I am devestated. I, literally, don't know who my second favorite music artist was.
Purple Rain was barely the tip of the iceburg. By the time he did Purple Rain, he'd already done 1999...and before that Controversy...and before that Dirty Mind. His dozens of albums, some unreleased...that he'd make available just for the hell of it, had songs that great songs that the masses never would have heard. Sometimes you'd just hear, "Prince released this song today." Not on a album. Just a song. His B sides. For those to young to know, the B side was the "other side" of a released record (back in the days when artists released actual records). Usually throwaway recordings for most artists. His B sides were hits, over and over again. Erotic City was a B side. The songs he wrote/produced for other artists. From the Bangles Manic Monday to Sheena Easton's Sugar Walls and so much in between and beyond. All the artist who covered his songs. Tom Jones Kiss, this one that I posted here
http://www.wnff.net/index.php?topic=32005.msg1501850#msg1501850 Even more how often his songs get sampled into other artist's songs. The Super Bowl halftime show in the rain. The Batman soundtrack. He performed at the White House last year and I remembering arguing with some fool on Huffington Post....
Addendum...
Gustav Mahler #3 is jamming on the box ... Who else remembers The Family??? or that he did jazz album under a pseudonym? Reading the tweets and other releases from celeb, I'm still waiting for Sinead O'Connor. ONE PRINCE SONG MADE YOU CAREER! SAY THANK YOU!!!