BBC reported Prince had a vault with enough music in it to produce an album a year for the next 100 years.
He never listened to other artists and kept away from listening to others. He wanted his music to be original.
I too am surprised at how sad I feel. I liked Prince but didn’t listen to him much but I certainly recognize his great talent and creativity. The world has lost a truly unique soul.
I thought the Prince Show clips could have been left out of SNL for the most part. It could have had a small part in the middle, maybe, between songs, but it went on way too long.
I agree that “The Prince Show” episodes could have been limited… to maybe one! (Though Maya Rudolph can sing! She does mama Minnie Ripperton proud.)
There are so few artists who are so utterly unique, so incredibly talented, and who spend a lifetime honing their craft while constantly reinventing themselves in surprising ways. Todd Rundgren comes to mind. Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix might have done so, had they lived.
It is a very small group indeed, and losing one of them seems especially devastating.
Prince apparently also gave a lot to charity, causes , for the most part behind the scenes. I love Todd Rundgren. I TOUCHED Todd Rundgren when he leaped off the stage at a concert back in the day! 
Prince was on the Arsenio Hall show in 2014 and it was terrific:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUVZW6-rZKw
Hall asked him what he would have been if he had not been a musician. Prince replied that at 16, he was broke and looked at all the jobs available, and none of them interested him. So he went all out to be a musician because that was the one thing that was interesting to him. Later, he interrupted Hall and returned to the question. He said that the only other thing he might have wanted to be was a teacher. He said he also felt he never stopped learning, and that kept him going. He also said that he could not watch The Voice, American Idol et al. with pleasure because he found himself wanting to change all of the arrangements.
He was very curious, always researching things. He was very bright and creative, no doubt. He really is an inspiration. He did not have the easiest childhood and loved music .
Yes to this.
@njsue I watched that interview that you posted and I am so impressed.
He was so talented by when you listened to him talk he was so down to earth and humble.
He stayed true to himself and was not interested in imitating others. True talent so unique.
Truly one of a kind.
I’m watching Purple Rain right now on VH1. The movie is playing in AMC theaters this week if anyone is interested. I do remember seeing it in theaters way back when. I also saw him on the Purple Rain tour in 1984.
I have to say, the music performances are fun and he did put on a very good show when I saw him live, but the movie itself isn’t all that good, IMO. Glad I’m re-seeing it for free as opposed to paying for a theater!
I am mourning Prince and even cried tonight talking to Dh about him … But I did not like Purple Rain the movie.
OK … I am just waiting for the first Halloween controversy on a college campus where someone puts on a white ruffled shirt, velvet jacket, draws a thin mustache on with liner, smudges mascara and says they are going as Prince!
I think Prince’s oddities distracted people from seeing just what a musical prodigy he was.
Supposedly, somebody once asked Eric Clapton what it was like to be the world’s greatest guitarist. “I don’t know,” he replied. “Ask Prince.” Edited to add: Phooey. Not true. Well, it should be true.
^^^^I tried to find that and I keep getting hits that say it never happened, that someone just made it up.
Oh well. He sure could play.
I liked Prince plenty but I think the coverage is now over the top and I don’t think he is quite in the musical pantheon that people are putting him into, to be honest. I personally think David Bowie was far more influential, “hung out” and influenced other big names, and showed broader range both musically and acting-wise. But I can see how reasonable minds can disagree.
Bowie (glam rock) and Prince (funk/R&B/EDM) are not really similar except in the gender-bending personae and bizarrie they both liked to affect. Prince was not a good actor and I agree that Purple Rain and Under the Cherry Moon are not, objectively, good films. However, he was an outstanding musician, composer and arranger and did have a great impact on other people’s careers. He mentored unknowns and did a lot for women in the music business. Vanity is atypical. Prince hired women for non-“sexy” backstage tech roles. He gave skilled women musicians a chance in a notoriously sexist industry and supported their careers. Prince wrote many songs that other people performed. He worked closely with Chaka Khan, Patti LaBelle, Stevie Nicks, and Kath Bush. He was interested in women as musicians not just as sex objects.
Here’s another great video of Prince doing a soundcheck in Osaka in 1990. Nice jazz piano version of Gershwin’s “Summertime”:
Thanks for that link NJSue–it really gives a look at the professional musician that Prince was.
I wasn’t claiming Bowie and Prince were similar! Interestingly Portland OR has held a Portland Prince vs Bowie bike tour for a few years.
I think one respect in which Prince and David Bowie were similar is that they were hard to categorize–or rather, they broke out of their categories.
Seeing Prince live was at the top of my bucket list. Now I really regret not making it happen.
Whoa that clip of him playing piano. I didn’t know. Sad all over again. 