The man, the myth, the legend: Prince Rogers Nelson, known simply as Prince, has quite the legacy as one of the most important and successful musicians of all time. He is one of the few truly transcendent figures of the last 100 years. Tragically he passed away on April 21, 2016 at the age of 57. There are few people that gave off the aura that they are invincible and could defeat Father Time, and Prince was definitely one of them. To be honest I always imagined him being immortal and immune to death, but sadly that was not the case. I never thought I would see the day such an icon would go, but while we mourn his passing, I thought it would be appropriate to appreciate the magical man that Prince was.
Although he was most known for his singing skills, Prince made one major acting appearance that really put him into stardom. The film, "Purple Rain," is a cult classic and produced arguably his greatest hit and one of the greatest songs of all time, "Purple Rain." Prince stars as The Kid, who tries to escape a tough home life while trying to make it in his band, The Revolution. The scene near the end when he sings "Purple Rain" is one of the most iconic movie scenes of the last 30 years. Whenever it comes on TV, my mom turns the volume up all the way and will sing along with him as if she is at a concert. Even if the example of my mom is a bit extreme, there are very few artists that have had that kind of impact on people.
Prince also gave one of the best, if not the best, Super Bowl Halftime Show performance of all time at Super Bowl XLI in 2007. The Super Bowl that year was in Miami, Fla. and it was pouring down rain during the performance. Instead of complaining or not performing, Prince used this to his advantage and had the show of his life in front of over 100,000 people in the stands and 140 million people watching on TV. To close out his performance, he sang "Purple Rain" (nature is kind of funny like that) and had everyone in attendance singing at the top of their lungs. It is by far the best performance I have ever seen and I doubt that will change anytime soon.
The impact of Prince will live on forever, heck, "A Goofy Movie" based one of their characters off of him while he was still alive. He has been a major influence on many artists over the years, most notably on The Weeknd, Justin Timberlake, André 3000, Pharrell, and Bruno Mars, just to name a few. His sense of style and fashion has been and will be unmatched by anyone in the near future. While Michael Jackson is considered the "King of Pop," Prince was the King of Music for over 30 years and even though he's gone, his impact will be felt for years to come. Rest in purple to a musical genius and legend. I guess this is what it sounds like when doves cry.
