Last Thursday, 57 year old Prince (Rogers Nelson) was found dead in his Minneapolis home. An autopsy was performed on Friday. The results are still inconclusive.
He was such a fabulously flamboyant character: a trendsetter in music and film, a Jehovah’s Witness, a multi-instrumental musician, and a musical style that can only be described as exciting and varied, including funk, rock, R&B, soul, dance, psychedelia, pop, etc.
His fame took off when he released “Purple Rain” in 1984 with his backup band called The Revolution. A few other songs I love him for are, “Little Red Corvette,” “Raspberry Beret,” and “Let’s Go Crazy.”
He also wrote songs for other artists under pseudonym name:
“Manic Monday” sung by The Bangles
“When You Were Mine” sung by Cyndi Lauper
“How Come You Don’t Call Me Anymore” sung by Alicia Keys
“Stand Back” sung by Stevie Nicks
“Pray” sung by M.C. Hammer
“Love Song” sung by Madonna feat. Prince
Here are some memorable quotes as well:
“Every day I feel is a blessing from God. And I consider it a new beginning. Yeah, everything is beautiful.”
“Despite everything, no one can dictate who you are to other people.”
“Music is music, ultimately. If it makes you feel good, cool.”
“The key to longevity is to learn every aspect of music that you can.”
“Movies are real! Music is real! It affects people, it's real….The other night I went to a club and I watched a DJ control an entire room. Even politicians can't do that.”
“I don't want to get up on a soapbox. My view of the world, you can debate that forever. But I'm a musician. That's what I do. And I also am music. Come to the show for that.”
“You can always tell when the groove is working or not.”
“Anyway, all these computers and digital gadgets are no good. They just fill your head with numbers and that can’t be good for you.”
“Time is a mind construct. It’s not real.”
“Everyone has a rock bottom.”
“I don’t see why I should give my new music to iTunes or anyone else. They won’t pay me an advance for it and then they get angry when they can’t get it.”
“I have friends that are gay, and we study the Bible together.”
“Yeah, everybody's got a bomb, we could all die any day. But before I'll let that happen, I'll dance my life away.”
