The untimely passing of 57-year-old legendary music creative Prince Rogers Nelson on Thursday, April 21, 2K16 at his Paisley Park compound in Chanhassen, Minnesota sent immense shockwaves throughout the entire universe, reminiscent of June 25, 2K9 when the iconic ‘King of Pop’, Michael Joseph Jackson’s life was unexpectedly cut short at only 50 years. I became hip to Prince’s unique brand of Soul and Funk as a young teen, and watched his music videos on ‘Video Music Box’ during the very beginning of the 1980-era, when he dropped singles like ‘Sexy Dancer,’ ‘I Wanna Be Your Lover’ and ‘Controversy’ on the radio.
Being from Minnesota, where it was a rarity to see black artists succeed, made Prince a compelling figure and one to watch as a potential huge force in the music industry at that time. Then came the game-changing classic LPs ‘1999’ and the ‘Purple Rain’ movie soundtrack. Prince and his bandmates took the art of music creation and live performance to an upper stratosphere that will forever be etched in history. The special thing about Prince was that not only was he a prolifically gifted musician, songwriter and producer, but he also allowed his bandmates to shine equally bright in the spotlight. You know their names – notables such as guitarists Dez Dickerson and Wendy Melvoin, keyboardists Matt ‘Doctor’ Fink and Lisa Coleman, bassist Brown Mark, drummers/percussionists Bobby ‘Z’ Rivkin and Sheila E., and soul siren Rosie Gaines. When they jammed both onstage and in the recording studio, their souls were truly united in their relentless, energetic and collective drive to be the best with their one-of-a-kind, eclectic sonic vibrations.
Yet – with his massive music catalog, hundreds of millions of records sold worldwide and all of the major accolades bestowed upon him throughout his remarkable, four-decade-long career, Prince was most importantly a giver to causes that he deemed very dear to him. Prince was also a mentor to so many artistically-talented individuals – the likes of ballerina Misty Copeland, a young Tevin Campbell back in the 1990-era, the aforementioned Sheila E., and Janelle Monae – just to name a few. No matter the music genre, Prince excelled greatly in his own unique and special way that reached a gazillion ears on Planet Earth throughout his ‘alive’ time as an artist. Prince returned to the game in strong fashion with the 2K14 album releases of ‘Art Official Age’ and ‘Plectrumelectrum’ – the latter recorded with his super-talented all-female band 3rdEyeGirl. He also released the LPs ‘HitnRun: Phase One’ (which contains his hot, funky rhythmic single ‘1000 X’s & O’s’), and ‘HitnRun: Phase Two’ during the fall of 2K15.
‘Phase Two’ was the Minny-Funkman’s 39th studio album. Yes – I know that we must celebrate the life and legacy of Prince more than mourn his death, but what is tough to stomach is that he still had a ton more to give to the world – both musically and philanthropically. Prince embodied Pure Soul with his unfiltered boldness, his authentic realness, with every single note and lyric he sang and played on guitar, and he truly, genuinely ADORED the art of music on all levels. Prince Rogers Nelson will be greatly missed by his family, close friends and the millions of fans worldwide, but “Man!” – he put in an immense body of work that will forever be timeless and influential.
By Ross Guity aka R.G. Major