The Purple Prince

(Post originally published in April of 2016)

There are certain points in life when we pause and consider our mortality. One of those points for me was when Prince died of an accidental fentanyl overdose on April 21st, 2016.

He died at his Paisley Park recording studio and home in Chanhassen, Minnesota.

He was incredibly loved and respected.

Growing up in Minneapolis, Minnesota, definitely had it perks and one of them was the vast and amazing array of arts.

As a Minneapolitan, I was blessed with an unusual variety of talented musicians and bands to see most every weekend. Music, as I’ve often said, was my drug of choice, and Prince was certainly one of those talents.

Minneapolis native Prince (born Prince Rogers Nelson in 1958) graduated from Central High School in 1976. It wasn’t long before his talent grabbed the attention of the music world. The 1984 release of “Purple Rain,” both the album and film, propelled Prince from underground idol to global sensation.

“Purple Rain” also turned Minneapolis’ First Avenue into a legendary music venue, etching it onto the national map. Prince defied the trend of talented musicians departing Minnesota. He chose to stay and make his mark, pioneering the distinctive Minneapolis Sound that would influence music for years to come.

I stood next to him for a brief few minutes before Purple Rain came out as he watched one of my favorite local bands. The energy radiating from him was unlike anything I’d ever encountered. Not long after, I found myself standing a couple of feet from him again, this time at First Avenue’s 7th Street Entry, where he played to an intimate crowd of twenty-five. The man had an energy I had never met before. I remember looking at him and experiencing an intuitive flash of a rocket coming up behind him. There was so much raw heat around it, there was no way it wouldn’t reach its destination. To be honest, I found the vision to be a little overwhelming.

I didn’t know him personally but he lived and died ten minutes from my home. I would like to think that all those who are in love with the way music impacts the soul are kindred spirits of sorts. He escaped into his music and I knew that escape. Music and the divine love of it provides a soul to soul link.

No matter where we stand on politics or the planet, if we loved the music of Prince, it is together that we mourn the loss of this generous, philanthropic, beautiful, poetic, and extraordinarily talented man.

(Rolling Stone, 1999)

Thinking back…I remember where I was, emotionally speaking, all those years ago when I floated in the music to escape and am so grateful for artists such as Prince who lived what they loved and created magnificently as a result. The spirit survives and so does the music. I am grateful for this and also thankful that we still have so many beautifully talented musical artists on the planet. Let the music play.