MOURNING LIKE IT’S 1999
Music legend, 57, shattered boundaries on way to superstardom
Prince left a large purple swath of grief in his wake when he was found dead Thursday.
For more than three decades, the diminutive and enigmatic music genius held court over a larger kingdom of musical territory than perhaps anyone in history. He wrote music that was too big for just the R&B community and produced so much he had to give his leftovers to other recording artists.
His flamboyant and shifting style changed fashion in the 1980s. Everything he touched oozed sexuality — on both sides of the gender spectrum. He also destroyed well-established lines of ethnicity and genre. Yet for all his popularity, he remained one of music’s great mysteries, a point punctuated when for several years he dropped his name, went by a graphic symbol and was usually referred to as “The Artist Formerly Known as Prince.”
The platinum-selling star, who was one of the first African-American artists to garner regular airplay on MTV with hits like “1999,” “When Doves Cry” and “Kiss,” was 57 when he was discovered dead at his residence at his Paisley Park
compound, outside of Minneapolis, just days after he’d been hospitalized with flu-like symptoms.
News of his death spread quickly, prompting social media tributes from everyone from Pitbull to the president of the United States.
“Today, the world lost a creative icon,” Barack Obama wrote on Facebook. “Michelle and I join millions of fans from around the world in mourning the sudden death of Prince. Few artists have influenced the sound and trajectory of popular music more distinctly or touched quite so many people with their talent.”
Prince had suffered from health problems in recent days and canceled two of his tour dates. He performed his last major concert April 14 in Atlanta, the day before a medical emergency forced Prince’s private plane to land in Illinois.
He was briefly hospitalized in Miline, Illinois.
His representative told TMZ at the time that the singer had a bad case of the flu. Rolling Stone reported he also suffered from dehydration and only stayed at the hospital for three hours before returning to Minneapolis.
He reportedly played a small show at Paisley Park in Chanhassen, Minnesota, on Saturday night, acknowledging that he was sick, but telling the crowd: “Wait a few days before you waste any prayers,” according to TMZ.
The website Consequence of Sound reported he was seen riding a red bicycle around town that afternoon.
Police were dispatched Thursday morning to Paisley Park, where they reportedly found Prince un- responsive in an elevator. Attempts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful.
He’ll be remembered for bridging the once-wide gap between R&B and pop, attracting fans from all walks of life in the process.
In an era of overproduced, carefully crafted hits, Prince wrote all his music and lyrics, played all his instruments, produced his own records, then took them on the road to give fans what most would say was one of their best concert experiences.
Modern artists counting Prince as an influence include The Weeknd, Justin Timberlake, D’Angelo, Frank Ocean and Beyoncé.
During the 1980s, Prince was a towering figure, on par with Michael Jackson and Madonna, thanks to the unprecedented success of the “Purple Rain” album and film, for which he won an Academy Award. A trailblazer who brought sex appeal and funk to the Billboard charts, he inspired thousands of imitators. Yet none could do it quite like Prince.
Prince was also known for the scores of hits he wrote for other artists, including The Time, Sheila E., Chaka Khan, The Bangles, Sinead O’Connor and others. Stevie Nicks has said “Little Red Corvette” inspired her to write “Stand Back.” When Nicks told him that, his response was to go to her studio to play keyboards on the song.
He was also known for the beautiful and exotic women he attracted, including Vanity, Apollonia, Susanna Hoffs of The Bangles, actress Vanessa Marcil, Carmen Electra, Kim Basinger, Nona Gaye, Mayte (who became his first wife), and even Madonna, whom he briefly dated in the mid-80s.
The Purple One’s final Bay Area concert was March 5 at the Great American Music Hall, an impromptu, late-night performance on the heels of his concert at Oakland’s Oracle Arena. It followed a pair of shows a week earlier at the Paramount Theatre in Oakland. In typical Prince fashion, those gigs were announced only days in advance, sending fans into a mad scramble to rearrange their plans and get tickets. It was an unusual tactic, but his legions of loyal fans knew to expect the unexpected.
“He was a brilliant musician, an incomparable showman, a misunderstood artist and the biggest tease,” says Sterling James, DJ at Bay Area R&B station 102.9 KBLX. “And he was worth every late night, every long line and drop of sweat and tears. He was Prince.”
Born June 7, 1958, Prince was just 19 when he recorded his first album, 1978’s “For You,” at The Record Plant in Sausalito. While working on the album, from October to December 1977, Prince rented a house in Corte Madera that overlooked the bay, according to the book “Possessed: The Rise and Fall of Prince,” by Alex Hahn.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer released his last album of new music in 2015.