Prince leaves canon of brilliant, individual pop songs

Extravagantly talented, deeply idiosyncratic and highly influential, Prince, who has died aged 57 at his home in Minneapolis, bestrode the world of pop like a tiny colossus.

Songwriter, producer, performer, bandleader, Svengali, film-maker and movie star rolled into one, he wrote many hundreds of songs, for himself and for others.

A multi-instrumentalist who often played every single note himself, his prodigious output sometimes obscured the fact that he was a truly gifted songwriter who drew inspiration from the full range of American musical traditions, from musicals to jazz to psychedelia.

His commercial peak in the 1980s was due at least in part to his success in appealing to white audiences at a time when racial segregation in music was far more overt than it is now.

Popular music

He was capable of writing a perfect heartsore piano ballad, but his roots were in R’n’B and funk, and he is a towering figure among the remarkable line of multitalented African-Americans who continue to redraw the boundaries of popular music to this day.

Like Stevie Wonder and Sly Stone before him, and Kanye West since, Prince achieved the notable feat of making music that was simultaneously experimental and enormously popular.

In many ways the epitome of the troubled pop genius as he tussled over the years with industry machinations and a not always sympathetic media, he was also a true auteur; a Prince song is always immediately recognisable.

He leaves a canon of brilliant, individual pop songs and a musical landscape that will carry his imprint forever.