In American pop culture, no artistic figure is more exciting than a black man with a guitar. Yet as we've degraded from Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley to Lenny Kravitz and Darius Rucker, the single most significant voice in the wilderness has remained Minneapolis mystery man Prince. A musician of illimitable creativity and drive, an evolved presence whose grasp of the R&B and rock & roll lexicon, image and cultural role is unrivaled, he has scrupulously maintained a shrewd cloak of luxurious mystique. With tonight's Who Is Prince Really? An In-Depth Conversation, an event tied to broadcaster-journalist Touré's new bio I Would Die 4 U: Why Prince Became an Icon, the titular question will be addressed by a handful of impressively legitimate intimates. With such participants as the book's author; Prince co-writer, accompanist and former fiancee Susannah Melvoin; Alan Leeds, Prince's tour manager of more than a decade; and the great L.A. Reid, the musician-composer who rose from R&B journeyman to hitmaker to top banana at Epic Records, expect more insight and information on the odd purple cat than you could find anywhere on this planet. Grammy Museum, Clive Davis Theater, 800 W. Olympic Blvd., dwntwn.; Wed., Aug. 14, 7:30 p.m.; $10. (213) 765-6803, grammymuseum.org.

Wed., Aug. 14, 7:30 p.m., 2013

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