The Reason Prince Became ‘The Artist Formerly Known as Prince’

Few artists have ever taken on a record label quite like this. What many dismissed as an eccentric publicity stunt was actually a calculated fight for creative freedom.

It was 1993 when news broke that Prince Rogers Nelson, the iconic singer the world knew simply as Prince, was no longer going by his stage name. The legendary star had swapped his name for a symbol in a now-famous power move that left everyone baffled.

Fans and even members of his inner circle were puzzled over how to address the artist following the abrupt change. His attorney at the time, Londell McMillan, recalled that he even had to download the symbol as a computer font just to refer to him in writing.

Prince announced that he would henceforth be known by a symbol combining the astrological signs for man and woman on June 7, 1993, his 35th birthday. He also reportedly accepted being called "The Artist Formerly Known As Prince."

"In Prince's mind, by changing his name to a symbol, he thought he could rescind and void the contract," McMillan told "20/20" in April 2016, shortly after Prince's death. "Because he was no longer a signatory under the name Prince Rogers Nelson. We now know that was not the case."

"However, it was still a very bold, courageous, and clever move on his part," McMillan added. The symbol stemmed from Prince's feud with his label, Warner Bros., which reportedly wanted him to release fewer albums, fearing his output would oversaturate the market.

The artist had first signed with Warner in 1977, going on to release albums like "Purple Rain" and the soundtrack to Tim Burton's 1989 "Batman" movie. Around the time of his dispute with the label, he began appearing in public with the word "slave" scrawled across his face.

Shortly after the name change, he issued a statement explaining his reasoning.

"The first step I have taken towards the ultimate goal of emancipation from the chains that bind me to Warner Brothers was to change my name from Prince to (symbol)," Prince said. "Prince is the name that my mother gave me at birth."

"Warner Brothers took the name, trademarked it, and used it as the main marketing tool to promote all of the music I wrote," he continued. "The company owns the name Prince and all related music marketed under Prince. I became merely a pawn used to produce more money for Warner Brothers."

Over the years, the symbol has sparked countless theories. Some fans see it as a fusion of the male and female signs reflecting Prince's androgynous persona, while others have compared it to the ancient Egyptian ankh and even the crucifix.

"It is an unpronounceable symbol whose meaning has not been identified. It's all about thinking in new ways, tuning in two a new free-quency," Prince claimed, clearly relishing the mystery.

The singer later suggested that the symbol came to him during meditation and was inspired by two of his backing dancers, Mayte Garcia and Tara Leigh Patrick, better known as Carmen Electra.

"And he insisted that we use that as the reference to him," McMillan explained. "So, in my computers, at the time, we had to download the font. And I had to actually use the font to describe Prince."

"Prince was very serious about his stuff," the attorney noted. "You couldn't call him an artist without him feeling disrespected. This was not a game for him. So he did not allow that." McMillan revealed that for years, he stopped calling Prince by his name to his face.

"And even in my office, I would forbid my staff to call him Prince and the artist," he shared. "I thought that if they — if they did that, it would create a bad habit and I would slip up. Again, I wanted to respect his genius at the time."

In 2000, after his Warner Bros. contract expired, Prince began using his name again. Then, in 2014, he decided to bury the hatchet in time for the 30th anniversary of his classic album "Purple Rain," re-signing with Warner Bros. and announcing plans for a "deluxe reissue" of the beloved record.

"Prince's success in taking on Warner Brothers influenced other artists, because he demonstrated that, even at the top of the pinnacle, you could still have a voice," McMillan reflected.

He went on, "You could still stand for something great — that just being an artist alone may not be enough for you to optimize your gifts and your talents and that you had to take control over your art."

"And so we had a saying that, if you don't own your masters, your masters will own you," he added. "And he was a master musician. And others looked up to him in that regard."