Prince. Yes. <i>Prince</i>

It was a simple greeting from a reporter: "Hi, Prince."

"That sounds great," replied The Artist Formerly Known As and now once again named Prince. "I haven't heard that in a while."

Actually, it's been since 1993, when he swapped his given name of Prince Rogers Nelson for an unpronounceable symbol in protest during a protracted contract battle with his former record label. That led others to dub him "The Artist Formerly Known As Prince," or "The Artist," for short.

Well, forget the symbol and erase his acronym (TAFKAP). On Tuesday, during a quirky, one-hour news conference, the artist announced he will, now and forever, spell his name P-R-I-N-C-E.

"On Dec. 31, 1999, my publishing contract with Warner-Chappell expired, thus emancipating the name I was given before birth Prince from all long-term restrictive documents," the freshly re-minted Prince told the crowded press event.

"I will now go back to using my name instead of the symbol I adopted to free myself from all undesirable relationships."

That was easy, huh?

The return to the Prince name ends a 7-year battle between the performer and Warner Bros. Records, which had Prince under contract through the end of last year.

Prince is celebrating the reclaiming of his old name with plans for a weeklong party in his hometown dubbed Prince: A Celebration.

As part of the event, his Paisley Park studio in suburban Minneapolis-St. Paul will be opened for tours between June 7-13, with a special concert set for June 13 at Northrop Auditorium in Minneapolis. A new Prince song, Cybersingle, also will be available at his Web site, as will a modified version of his last album, titled Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic.

Prince said he would continue his fight against what he perceives as major label domination of the nation's music scene.

He promised, with a sly smile, not to "give up the store to Forrest Gump accounting firms who think a royalty check is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you'll get."