Totally sucks that he passed away at only 57, the guy remained prolific to the end and somehow I doubt this is another publicity stunt like when he legally changed his name to break a record contract. Although Bill Maher had a field day with the symbol, I think in hindsight Prince made a calculated move to just be a nuisance to Warner Brothers.
When Prince first came on the scene in the early Eighties, I wasn’t impressed nor exactly into him. He certainly was an early adopter of MTV much to the annoyance of other (true) Black artists…who they were was beyond me. Being 14, Prince’s stuff came off as “weird” and silly yet this is expected with a White kid ingesting what would become Classic Rock.
By college, I was starting to come around because Prince wrote great songs which he lent to others: Bangles, Sinead O’Connor and Sheena Easton for starters. His big album Sign ‘O’ The Times made a positive impact on the “purist” I was transforming into at Marquette. He was an exception in my book while I continued to spurn other R&B acts (Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, etc.), for Prince showed how he was influenced (and would integrate) by other genres.
Years passed and Prince’s output did continue steadily. The huge fan base he had in the Eighties evaporated as younger people got more into Rap/Hip-Hop. He did run into the hurdle of becoming an “Oldies” act. You can always count on radio stations to take the lazy route…sticking to the hits. His “never quit doing new things” attitude is how my admiration for him grew. I didn’t buy everything for some was disappointing and Prince often had a problem with “more is less” when a bit of quality control could’ve kept in the public consciousness. Then again, he had a stubborn streak in him and I can’t disagree, I have a similar problem.
Somara and I had the good fortune of seeing Prince live in Las Vegas during a six-month stint he had at the Rio. We were really close, we could see his facial gestures, etc. Prince was a really short dude but like all performers, he appeared seven-feet tall on the stage! This live concert proved to me that he was a generous performer. He let Maceo Parker lead a couple numbers, he had an audience member sing lead on “Play That Funky Music,” and he did four encores if memory serves me well, it was a decade ago. After this, I suspect most of his bad press came from the media as retaliation for not giving them the level of access they thought they deserved. Unlike other Pop stars, Prince had more in common with Johnny Carson, their private lives are rather unknown, shrouded in rumor.
Farewell Prince. You helped put Minneapolis on the map for music with your Funk, R&B, Rock and Everything! This made the city sound more diverse than poor “grungy” Seattle. I do hope there will be a nice, accurate bio picture made about Prince since he never got to do the role I recall he desired, Jimi Hendrix in a similar type of movie.