美國傳奇歌手普林斯.羅杰斯.內(nèi)爾森去世

April 21 was a sad day for many music lovers.Another pop icon, Prince Rogers Nelson, passed awayat the age of 57 of unknown causes.

對許多音樂愛好者來說4月21日是個悲傷的日子。又一位流行音樂巨星普林斯•羅杰斯•內(nèi)爾森去世，享年57歲，目前死因尚不清楚。

On the streets of Minneapolis, US, Prince’shometown, thousands of fans in purple outfits linedup to pay tribute to their favorite native son. Tearsfell freely, as they blasted his famous songs likePurple Rain.

在普林斯的家鄉(xiāng)美國明尼阿波利斯，成百上千名歌迷身穿紫色服裝聚集在街頭悼念這位他們最愛的明尼阿波利斯之子。他們一邊高唱普林斯的代表作《紫雨》等，一邊痛哭流涕。

Over the course of more than 35 years, Prince won seven Grammy awards, was inducted intoRock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004, and sold more than 100 million records. He revolutionizedthe music industry by successfully blurring the boundaries of rock, R&B, funk, pop andsoul. But Prince is mostly remembered as an outlier in the music industry.

在35年的音樂生涯中，普林斯獲得過7次格萊美獎，還在2004年入選美國搖滾名人堂，唱片總銷量超過一億張。他成功打破了搖滾、藍(lán)調(diào)、放克、流行樂和靈魂樂之間的界限，給音樂產(chǎn)業(yè)帶來了一場大變革。不過更多時候普林斯是以音樂界的異類被人記住的。

Prince’s passion for music was atypical. According to The Wall Street Journal, he could holdmarathon recording sessions that lasted 48 hours with good quality control. After finishingmulti-hour performances on tour, he sometimes visited local pubs and kept playing until dawn.

普林斯對音樂有著異乎尋常的熱愛。《華爾街日報》稱他能持續(xù)48小時的馬拉松式錄音，還能保證錄音的質(zhì)量。在結(jié)束數(shù)小時的巡回演出后，他有時還會去當(dāng)?shù)氐木瓢?，一直玩到天亮?/p>

“There’s not a person around who can stay awake as long as I can,” he said in an interview in1985. “Music is what keeps me awake.”

他曾在1985年的一次采訪中說：“我周圍沒有人能像我一樣保持清醒這么長時間。喚醒我的是音樂。”

Prince also taught modern audiences the importance of ownership in artwork. In the 1990s,Prince declared an open battle against his record label, Warner Bros, for control of his music.

普林斯還教現(xiàn)代聽眾要尊重藝術(shù)的自主性。20世紀(jì)90年代，為了爭奪對自己音樂的主動權(quán)，他公開叫板自己的唱片公司——華納兄弟。

He wrote “slave” across on his cheek and changed his name to an unpronounceable “lovesymbol”, as a means of protest. “When you stop a man from dreaming, he becomes a slave.That’s where I was,” Prince told Rolling Stone in a 1996 interview. “If you don’t own yourmasters, your master owns you.” Gradually, fans started to refer to him as the “Artist FormerlyKnown as Prince”.

為了表示抗議，他在自己的臉頰上寫上“奴隸”二字，還把自己的名字改為一個極難發(fā)音的“愛的象征”。1996年，在接受《滾石》雜志采訪時，他說：“當(dāng)你剝奪了一個人做夢的權(quán)利，那他和奴隸毫無二致。那就是我當(dāng)時的處境。如果你不當(dāng)自己的主人，就會成為他人的奴隸。”此后，粉絲們開始稱他為“曾經(jīng)名叫普林斯的歌手”。

In recent years, streaming has become one of the most popular ways of accessing music. ButPrince saw this trend as a new way for tech companies to exploit musicians. Prince took legalactions to remove pirated videos of him on YouTube. He refused to put his music on majorstreaming services like Spotify and iTunes. Prince’s actions have influenced some of today’shighest-selling artists, like Taylor Swift and Adele. In other words, he helped reshape thelandscape of modern music.

近年來，流媒體逐漸成為最受歡迎的獲取音樂的渠道。而普林斯則把這種趨勢視為科技公司剝削音樂人的新手段。他采取法律手段，清除了油管上自己的盜版視頻。他拒絕將自己的音樂放在諸如Spotify和iTunes這樣的大型流媒體服務(wù)器上。普林斯的行為影響了一批現(xiàn)在高銷量的歌手，比如泰勒•斯威夫特和阿黛爾。換言之，他為重塑現(xiàn)代音樂界的格局做出了貢獻(xiàn)。

Prince’s sudden death is a great loss in the world of music. On social media, dozens of UScelebrities, including Katy Perry, The Weeknd, Justin Timberlake and Madonna, expressed theircondolences. Even US President Barack Obama praised Prince for his great contributions tomusic.

普林斯的意外離世是全球音樂界的重大損失。凱蒂•佩里、The Weeknd、賈斯汀•汀布萊克、麥當(dāng)娜等許多美國明星在社交媒體上悼念他。就連美國總統(tǒng)巴拉克•奧巴馬也高度評價了普林斯對音樂界做出的杰出貢獻(xiàn)。

“Few artists have influenced the sound and trajectory of popular music more distinctly, ortouched quite so many people with their talent,” Obama said in a statement. “‘A strong spirittranscends rules,’ Prince once said – and nobody’s spirit was stronger, bolder, or morecreative.”

奧巴馬發(fā)表悼文說：“很少有歌手能對流行音樂的唱法和發(fā)展軌跡產(chǎn)生如此重大的影響，也鮮少有人有此才華能感動這么多聽眾。普林斯曾說過‘堅韌的意志超越一切規(guī)則的束縛’，沒有人的精神比他更強大、更勇敢、更富創(chuàng)意。”