Prince Quiz: Guess the Song & Test Your Trivia

A Prince quiz turns on the arrangement more than the voice, because he played nearly every instrument himself and often named a track by what he left out. Guess the Prince song from the bassless beat of 'When Doves Cry' or the near-bare 'Kiss', then test your trivia on the stadium anthems 'Purple Rain', '1999' and 'Little Red Corvette', the funk of 'Sign o' the Times', and the hit he gave The Bangles, 'Manic Monday'. See how well you really know Prince by his production, not the chorus.

Main genrePop (funk, rock, R&B)

ActiveSince 1976 (1980s)

Best-known songs to guessWhen Doves Cry, Purple Rain, Kiss, 1999, Little Red Corvette

Deep cuts fans missSign o' the Times, Controversy, Pop Life, Housequake

Eras in the quiz80s Minneapolis funk-rock, Purple Rain peak, Sign o' the Times reinvention

Real namePrince Rogers Nelson

Signature trapPlacing him by the arrangement, even when the bass is missing

Related artistsMichael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Madonna

Quiz difficultyEasy on the singles, hard on the stripped-down arrangements

Start your solo quiz

Name as many tracks as you can from short audio clips. The faster you answer, the more you score.

10 questions4 answers each

Guess the Prince Song by the Arrangement

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.

When Doves Cry

Purple Rain

Kiss

1999

Little Red Corvette

Sign o' the Times

Controversy

Pop Life

Prince Trivia: The Details Fans Miss

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.

✦'When Doves Cry' hit number one in 1984 with no bass line, an arrangement choice Prince made himself while playing nearly every part on the record.

✦Prince played all 27 instruments on his 1978 debut album 'For You', which he also wrote, arranged and produced alone.

✦He wrote 'Nothing Compares 2 U', a worldwide hit for Sinead O'Connor in 1990, and 'Manic Monday' for The Bangles.

✦'Purple Rain' (1984) was an album and a film at once, and its score won the Academy Award for Best Original Song Score.

✦In 1993 he replaced his stage name with an unpronounceable symbol and was billed as 'The Artist Formerly Known as Prince'.

How Well Do You Know Prince's Catalog?

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.

The singles most players place first

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.

Name it by what he left out

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.

The one-man-band deep funk

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 soundtracks, aliases and giveaways

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.

Prince Quiz FAQ

How well do you know Prince?

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.

Which Prince songs are in the quiz?

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.

Why is the Prince quiz tricky?

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.

Can you guess the Prince song from the intro?

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.

What was Prince's real name and where was he from?

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.

Is the Prince quiz free?

Yes. Every Prince quiz is free to play, with no signup and no Spotify account needed. Just pick one and press play.

📚 Sources & methodology

Sources consulted

Wikipedia · AllMusic · Pitchfork · Billboard · Songtrivia editorial team.

Our methodology

Each topic is curated by a Quiz Master with category expertise. Selection crosses cultural impact, chart performance, recognition potential and era variety.