Test your knowledge of Prince's biggest hits, deep cuts and iconic moments.
Scores are valid for 15 days.
His singles announce themselves fast: the guitar crack of 'Let's Go Crazy', the synth stab of '1999', the strut of 'Little Red Corvette'. These are the anthems, the quick wins before the quiz starts hiding the hook.
The stories behind the records settle the tight finishes: a number one with the bass wiped off, a debut cut on 27 instruments by one man, a symbol that replaced a name. The small print that decides a close game.
There are layers to a Prince set. The singles come easy, but the stripped arrangements, the one-man funk workouts and the songs he gave to other acts each ask harder questions the deeper you go.
Start with the tracks that fill a room the second they begin. 'Purple Rain', '1999', 'Let's Go Crazy', 'Little Red Corvette' and 'Raspberry Beret' are the singles most players name on the first listen. These are the easy points before a Prince quiz starts hiding the hook.
Here is where a Prince quiz gets tricky. 'When Doves Cry' rides a beat and a scream with no bass underneath, and 'Kiss' is barely more than a drum machine, a thin guitar and a falsetto. You place these by the empty space in the arrangement, not by a big chorus, which is exactly where casual fans hesitate.
Prince recorded most parts alone, so the deep cuts reward ears that know his hand. 'Sign o' the Times', 'Controversy', 'Pop Life' and 'Housequake' are one-man funk workouts that separate the superfans. Name these from a short clip and you are ahead of the room.
The trickiest questions sit at the edges of his credit list. 'Batdance' came from the 1989 Batman soundtrack, 'Nothing Compares 2 U' became famous in Sinead O'Connor's voice, 'Manic Monday' went to The Bangles, and side projects like The Time and Sheila E carry his fingerprint under other names. A thorough Prince quiz reaches for these.
Play a Prince quiz on Songtrivia to find out. You guess his songs from a short clip, and the catch is that Prince built his records on unusual arrangements, sometimes with no bass at all. Place 'When Doves Cry' from its bare beat and you are ahead of most players.
Expect the singles everyone knows, 'Purple Rain', '1999', 'Let's Go Crazy' and 'Little Red Corvette', plus stripped-down tracks like 'When Doves Cry' and 'Kiss' and deeper funk cuts like 'Sign o' the Times' that separate the superfans.
Prince played nearly every instrument himself and often identified a song by what he left out, so 'When Doves Cry' has no bass and 'Kiss' is almost bare. You have to name them by the arrangement, not by a sing-along hook.
Often the arrangement is the whole test. His sparse, one-man productions run on a distinctive build before any big chorus, so spotting 'Kiss' or 'When Doves Cry' early is what pushes a good score toward a perfect one.
He was born Prince Rogers Nelson on June 7, 1958, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and recorded as Prince. In 1993 he briefly replaced his name with an unpronounceable symbol.
Yes. Every Prince quiz is free to play, with no signup and no Spotify account needed. Just pick one and press play. You can also guess the song with friends in a multiplayer music quiz.
Wikipedia · AllMusic · Pitchfork · Billboard · Songtrivia editorial team.
Each topic is curated by a Quiz Master with category expertise. Selection crosses cultural impact, chart performance, recognition potential and era variety.