“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to get through this thing called life.” These words, which are lyrics to the Prince song “Let’s Go Crazy”, were indicative of his philosophy on life. As has been the case several times this year, the American public has once again lost another beloved icon. This time, it was none other than the Purple Prince of Pop, Prince. He was found dead in an elevator at his home in Chanhassen, Minnesota on April 21, 2016. At the time of writing this article, the cause of his death is still unknown, but according to “NBC News,” autopsy reports say that there was no sign of trauma found on the body, and that there was no sign of suicide. With his passing, America has lost one of the greatest musical artists of the 20th century.
Prince Rogers Nelson, was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota June 7, 1958. Prince said that he was born epileptic and was prone to seizures. Nevertheless, he displayed a talent for music early in his life, and wrote his first song at the age of seven. After his parents separated when he was ten, he bounced back and forth between his father and stepfather. During those times, he would forge friendships with people such as André Cymone. Using these contacts, he would create his first demo tape in 1976 and, in 1978, his first album “For You” was released. While it did not do as well as hoped, he remained determined, and released his second album, “Prince,” one year later in 1979. While it did better than “For You,” it was not quite as successful as it could have been. His third album, “Dirty Mind,” was the breakout success that Prince and his record company had been looking for, peaking at 45 on the US Billboard charts, and reaching certified gold in the United States. What followed next was a string of hits, including the albums “1999” and “Purple Rain,” which were not only some of the most successful albums of all time, but also are considered some of the greatest albums to come out of the 1980s.
Prince was a consummate workman. He wrote and recorded music until his dying day, with his last album, “Hit n Run Phase Two,” releasing in December of 2015. Not only did he work hard, he also struggled with his record label over financial control of his music. This culminated in Prince using pseudonyms to get away from his own name, eventually reaching a point where he started calling himself “the artist formerly known as Prince” and using a symbol as a means to identify himself. Eventually, he got away from Warner Bros. and went back to using his name.
Prince was known for breaking many conventions. He appeared on stage with an androgynous look, and often wore high heels. He was also an overall supporter of women in the music industry. He was also known to be able to play many instruments; in an interview with Dick Clark, when asked how many instruments he could play, Prince responded with “Thousands.”
With his passing, America has lost one of the greatest raw talents to come out of the music industry in 50 years. Prince was always willing to experiment with his work, and was eager to come up with clever ways to make his music sound better. The over 100 million albums sold is mere gravy compared to how influential he was on the industry. They don’t make them like this anymore. And they never did.