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They found a body at his estate. News isn't saying who it is, but TMZ is saying it is Prince.

Damn!

This sucks so bad. I'm pretty sure it's true, though.

Get your flu shots, kids. He's been battling a severe case of it and was hospitalized with it Friday. If it is him, which has not been confirmed that I've seen other than TMZ.

And now his publicist has confirmed to AP. So it was him.

Well, THIS was a surprise. He always had a bad case of raging jerk-diva-itis, but he also had more than enough talent to back it up. I am forced to admit that I'll always have a grudging respect for the guy.

--Patrick

No grudging here, dude could wail. Dang.

I will say this: I'm not a fan but I recognize his talents and business smarts (for changing his name to an undecipherable symbol simply to get out of a fucked up contract), but I will NOT be happy to see that dumb ass movie Purple Rain over and over like you know they are going to do.

Purple Rain is a MASTERPIECE


also, congrats to Eric Clapton, new greatest guitar player alive

The most shocking part of this story is that he lived in suburban Minnesota.

I just feel like there's some sort of apocalypse happening that I am unprepared for!

My body can only handle so much sadness and shock when it comes to celebrity deaths and I'm nearly tapped out.

I am completely shocked by this. He was so talented and produced some amazing music, which is part of my regular rotation. (And yeah, a bit of a nutter, but like PatrThom said, he could back it up.)

Uncle, 2016. Fucking uncle.

Somebody made eye contact.

One of my favorite dance routines was set to "Let's Go Crazy". RIP

This is a bit shocking.

Celt Z said:

I am completely shocked by this. He was so talented and produced some amazing music, which is part of my regular rotation. (And yeah, a bit of a nutter, but like PatrThom said, he could back it up.)

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That attitude of his is probably the only reason he wasn't included as one of my top ten.

--Patrick

Damn, at 57 too, so young.

fade said:

The most shocking part of this story is that he lived in suburban Minnesota.

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Really? I don't know much about him but he's always been a huge figure for Minnesota in my mind.

I love Prince! So much! I'm heartbroken.

I'm so lucky that I got to see him twice. Once in a small venue in Toronto on his birthday doing a simple concert and once here for a big arena show with lights and purple rain.

Man, that sucks. I was always pretty 50/50 on his music but the man was of the best at what he did and the music world is poorer for his absence.

I am now also worried for any famous musician over the age of 50, because damn.

The weird thing for me about Prince is, even though I'd heard of him and knew he was famous for something about music, I had no idea what. I knew he did that one song for the Batman film, but I knew him mostly as a joke. For being short or weird or off-putting, from stories told by Weird Al or Kevin Smith. Or the whole running joke about him changing his name to a symbol. I knew him as a punchline.

And now I'm hearing how he was this great guitarist or something and how he was a major influence in the music industry. Just another example of how little I know about music and the music industry, I guess.

I don't mean any disrespect to him or his fans. Just looking at it from my perspective. I don't think I've even listened to Purple Rain.

https://www.phactual.com/11-songs-you-didnt-know-were-written-by-prince/

Nothing Compares 2 U" by Sinead O’Connor.
"Manic Monday" by The Bangles.
"When You Were Mine" by Cyndi Lauper
"How Come You Don’t Call Me Anymore" by Alicia Keys
"Jungle Love" by The Time
"Stand Back" by Stevie Nicks
"I Feel For You" by Chaka Khan
"The Glamourous Life” by Sheila E
"Round and Round" by Tevin Campbell
"Pray" by M.C. Hammer
"Love Song" by Madonna

Of course, most of these will only hit some of us older forumites in the nostalgia feels

ThatNickGuy said:

The weird thing for me about Prince is, even though I'd heard of him and knew he was famous for something about music, I had no idea what. I knew he did that one song for the Batman film, but I knew him mostly as a joke. For being short or weird or off-putting, from stories told by Weird Al or Kevin Smith. Or the whole running joke about him changing his name to a symbol. I knew him as a punchline.

And now I'm hearing how he was this great guitarist or something and how he was a major influence in the music industry. Just another example of how little I know about music and the music industry, I guess.

I don't mean any disrespect to him or his fans. Just looking at it from my perspective. I don't think I've even listened to Purple Rain.

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You're not wrong about him being tiny. I was only a few people away from him at my first concert and I am for sure taller than him.

He was completely unique and he did his own thing which is part of why I love him so much!

I knew all of those were written by him except the Stevie Nicks song, which is odd since it's one of my favorites by her.

I recognize or know less than a third of those songs.

ThatNickGuy said:

I recognize or know less than a third of those songs.

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That's cause you were like 4-6 years old when they were selling millions of copies

WasabiPoptart said:

I knew all of those were written by him except the Stevie Nicks song, which is odd since it's one of my favorites by her.

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Ok..here's a shocker written by prince...

Lest we forget:

ThatNickGuy said:

now I'm hearing how he was this great guitarist or something and how he was a major influence in the music industry.

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Here's the video many people are citing today as an example of his talent (his 2004 induction into the R&RHoF).
(It's also the video that, when I first saw it many years ago, made me realize he was not only talented, but very talented)



His solo doesn't start until around the 3:30 mark, but when you watch him play, it is immediately and blatantly obvious that his understanding of how to operate an electric guitar was on a completely different level than most people, even people who've been playing for decades. The obvious ease with which he plays speaks of a depth of proficiency you don't usually see outside of lifetime practitioners of martial arts.

GasBandit said:

Lest we forget:

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Never!

--Patrick

in that video he's toying with the guitar and the audience like a lion with a mouse in both paws, it's so great.

Tinwhistler said:

Ok..here's a shocker written by prince...

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I don't know that song to begin with. Once The Gambler faded out of popularity I didn't really listen to Kenny Rogers much.

WasabiPoptart said:

I don't know that song to begin with. Once The Gambler faded out of popularity I didn't really listen to Kenny Rogers much.

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I don't really know the song either. It's a shocker, because it's a croony country song, and not the funky-80's-with-trumpets that mark much of his body of work.

I love the story that goes along with that Super Bowl performance.

Also, he's actually playing music at a Super Bowl show, unlike most other acts.

He's our generations Mozart. His unreleased material is said to be in the tens of thousands.

I wish it didn't take his passing for me to find out he was a rapist and a pedophile. But, ya know. You can count the number of male rock stars from that era that didn't fuck little girls on one hand. Like the OP, I'll celebrate the music and skip mourning the man.

This man's music defined my generation. Purple Rain was the anthem of my HS days, and 1999 and "The Bird" was what we danced to.

I can only hope that some of his incredible trove of music will finally get released - and in a manner that would allow fans and just those who'd never heard him to enjoy his talents.

And for once, I agree with Charlie (though I'd have to put EVH a closer second to Clapton).

WasabiPoptart said:

I knew all of those were written by him except the Stevie Nicks song, which is odd since it's one of my favorites by her.

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Until fairly recently - I didn't know this either. But if you listen to the synth it follows the progression you have in Little Red Corvette. Just never put it together.

Welp, someone had to post this. Might as well be me.

Posted on the previous page.

drifter said:

Posted on the previous page.

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Aw nertz.

Cripes, I even tagged it. Lousy memory!

I am ok with that image being posted once every page.

jwhouk said:

And for once, I agree with Charlie (though I'd have to put EVH a closer second to Clapton).

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I was referencing that quote that made the rounds where someone asked Clapton was it was like to be the best guitarist, and he replied "you'd have to ask Prince"

sixpackshaker said:

I wish it didn't take his passing for me to find out he was a rapist and a pedophile. But, ya know. You can count the number of male rock stars from that era that didn't fuck little girls on one hand. Like the OP, I'll celebrate the music and skip mourning the man.

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This is getting a lot of negative ratings. Don't feel bad, though, when Bill Cosby dies you can say stuff like this and you'll get lots of positive ratings.

I guess Prince's PR machine is better?

stienman said:

This is getting a lot of negative ratings. Don't feel bad, though, when Bill Cosby dies you can say stuff like this and you'll get lots of positive ratings.

I guess Prince's PR machine is better?

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I put the question mark, because I hadn't heard anything about this.
Prince is mentioned in this article that I found while googling: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/01/17/david-bowie-and-rock-n-roll-s-statutory-rape-problem.html But the girls mentioned in the article were young, but of legal age, which takes a bit of a stretch to call him a pedophile and a rapist.

To lighten the mood a bit...

stienman said:

This is getting a lot of negative ratings. Don't feel bad, though, when Bill Cosby dies you can say stuff like this and you'll get lots of positive ratings.

I guess Prince's PR machine is better?

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Considering that post was a direct copy/paste from the Bowie thread, I assumed it was a joke.

I think he was pointing out Charlie's hypocrisy of shitting on one guy while heaping praise on the other who was just as guilty of the same crime.

Dave said:

I think he was pointing out Charlie's hypocrisy of shitting on one guy while heaping praise on the other who was just as guilty of the same crime.

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i'm just following your rules you laid out to me about speaking ill of the dead on your forum. if you want to enable rape culture here, that's your bag, and your forum, man. i'm just curious if the rule applies to everyone or only me.

The reality is that we don't know much of what Prince may have done in his early career, but he turned things around and as far as anyone is aware lived his religion (Jehovah's Witness) to the best of his ability from that point forward. He stopped playing much of his earlier hedonistic music (ie, those pieces he no longer felt were representative of the person he'd like to be - I'm not suggesting much of his early music could be considered hedonistic), stopped swearing even, once he joined the JW's.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/prince-how-rock-legend-turned-233415[DOUBLEPOST=1461292618,1461292530][/DOUBLEPOST]Of course, he also refused operations and treatments that required blood transfusion due to his faith. Would be interesting to know if this affected the care he recently received for the illness that led to his death.

PatrThom said:

Here's the video many people are citing today as an example of his talent (his 2004 induction into the R&RHoF).
(It's also the video that, when I first saw it many years ago, made me realize he was not only talented, but very talented)



His solo doesn't start until around the 3:30 mark, but when you watch him play, it is immediately and blatantly obvious that his understanding of how to operate an electric guitar was on a completely different level than most people, even people who've been playing for decades. The obvious ease with which he plays speaks of a depth of proficiency you don't usually see outside of lifetime practitioners of martial arts.

Never!

--Patrick

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No, you missed the most important thing-

Where the fuck did the guitar go?

Krisken said:

No, you missed the most important thing-

Where the fuck did the guitar go?

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Up.

I think the guy behind him caught it.

--Patrick

PatrThom said:

Up.

I think the guy behind him caught it.

--Patrick

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Prove it. I've been watching that video for years now and I've never seen the guitar come back down.

Krisken said:

Prove it. I've been watching that video for years now and I've never seen the guitar come back down.

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Unpause it.

--Patrick

The roads around First Ave in Minneapolis are shut down right now.

bhamv3 said:

I am ok with that image being posted once every page.

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I am tempted to spam every thread on Halforums with that image to make you rue that comment in tribute to Prince.

I was never a fan of his music, it just never really clicked with me. I wish it had, because I liked the few times I saw him doing guitar solos.

Krisken said:

Prove it. I've been watching that video for years now and I've never seen the guitar come back down.

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He wanted to save that guitar for later...

today was later.

Seriously, this is hitting me hard. Yeah, he was a bit out there, but man, did he have an influence on the music I listen to. I agree completely with the Mozart of our age comment.

I just hope his unreleased songs see light of day.

Nick's comment about knowing of but not really knowing Prince made me think of this joke, because that's the kind of influence he had:



A little over a year ago, Mr. Z and I listening to "Uptown Funk", and I said to him, if I didn't know better, I'd swear it was a Prince song, which lead to a conversation we've had many times before about other artists:

Mr. Z: "I don't know any of Prince's stuff."
Me: "Yes, you do. You just didn't know it was Prince."
*downloads greatest hits, plays some songs*
Mr. Z:"Hey, I know this song/s!"
Me:

When Mr. Z got home yesterday, and we're discussing Prince, he says that this past week while he had his music on shuffle, it kept playing Prince songs, which hasn't happened ...probably since I originally downloaded them. His phone knew something we didn't.

I'm going to be completely honest... I agree that he was very good at playing instruments, but his songs--including the ones written for other people--were solid middle-pack runners. Nothing particularly bad or particularly good either. This is of course only my opinion.

Jennifer Hudson, Cynthia Erivo, and the cast of The Color Purple pay tribute to Prince after Thursday's performance.

Remember when they were saying he had the flu? Yeah, apparently drug overdosing is the flu. They used to say exhaustion.

Dave said:

Remember when they were saying he had the flu? Yeah, apparently drug overdosing is the flu. They used to say exhaustion.

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I really can't imagine for Prince unless it was accidental from prescriptions.

It's complicated, I suspect. Reports suggest that just days ago he was treated for a drug overdose - his plane made an emergency landing in order to do so:

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertai...ed-drug-overdose-days-death-article-1.2610568

However it may not have been due to illicit drug use. He's apparently needed a double hip replacement for over a decade now, but as a devout Jehovah's Witness refused to do the surgery if it involved blood transfusion . While the operation can apparently be done without transfusion, it doesn't appear he took that option for unknown reasons.

As such, I expect he's on a stunning amount of pain killers in order to do the performances he's well known for, and even then probably experienced significant pain. Such high levels of pain killers means that it only takes a moment of carelessness to overdose, even in the absence of alcohol.

So it could be drug overdose - but it's unlikely that it was illicit drug use, and more likely that it was pain medication mismanagement - if it was a drug overdose at all.

Dave said:

Remember when they were saying he had the flu? Yeah, apparently drug overdosing is the flu. They used to say exhaustion.

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hey @Dave , i'm still curious about if you've changed your "no talking ill of the dead" rule, or if it just only applies to me.

TIL Prince was JW.

--Patrick

Charlie Don't Surf said:

hey @Dave , i'm still curious about if you've changed your "no talking ill of the dead" rule, or if it just only applies to me.

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It has nothing to do with who said it or what was said. The people who died are even immaterial. He was simply mirroring your own comments for the sake of poking at YOU, not the deceased. Hell, when Gygax died I posted how much of an asshole he was. Maybe I'm being a bit inconsistent with the whole thing and maybe it's because you have a tendency to come in guns-a-blazing in the face of everyone else that had me a bit twitchy that time. Who knows? Darwin only knows I'm not perfect.

But I did find his mirroring your comments funny to a degree.

Dave said:

The people who died are even immaterial.

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Well, they will be soon enough.

Not sure what else I can do to explain. I thought I did a decent enough job of it.[DOUBLEPOST=1461350925,1461350635][/DOUBLEPOST]Okay, I went back and looked at the Bowie thread for comparison. I didn't stop you from saying anything there, just that (a) you had proof before making set in stone comments that might get ME in trouble (i.e. libel) and (b) that you take it to another thread. I didn't stop you from saying anything, just where you posted it.

So I guess I WAS consistent.

Two of my favourite videos with/about Prince

PatrThom said:

TIL Prince was JW.

--Patrick

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He was never in the groups that came to our house for discussions

Squidleybits said:

He was never in the groups that came to our house for discussions

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Could you imagine though? Doorbell rings, and there's Prince standing there with his guitar around his shoulder and a copy of The Watchtower in his hand.

Cheesy1 said:

Could you imagine though? Doorbell rings, and there's Prince standing there with his guitar around his shoulder and a copy of The Watchtower in his hand.

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And then he breaks out in full-on Hendrix...
And does it justice...

--Patrick

Squidleybits said:

He was never in the groups that came to our house for discussions

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When he went door to door, he went in disguise.

The more I hear about him, the more Prince sounds like Abed Nadir - but with money and nobody ever to tell him "no."

Cheesy1 said:

Could you imagine though? Doorbell rings, and there's Prince standing there with his guitar around his shoulder and a copy of The Watchtower in his hand.

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I like picturing he was in full Prince regalia when he did this.

And then I would pick him up and put him in my pocket.

I loved the Kevin Smith thing but it sure doesn't paint Prince in a good light. It also means we're probably going to be getting Prince music for YEARS from his estate.

Cheesy1 said:

Could you imagine though? Doorbell rings, and there's Prince standing there with his guitar around his shoulder and a copy of The Watchtower in his hand.

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Still wouldn't let him in.

If I won't let my own grandmother, it wouldn't look very good if I made an exception for Prince.

I wouldn't let my grandfather in, either. In fact, I'd shoot him in the head. It's what you do to the walking dead.

It would not surprise me if it was an OD on prescription medication, or interaction with alcohol. I say that speaking as someone who has been having hip issues as of late.

Sadly, it happens a lot. Some people are prescribed a lot of pain medication and it would be easy to make a mistake.

If he had truly not had hip replacements and was trying to live with the pain, I can't even imagine how miserable he must have felt. And I can imagine a lot.

Krisken said:

Prove it. I've been watching that video for years now and I've never seen the guitar come back down.

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On repeated viewing, it looks like he threw it into the audience, not behind him.
I hope someone didn't get conked.

--Patrick

PatrThom said:

On repeated viewing, it looks like he threw it into the audience, not behind him.
I hope someone didn't get conked.

--Patrick

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I bet it was caught by the same guy who caught him when he did a "trust fall" toward the audience a little bit earlier.

GasBandit said:

I bet it was caught by the same guy who caught him when he did a "trust fall" toward the audience a little bit earlier.

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"Prince is playing. Better have that guy up front again. You remember what almost happened last time."

--Patrick

Just as a head's-up, certain AMC and Carmike theaters will be showing Purple Rain until Thursday or Friday.

Called it.

Dave said:

Called it.

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Dave's been around so long he just appears to be a great prognosticator.

Krisken said:

Dave's been around so long he just appears to be a great prognosticator.

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Davestradomus.

PatrThom said:

Here's the video many people are citing today as an example of his talent (his 2004 induction into the R&RHoF).
(It's also the video that, when I first saw it many years ago, made me realize he was not only talented, but very talented)

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Remember this video? Of course you do.
Did you know someone released a more Prince-tastic "director's cut" of this (now 17 year old) video about a week ago?




Still doesn't solve the mystery of where the guitar went, though. Steve Ferrone, drummer for The Heartbreakers, is even quoted as saying:

I just saw it go up, and I was astonished that it didn't come back down again. Everybody wonders where that guitar went, and I gotta tell you, I was on the stage, and I wonder where it went, too.

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--Patrick