Schkopi.com : Prince et Minneapolis Sound

Quoi, cela n'intéresse personne de connaître les origines de Roger ?

Je recopie l'article ici au cas où il viendrait à disparaître.


Megan Smolenyak
Genealogy Expert, Author of "Hey, America, Your Roots Are Showing" & "Who Do You Think You Are?"

Hey, Prince, Your Roots Are Showing
Posted: 02/08/2013 11:00 pm EST Updated: 04/10/2013 5:12 am EDT

Prince Rogers Nelson, better known simply as Prince, has the music world intrigued with the series of singles he's been releasing -- most recently, Breakfast Can Wait. Will a full-fledged album be far behind? We can only hope. But while we're in wait-and-see mode, I thought I'd take a peek into his past -- and by that, I mean his pre-Minnesota, pre-purple, ancestral past. Here are a few of the discoveries I found scattered in the branches of his family tree:

Among the surnames that appear in Prince's family tree are Bonnell, Brooks, Hardy, Head, Jenkins, Nelson, Phillips and Shaw, so those sharing these names could be related.

As with other gifted musicians such as Beyoncé and Jay-Z, Prince has a concentration of Louisiana roots. In fact, all four of his grandparents were born there, though Minnesota, Georgia, and Arkansas can also claim a piece of his heritage.

Twins run on both sides of Prince's family. His mother was one, and there were also twins in the Nelson branch on his father's side.

Due to the Great Migration, his once mostly Louisiana-based family dispersed to Arkansas, Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, New Jersey and Tennessee. His maternal grandfather, a Pullman porter named Frank Shaw, went north to Minnesota by way of Iowa. Though this might sound like a peculiar route, this same pattern can be seen in the family tree of Cory Booker, whose ancestors were drawn from the South to Iowa for mining jobs. And as a result of all this meandering, one of Prince's great-uncles is buried at Burr Oak on the outskirts of Chicago, the same notorious cemetery where one of Michelle Obama's uncles is buried.

Prince's paternal grandfather had 11 children by two wives over a 36-year period. This grandfather's parents also had 11 children, but in a more concentrated 14-year period. 22 offspring from just these two generations means that Prince undoubtedly has dozens, if not hundreds, of Nelson cousins in both Arkansas and Minnesota.

Six of Prince's eight great-grandparents were born into slavery, and as was unfortunately so common, one of his great-grandmothers was apparently the daughter of her one-time owner.

Within Louisiana, Prince has roots in Claiborne, Webster, Bienville and Lincoln Parishes. More specifically, the towns of Homer, Cotton Valley, Arcadia and Vienna, are all ancestral hometowns for the Purple One.

2013-02-07-NelsonHardy1880mcPrinceSmolenyak.jpg

1880 marriage of Ed Nelson to Emma Hardy, Claiborne Parish, Louisiana

One of his great-great-grandmothers could be considered a 19th century version of a cougar. After her first marriage, she took a second husband less than half her age. Her new, teen-aged husband was only five years older than his eldest stepchild. Even so, she managed to outlive him.

Si, c'est intéressant. Merci

Il y a des chances que lui même ait appris tout ça via cet article merci pour le lien v2p

ElyseeKadour a écrit :Quoi, cela n'intéresse personne de connaître les origines de Roger ?

Je ne connais qu'un fan (Hollandais) qui s'intéresse vraiment à la généalogie de Prince. Ceci dit l'article date de 2013, il me semble l'avoir déjà vu passer (mais je peux me tromper).

Très sincèrement, l'histoire de ses grands-parents voire ses arrières grand-parents n'a eu finalement que très peu d'impact sur lui, sa psyche etc. C'est vraiment plus son enfance, les relations difficiles avec ses parents qui l'ont défini.

On peut retenir que oui, ses ancètres était des esclaves, mais on peut dire de même pour à peu près tous les afro-américains en remontant deux ou trois générations. Et l'esclavage est un thème apparu assez tardivement dans sa carrière (reprise de When Will We Be paid?, puis évocation sur l'album The Rainbow Children).

Bref, l'information la plus intéressante me paraît plus être le fait qu'il y a des jumeaux des deux cotés de sa famille. Justement je suis en train de lire I Would Die 4 U (le livre) et j'en suis au passage ou l'auteur évoque le fait qu'il a ouï dire que Mayte aurait en fait eu des jumeaux, et que c'est donc deux enfants qu'ils ont perdu et non un seul (Boy Gregory). Je ne sais que trop penser de cette information, qui n'a jamais pu être recoupée.

Bref, ma modeste contribution à ce thread.

Justement Mayte a bien dit récemment qu'ils avaient perdu deux enfants. Mais je ne sais pas si elle parlait de jumeau ou non.

Je n'avais jamais lu cet article. Merci pour cette lecture intéressante.

Concernant l'esclavage, franchement, ce n'est pas un scoop que les noirs américains d'il y a plusieurs générations ont été esclaves. C'est l'Histoire les Etats-Unis.

En revanche, les origines exactes avec des noms et un lieu (si elles sont fiables, ce qu'il reste à voir) demeurent précieuses. Perso, je suis sceptique. Il y a eu plein de bios 'sérieuses' sur Prince et aucune n'a réussi à remonter aussi loin dans le temps. Des gens ont cherché... plusieurs...