Why Prince replaced his own name with an unpronounceable symbol for seven years
In short: In 1993, Prince adopted an unpronounceable glyph as his stage name to protest his contract with Warner Bros. Records. This symbol, which he copyrighted as Love Symbol #2, became the centerpiece of a sprawling rock opera album that remains one of the most enigmatic chapters in his storied career.
Released on October 13, 1992, the album known as the Love Symbol was originally conceived as a fantasy rock soap opera. The project featured a complex narrative involving an Egyptian Princess, played by Mayte Garcia, who entrusts a sacred relic called the 3 Chains o' Gold to a rock star after her father is murdered by seven assassins. This storyline was originally woven together by numerous spoken segues, but many were excised at the last minute to accommodate the addition of the song I Wanna Melt with U.
The remaining segues, which feature actress Kirstie Alley as a reporter attempting to interview the elusive artist, provide only a fragmented glimpse into the intended narrative. While the album was a commercial success, reaching the top ten in the United Kingdom and the United States with various singles, the conceptual thread remains somewhat obscured. The artist's frustration with his record label, which he claimed had trademarked his given name for promotional purposes, led him to use the symbol as his primary identity from 1993 until 2000.
Beyond the name change, the symbol permeated the album's design and typography. In the liner notes and song titles, every instance of the pronoun I was replaced by the symbol, which fans commonly transliterate as Eye. The album was released in multiple configurations, including early pressings with embossed gold symbols on the jewel cases and special limited edition gold boxes. While the original narrative remains incomplete on the official release, the existence of unreleased segues has fueled speculation that a future Super Deluxe Edition might finally restore the artist's original vision for this ambitious rock opera.
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- Summary by Intellect · source: Love Symbol
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