"Prince comes in with the reigning diva of the moment, and he reminded America what he had and what he could do," said Torres. "And then, it kind of kicked of from there. You get to the 'Musicology' stuff where Prince basically said, 'I'm not gone. I'm still here, and this is the stuff you should basically be listening to.'"

Part of the "Musicology" chart success was due to The Musicology Live2004ever summer tour, in which concertgoers received a copy of the album included in the ticket price. The tour was an unparalleled hit, with nearly 100 dates - resulting in a handsome profit for the Artist, and a chart-topping slot for "Musicology" due to the sales link.

His scheme prompted both Billboard magazine and Neilson SoundScan to change its chart data methodology, stating that for future record releases, customers "must be given an option to either add the CD to the ticket purchase or forgo the CD for a reduced ticket-only price."

"He did the brilliant thing, where he went on tour and every person who bought a ticket was given a CD, and the CD was SoundScanned," noted Marsalis, "so, he was going to be one of the biggest selling records of all time because if 18,000 people go to a concert, maybe a 1,000 of them will buy a CD. He was selling 18- to 20,000 CD's a night and SoundScanning them, so of course the record companies got together and banned him from doing that because he wasn't affiliated with a major label."

A bold move like that "undercuts all the other ticks on the dog," Marsalis said. "When people get lucky and bump into a system that works and the world changes around the system, the good ones change with the times, and the really lousy ones fight to enforce the system they have. Good for Prince for being in the situation where he could benefit and have a little schadenfreude over the sinking ship that is the record industry."

Prince continued his reintroduction to American audiences earlier this year with a stellar performance before a worldwide viewership of 1 billion in more than 230 countries during Super Bowl XLII.

"He has always been a phenomenal live act," according to Torres. "He's from the tradition that is now lost. You may have your qualms with a Prince album, but you know when you go to see a Prince concert, you're going to see an event."

Now Prince has a Las Vegas venue at which he regularly performs exclusive concerts, while continuing to perform around the world. Fans new and old are already clamoring for his highly-anticipated July 2007 release, "Planet Earth," which will reportedly feature a reunion of former band mates Wendy and Lisa.

"Prince reminds you of how great he is and can be, and unlike Michael Jackson, he doesn't give you that cringe factor," said Torres. "He's got the chops of a jazz musician. He's got the aura of a rock musician. But he has the deep-down, gut-bucket funk of a true black musician."

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