Prince Dead at 57: A Look at the Icon's Top Songs

Prince ^[1] Rogers Nelson died this morning at the age of 57. The music icon was found in his Paisley Park home in Minnesota, his rep Yvette Noel-Schure said in a statement.

Prince recorded almost 40 studio albums from his debut in 1978 all the way up to the two-part record "HITnRUN" just last year, many with the bands The Revolution and The New Power Generation.

To say the music world lost a legend today would be a gross understatement. Here's a look back at some of his top songs that changed the industry forever. (These are in no way a complete list, just 10 of his best-selling works.)

The 1984 classic hit no. 1 on the Billboard charts and held that spot for five weeks, according to Billboard magazine's list of his top hits.^[2]

With lyrics like "How can you just leave me standing? / Alone in a world that's so cold?" this song is one that any music fan thinks of when they think of Prince.

"Purple Rain" was a song that showcased Prince's range. It comes from Prince's sixth studio album, which is in turn the soundtrack album to the film "Purple Rain." Prince won an Oscar for Best Original Song Score (a now-defunct award) for the film, as well as two Grammy Awards ^[3] in connection with the album.

The song opens with, "I never meant to cause you any sorrow / I never meant to cause you any pain / I only wanted to one time to see you laughing / I only wanted to see you / Laughing in the purple rain."

Lines line "I ain't got no money / I ain't like those other guys you hang around / And it's kinda funny / But they always seem to let you down" earned Prince his first top 40 hit.

The song is less than 3 minutes long, but that's all it took to help this single peak at 11 on the Billboard charts.

This song hit no. 1 on all kinds of charts in the States. Julia Roberts ^[4] made it even more famous when she sang it in a popular scene in the movie "Pretty Woman."

The icon won yet another Grammy for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with this song.

Possibly one of Prince's catchiest songs, "1999" tells the tale of an epic party at the turn of the century.

"They say two thousand zero zero party over, oops, out of time / So tonight I'm gonna party like it's 1999," are lyrics almost anyone knows off-hand.

Yet another Hot 100 topper for Prince, "Cream" was one of his raciest songs.

Some of the lyrics that are safe to repeat include, "You're so good / Baby there ain't nobody better (Ain't nobody better) / So you should / Never, ever go by the letter."

A very poignant song by the legend, "Sign o' the Times" features lyrics about addiction, death and poverty.

"A sister killed her baby 'cause she couldn't afford to feed it / And yet we're sending people to the moon," are just a few of the lines. The song reach no. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Part of the legend's 13th album, "Diamonds and Pearls" reached the top spot of Billboard's R&B charts.

The chorus "Little Red Corvette / Baby you're much too fast / (Yes, you are) / Little Red Corvette / You need a love that's gonna last" is about as memorable as it gets. Prince used his ability to mix styles and tempos in this song with the slow verses and fast, strong chorus.

The song was one of Prince's earlier works, but still hit 6 on the Hot 100 and 15 on the R&B charts.

This mid-80s hit featured a Prince "working part time in a five-and-dime."

"That's when I saw her, ooh, I saw her / She walked in through the out door, out door / She wore a / Raspberry beret."

This song hit no. 2 in the States and in the top 25 in the U.K.

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