RIP Prince

[Basvarken]

Prince dies age 57...

http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/7341522/prince-dead


RIP

[Hörnisse]

Damn!  Got to see him in January 1985 here in Austin.  Purple Rain Tour.  He played two sold out shows.  Was a fan since his second self titled LP.  They played it quite a bit when I lived in North Carolina (1979-81)

[TBird1958]

Much sadness, thanks for all the great music. RIP Prince






Dammit!
57 is way too young to die.

[slinkp]

I can't believe it.

There was a time in the 80s where it seemed like every other hit song was either written or performed by Prince. He could play seemingly any instrument. He was weird (many of his songs seem like they're sung in character, and i don't know who the hell the character in question might be)... and massively talented, and often veered off into territory where the bulk of the audience didn't care to follow, often including me, but he never stopped following his muse and he could tear up a stage like nobody's business. 

He was a legendarily demanding bandleader, too.  If you wanted trial by fire in the 70s, you could try to keep up with Zappa ... or James Brown ... and in the 80s it was Prince.

I'll just leave this here. The guitar solo is making me cry.
http://uproxx.com/music/watch-prince-purple-rain-original-1983/

[Granny Gremlin]

That was unexpected.

RIP

[Stjofön Big]

Such a pity! Prince was an extraordinary artist, in every way.

[Pilgrim]

Man, this is untimely and unexpected! A premature loss of a talented guy.

A sobering reminder that tomorrow is not guaranteed for any of us.

[westen44]

This one really is shocking in spite of the fact that he was just in the news because he was hospitalized last week.  A great talent, irreplaceable.  I was just watching an interview on CNN.  It was with the guy who signed Prince to his first record deal.  Someone had brought in a demo (one of Prince's friends.)  The guy thought it was an entire band, but it was Prince playing all the instruments on the demo.  That was at age 18. 

[uwe]

That's no age to die. Couldn't he have sensibly waited Jehova's Witness style until the end of the world?

Huge loss, off you go, you sexy motherf...er, we'll miss you, but won't forget all the great music and that one-of-a-kind flamboyance.

[Highlander]

Couldn't he have sensibly waited Jehova's Witness style until the end of the world?

Ne'er speak o' the De'il...

rip

[uwe]

His faith, not mine!

[gweimer]

This one really is shocking in spite of the fact that he was just in the news because he was hospitalized last week.  A great talent, irreplaceable.  I was just watching an interview on CNN.  It was with the guy who signed Prince to his first record deal.  Someone had brought in a demo (one of Prince's friends.)  The guy thought it was an entire band, but it was Prince playing all the instruments on the demo.  That was at age 18.

If memory serves, he was the youngest artist ever signed to Warner Brothers that was given complete freedom and control on his first album - Controversy?  All I know is that I played 1999 endlessly when it came out.  What a great album.

http://www.tagtele.com/videos/voir/57522/

[westen44]

If memory serves, he was the youngest artist ever signed to Warner Brothers that was given complete freedom and control on his first album - Controversy?  All I know is that I played 1999 endlessly when it came out.  What a great album.

http://www.tagtele.com/videos/voir/57522/

This must have been the album "For You" released in 1978.  "Controversy" came out a few years later.  The meeting between that record executive and Prince took place in 1976.  He said that demo was too rough and they had to do it all over as an actual album.  I don't know the details, though. 

[Rob]

39 albums and working on 40.
What an incredible talent.

[Aussie Mark]

Shocking that someone as fit as Prince dies from the flu at 57.   I'm sure his earlier addictions knocked his body around, so that was probably a factor, but he'd been clean for a long time.