohio. His favorite dish is a Japanese dish called Katsu Curry which consists of rice, japanese curry, and a fried chicken cutlet. Quincy has been to Japan four times to meet relatives and enjoys the cultural differences between Japan and the United States. Quincy believes that by helping people who are willing to learn the game of baseball, he can change the world. He believes that by helping others to learn how to play baseball, it will get more kids off the streets and give kids less of a chance to get involved with the wrong people. He thinks that everyone should be able to do extra curricular activities and there should be no barriers in the way of that. Along with this Quincy is an advocate for society giving schools in low income areas the ability to provide more workshops and programs to help the kids of the future find a career path they might want to pursue. Quincy says that by giving opportunities to kids all around the world, different career fields whether its stem or business, can be diverse which in turn makes the world a better place as all voices can be heard.