Prince the King

A very happy birthday to the true musical genius that is Prince. Believe it or not he has turned 50 today. He is the oldest of American pop's Holy Trinity born in 1958 - with Michael Jackson and Madonna set to hit the landmark birthday in August (Blimey! Something must have been in the US air that summer).

Prince is also the most talented of the three. Known for his R&B, funk and soul - he effortlessly proved himself when tackling other genres such as rock, hip-hop, and pop. From the late 70s to 1994 he was relentless in producing great album after great album, almost every year.

Of course, after 1994 it got messy. He fell out with record company Warner Brothers, had the word slave written across his cheek during a subsequent lawsuit against the label and then changed his name to symbol - before the world settled for The Artist Formerly Known As Prince. His material went downhill in quality and things were never the same again. And his dictator-like determination to protect his image rights doesn't do his reputation any favours and paints the picture of a money mad control freak.

But he still has a back catalogue to put his peers in the shade. So many great songs were recorded in his golden period. He even gave some classics to other artists because he just had to many!

I saw him live in London last year, during his O2 Arena residency and he didn't do Raspberry Beret, I Would Die 4 U or a full version of Diamonds & Pearls and yet the show was still packed with hit after hit and we all went away delighted.

His name may be Prince (well, for most of the time) but he really is a sonic King.