2016 strikes again.
I feel like I wrote something like this a few months ago; in fact, I did.
I honestly don’t know what to say about the legendary Prince that hasn’t already been said by people who are smarter and better at this than yours truly. I guess the best thing to say is that Prince made me dance. Not personally, because I never knew the man, and if I had met him, I probably would’ve expired on the spot. But, as I sit here listening to the Prince tribute on iHeart Radio, I’m struck by just how many genres the man’s music encapsulated. He was R&B and Soul. He was Rock and Pop. He was did Hip-Hop and Gospel. Prince was the living embodiment of music.
I’m sure everyone has already seen the videos themselves, but just in case you haven’t, go seek out Prince at the Super Bowl, making love to the elements and the audience at the same time. This is a man who, when he found out it was raining, wanted to know if they could make it rain HARDER. Go find the tribute Prince was involved in during the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ceremony where he joined Tom Petty and a few other luminaries playing a tribute to George Harrison’s “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.” Then, watch as he TAKES OVER THE DAMN SONG, tossing his guitar into the ether as he completed turning this already classic song into his own. Go watch Purple Rain, the movie that netted him an Academy Award. Go watch 1989’s Batman and try to enjoy the movie on its merits instead of finding yourself absorbed by Prince’s music.
When I found out the news yesterday, I was flabbergasted. I was making one of my increasingly rare dalliances on Twitter, when one of my friends posted a link from TMZ saying there was a death at Paisley Park. Then, TMZ reported that the death was Prince. People didn’t wanna believe it, because it’s TMZ, but…TMZ don’t lie. If TMZ reported that I was dead, then I’m dead. It doesn’t matter if I’m standing right beside you reading the article along with you, if they say it, then it’s true. So, when TMZ reported it, I honestly didn’t need to hear it from anybody else. I had the unfortunate privilege of breaking it to one of my best friends, because she’s the biggest Prince fan I’ve ever known, and I know she’d take it better from me than just finding out by any other means.
I saw the tributes pour in, and got misty. I saw the Minnesota Twins changed everything to purple in his honor. I saw the landmarks of the world light up in his favorite shade. I saw all of this, yet I didn’t want to believe. But, time waits for no man, and that includes someone of Prince’s calibre. He may no longer be with us, but his music will live on forever.
Prince is gone. Long live Prince.