Prince began performing the Negro spiritual "(Sometimes I Feel Like a) Motherless Child" as he was beginning to move closer to the Jehovah's Witnesses.
By 1987, Prince was already an established megastar, one of the world's biggest. He could pretty much do whatever he wanted, so he released 'Sign o' the Times' most unusual song as a single.
With the robotic, pulsating opening beats of "Dirty Mind," the title track to his third album, Prince instantly announced that his music had undergone a dramatic transformation.