Prince Has Joined Instagram

American singer Prince has joined mobile photo-sharing app Instagram, in his first online appearance since he deleted his social media accounts last November.

The singer is now a verified Instagram user—playfully named "Princestagram"—whose account features music clips, specifically recorded live shots of Prince performing in concert, and older publicity shots.

Created without a fanfare, it took the world's media a few days to notice the account, enough time for 88 posts, including a number of Prince memes.

While his Instagram following is a way off from American singer Taylor Swift's 52 million fan-base, Prince already has 52,000 followers.

Prince, 57, has had a turbulent relationship with social media. Last November, he deleted his Facebook and Twitter accounts, as well as a host of videos from YouTube with only three videos remaining. Enigmatic as ever, no explanation for the digital disappearance was forthcoming from Prince or his representatives.

He also chose to delete his back catalog of music from all streaming services in July, apart from American rapper Jay-Z's music streaming service, Tidal. Prince exclusively released his most recent album, HITNRUN, on Tidal, before it was made more widely available in September.

Speaking about the reasons behind opting to solely use Tidal, the singer, who has sold over 100 million records worldwide, said in a statement at the time: "Tidal have honored us with a non-restrictive arrangement that once again allows us to continue making art in the fashion we've grown accustomed to and we're extremely grateful for their generous support."