Thursday, April 21, 2016

Purple Tears--Prince Has Died At Age 57

God is accumulating a lot of musical talent this year in heaven.  We have lost another superstar as Prince died today at age 57.

Police responded to a medical call at Prince's Paisley Park studios in Chanhassen, Minnesota and found him unresponsive in an elevator.

The eclectic genius postponed two performances on April 7 in Atlanta, stating that he was battling the flu.  On April 15, Prince's private jet made an emergency landing in Illinois so that he could see medical treatment for influenza-like symptoms.  

We apologize for not being to feature his music.  YouTube could never come to a financial agreement with Prince to include his music on the popular music video channel.  We did find some, but it's a shame that we can't salute his music.


Prince wrote his first song at age seven.  With the help of Minneapolis businessman Owen Husney, Prince signed a recording contract with Warner Brothers and released his debut album, For You, in 1978.  He wrote, arranged, produced and played all 27 instruments on the album.

The next year, Prince released his self-titled album which contained two R&B hits and "I Wanna' Be Your Lover" reached #11 overall and sold over one million copies.

His next album, Dirty Mind, flopped, so Prince went to work on another project.  In 1981, he released the album Controversy and opened on tour for the Rolling Stones.

In 1982, Prince released the double album 1999, which was his breakthrough.  The title track, a protest against the proliferation of nuclear weapons, became a hute hit.


"Little Red Corvette" helped the album go Triple Platinum, reaching #6 on the Popular chart.

"Delirious" is another great song on the album.

As good as 1999 was, Prince achieved his career best with the album Purple Rain, the soundtrack to the movie he starred in.


While the movie grossed over $80 million, it was the soundtrack which was a work of art.  "When Doves Cry" became one of The Top 500 Songs of the Rock Era*.

Prince followed that up with another smash hit, "Let's Go Crazy".

Purple Rain accumulated 24 weeks at #1 to become one of The Top 100 Albums of the Rock Era*.  The title song also became a Top 10 hit, his third consecutive Top Three song.

Prince made it four Top 10 songs on the album with "I Would Die 4 (sic) U (sic)".

The follow-up to Purple Rain, Around the World in a Day, also went to #1 on the Album chart.  The single "Raspberry Beret" reached #2.

Prince also released the single "Pop Life" from the album--it went to #7.

Prince then teamed with friend Sheila E. to give her a hit song--"A Love Bizarre".

In 1986, Prince released the album Parade, which featured the #1 song "Kiss".  

That same year, Prince wrote "Manic Monday", which became the first big hit for the Bangles.

Parade was the soundtrack for Prince's second movie, Under the Cherry Moon.

Prince then released Sign o' the Times in 1987, and the title song hit #3.

Prince then collaborated with Sheena Eason on "U (sic) Got The Look", a #2 smash.

He released another single from his album, "I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man", which hit #10.

The following year, Prince released the album Lovesexy, which yielded the #8 song "Alphabet St.".

In 1989, Jack Nicholson specifically requested Prince to do the soundtrack to the movie Batman, and the song "Batdance" gave Prince another #1 song.

Another song worth featuring from the movie is "Partyman".

Prince scored another Top 10 hit with "Thieves In The Temple" from his album Graffiti Bridge.

Prince wrote one of his biggest hits for another artist, composing "Nothing Compares 2 (sic) U (sic)" for Sinead O'Connor.  That song remained at the top for four weeks and sold over two million copies in the U.S. alone.

In 1991, Prince released the album Diamonds and Pearls, and rose to #1 again with "Cream".

The title song also landed in the Top 10, peaking at #3.

After problems with Warner Brothers, Prince protested by changing his name to an unpronounceable symbol.  From the Love Symbol album, the single "7" reached #7.

In 1994, Prince released the album The Gold Experience, which gave him his final Top 10 song, "The Most Beautiful Girl In The World".






RIP to @prince…a true artist in every sense of the word. Gone way too soon.


Prince has sold over 100 million records worldwide, making him one of the top-selling artists of the Rock Era.  He won seven Grammy Awards, a Golden Glove Award and an Academy Award.  He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004.

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