--- title: Prince Dead: Unusual Facts About the Pop Icon description: Prince died at Paisley Park in Minneapolis. Here are surprising facts about the legendary pop star. canonical: https://time.com/4303584/prince-dead-facts-surprising-unusual-biography/ author: Olivia B. Waxman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-04-21T18:43:25.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:46:39.025Z og:title: 6 Fascinating Facts About Prince You Didn't Know og:description: The pop icon, who died Thursday at 57, had a thing for doves og:url: https://time.com/4303584/prince-dead-facts-surprising-unusual-biography/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3596eadb620efd9a/6988903bcd1bba795c70060d/prince-musician-dead-02.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Prince Dead TIMEHP og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 6 Fascinating Facts About Prince You Didn't Know twitter:description: The pop icon, who died Thursday at 57, had a thing for doves twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3596eadb620efd9a/6988903bcd1bba795c70060d/prince-musician-dead-02.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 6 Fascinating Facts About Prince You Didn't Know  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Apr 21, 2016 6:43 PM UTC  Prince performs live at the Fabulous Forum on in Inglewood, Calif. on Feb, 19, 1985. Prince performs live at the Fabulous Forum on in Inglewood, Calif. on Feb, 19, 1985.Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Apr 21, 2016 6:43 PM UTC Prince, the legendary recording artist, died Wednesday in Minneapolis at his Paisley Park home, [according to his publicist.](http://time.com/4303558/prince-dead-died-death-paisley-park/?xid=homepage) He was 57\. Here, TIME has rounded-up some of the most surprising tidbits about the life of the Grammy Award-winning singer. • “Skipper” was his nickname growing up. • When he was 10 years old, he [danced on stage](https://books.google.com/books?id=NrMDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA38&lpg=PA38&dq=prince+james+brown+10+years+old&source=bl&ots=V3wzuvUUIr&sig=zpsmw53usMuhfL6Vl7t1FsbL9mU&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiFwt77n6DMAhVKNj4KHWY4CiIQ6AEIPTAG#v=onepage&q=prince%20james%20brown%2010%20years%20old&f=false) with James Brown, the “Godfather of Soul.” • Spaghetti and orange juice was once “one of his favorite meals,” _Purple Rain_ director Albert Magnoli told [_Spin_](https://books.google.com/books?id=dPH2eV-xQFYC&pg=PA55&dq=spin+2009+albert+magnoli&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi0rK2grqDMAhXHGT4KHRZDDc0Q6AEIHDAA#v=onepage&q=spin%202009%20albert%20magnoli&f=false) magazine in 2009, who watched him order the strange combination once. • At one point, he kept a yellow gnome “covered by a swarm of butterflies” in a guest bedroom, [according to](http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/prince-talks-the-silence-is-broken-19850912?page=3) a 1985 _Rolling Stone_ profile. “A friend gave that to me, and I put it in the living room,” Prince [told the magazine](http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/prince-talks-the-silence-is-broken-19850912#ixzz46U3t3aYN). “But some people said it scared them, so I took it out and put it in here.” ### See Prince’s Life in Photos  Prince performs at the Bottom Line on Feb. 15, 1980 in New York City. Waring Abbott—Getty Images  Prince performs on Saturday Night Live on Feb. 21, 1981. Alan Singer—Getty Images  Prince performs onstage at the Palladium on Dec. 2, 1981 in New York City. Waring Abbott—Getty Images  Prince in 1982. ullstein bild/Getty Images  Prince attends the premiere of Purple Rain on July 26, 1984 in Hollywood, Calif. Ron Galella—Getty Images  Promotional still for Purple Rain, 1984. Warner Bros. Pictures  Prince in Under the Cherry Moon, 1986. Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection  Prince and the Revolution perform on Aug. 17, 1986 in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Rob Verhorst—Getty Images  Prince performs at the 1991 MTV Video Music Awards on Sept. 5, 1991 in Los Angeles. Frank Micelotta Archive—Getty Images  Prince Charles, right, talks with Prince, left, at the "Diamonds are Forever" celebration on June 9, 1999 in London. Dave Hogan—AP  Beyoncé, right, and Prince perform at the 46th Annual Grammy Awards on Feb. 8, 2004 in Los Angeles. Frank Micelotta—Getty Images  From left: Tom Petty, Dhani Harrison and Prince perform during The 19th Annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony in New York City on March 15, 2004\. Prince was inducted into the Hall of Fame that evening. Dimitrios Kambouris—Getty Images  Prince arrives with his former wife Manuela Testolini for the 77th Academy Awards on Feb. 27, 2005 in Los Angeles. Kevork Djansezian—AP  Prince performs during the American Idol Season 5 Finale on May 24, 2006 in Hollywood, Calif. Vince Bucci—Getty Images  Prince performs during half-time at Super Bowl XLI on February 4, 2007 in Miami, Fla. Roberto Schmidt—AFP/Getty Images  Prince performs during half-time at Super Bowl XLI on February 4, 2007 in Miami, Fla. Jonathan Daniel—Getty Images  Sheila E and Prince perform on June 1, 2007 in Pasadena, Calif. Kevin Winter—Getty Images  Prince with comedian Dave Chappelle at the 2007 NBA All-Star Game on Feb. 18, 2007 in Las Vegas. Andrew D. Bernstein—Getty Images  Prince during the 2015 American Music Awards on Nov. 22, 2015 in Los Angeles. Jeff Kravitz—Getty Images • The “When Doves Cry” singer kept actual doves, [according to](http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20668457,00.html) a Billboard’s [2013 cover story](http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/1526279/read-princes-billboard-in-depth-cover-story-from-2013). As the writer Gail Mitchell wrote: --- > “” --- • He loved playing ping-pong. Once, he hit Michael Jackson in the crotch with a ball while trying to get the fellow pop legend to play a game with him, music journalist Ronin Ro [wrote](https://books.google.com/books?id=11dZsE7iGdcC&pg=PA142&dq=prince+ping+pong&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiU5uiKpaDMAhWMWz4KHbi%5FCKcQ6AEILzAB#v=onepage&q=prince%20ping%20pong&f=false) in the biography _Prince: Inside the Music and the Masks._ His most famous ping-pong match in recent years took place on the hit show [_New Girl_](http://www.ew.com/article/2015/09/14/prince-interview-paisley-park-new-album-hitnrun)_._ After reaching out to the show because he liked it so much, he got to school the show’s star Zooey Deschanel in the art of table tennis, [_Entertainment Weekly_ ](http://www.ew.com/article/2015/09/14/prince-interview-paisley-park-new-album-hitnrun)reports. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4303584/prince-dead-facts-surprising-unusual-biography/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4303584/prince-dead-facts-surprising-unusual-biography/"},"headline":"6 Fascinating Facts About Prince You Didn't Know","datePublished":"2016-04-21T18:43:25.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:46:39.025Z","description":"The pop icon, who died Thursday at 57, had a thing for doves","url":"https://time.com/4303584/prince-dead-facts-surprising-unusual-biography/","keywords":["Newsfeed","celebrities"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3596eadb620efd9a/6988903bcd1bba795c70060d/prince-musician-dead-02.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Olivia B. 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