2016 is squaring up to be one of the darkest years in all of music history – first, the death of David Bowie in January, then Merle Haggard in early April, and now the death of Prince Rogers Nelson, or as the world knew him, Prince, on April 21st, 2016.
Arguably one of, if not the most important figure in all of pop music not named Michael Jackson, The Artist Formerly Known as Prince had seemingly transcended time and genre with his ability as a renowned musician and performer. Primarily known for his work as an R&B and rock legend, Prince released over 56 different solo, live, compilation, and collaborative records throughout his over four decade long career.
Prince never allowed himself to be pigeonholed under one particular genre, instead exploring the soundscape of virtually every genre under the sun, having dabbled in rock, R&B, soul, funk, hip hop, disco, psychedelia, jazz, and pop music over the span of his forty one years of recording music.
Prince’s first album, For You, was released in 1978, an album that saw Prince produce, arrange, compose, and play all 27 individual instruments on the record. Prince recorded and released four more records between For You and his career defining record, Purple Rain, which was technically a soundtrack for the film of the same name. Purple Rain went on to become one of the greatest albums of all time, as the tracks “When Doves Cry,” “Let’s Go Crazy,” and “Purple Rain” topped charts everywhere. The album went on to go platinum an astounding 13 times over, and with over 22 million copies sold worldwide, the album was also added to the Library of Congress’s National Recording Registry for its “cultural, historical, and aesthetic importance.”
Following Purple Rain, Prince had become a full-fledged, transcendent figure in music and pop culture in general, and his various changes in stage name seemed to enrapture the entire world, as he went from Prince to The Purple One to Alexander Nevermind to O(+> to The Artist Formerly Known As Prince (TAFKAP). As his career progressed, his purview on releasing music changed as well – where in the eighties and early nineties, Prince would take extended periods of time to release records, he increased his production rate, releasing 13 albums between 1994 and 2000.
At that point, Prince was a god. His live performances had gone from being noteworthy to historic, as he played with a revolving door of world renowned backing bands like The Revolution, The New Power Generation, The NPG Orchestra, Madhouse, and 3rdeyegirl. Prince’s guitar solo at the 2002 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony was arguably one of the greatest of all time, and his 2007 performance during the Super Bowl XLI half-time show is hands down the greatest performance of all time. It had never rained before during a Super Bowl halftime show, but gale force winds poured down upon Sun Life Stadium, but that never fazed Prince. Rather than scratch the performance or alter the set, Prince simply asked the half-time show producers, “Can you make it rain harder?”
The legendary Super Bowl performance was the perfect analogue for Prince’s career – an artist from an untapped music town (Minneapolis) who managed to continually shift and rework his way into every musical shift and trend. He was a truly indomitable spirit that transcended music and culture, forever and uniquely to true to himself and no one else. He is arguably the most influential artist of all time, if not at the very least the most flamboyantly confident in his craft. He paved the way for scads of artists performing today, and made Minneapolis and the Tri-City Area a music mecca, as well as making sex cool in music.
Prince died in his Chanhassen, Minnesota, at his home, Paisley Park Estate, after battling flu-like symptoms for over a week on April 21, 2016. Prince was 57 years old.
