The Purple One. His Purpleness. The Artist. The Artist Formerly Known As...born Prince Rogers Nelson, he had many names.

But did you know that Prince used pseudonyms on some of the music he was involved in writing, producing and recording? “I was just getting tired of seeing my name,” he said once. “If you give away an idea, you still own that idea. In fact, giving it away strengthens it. Why do people feel they have to take credit for everything they do? Ego—that’s the only reason.”

Names he used to 'give away' his art include: Joey Coco (Kenny Rogers, Sheena Easton, unreleased Prince songs), Jamie Starr  (The Time and others from 1981-1984), Alexander Nevermind (Sheena Easton) and Christopher (The Bangles). People who knew him well also knew him by his childhood nickname, Skipper.

Prince never felt that he had to 'take credit' for his charitable works, either. Most of his philanthropy and activism was only publicized after his untimely death from an accidental opioid overdose on April 21. Here are a few things you might not have known about the Purple One:

• When drummer Clyde Stubblefield (James Brown) was undergoing cancer treatment, Prince anonymously paid off his medical bills.
• He saved the the country's first full service library for African Americans from closing - with an anonymous $12,000 donation.
• He conceived and launched YesWeCode to help kids from 'low-opportunity backgrounds find success in the tech sector.' He paid for many of their 'hackathons' out of his own pocket and even performed at some of them.  

The sudden loss of Prince just weeks before his 58th birthday (June 7) shocked us. But I don't believe he'd want us to mope around crying our eyes out. After all, he once said, "Life is just a party & parties weren't meant to last." I think Prince would like us to party - one last time - like it's 1999.

Your "Celebrating the Prince of Purple" Gift Guru,
Linda