In Memoriam: Those We Have Lost from the Music Industry

[Jeebus Cripes]

I don't even know what to say anymore. Too many great icons have left us this year. I feel like we keep getting knocked down before we can even get up and dust the grief off. I'm numb at this point. This shit must stop.

[TVFan17]

I caught the 2 songs that Guns N' Roses allowed to be included in Coachella's livestream last night/early this morning.  Right before I tuned in I saw on Twitter that GnR was planning to do "something special" (a song) to honor Prince.  Both Slash and Duff tweeted about Prince in the last couple of days, and I know that at least they were fans (I don't know about Axl).  I am guessing they may have even known him to a degree.  It was believed that the GnR tribute song would be Purple Rain (that seems to be the go-to song that everyone knows, along with Nothing Compares 2 U).

 

GnR did their own song, November Rain, and then did their usual cover of Knockin' on Heaven's Door.  Axl then said that people thought that they should do KOHD as a tribute to Prince, or do one of Prince's songs.  Axl said something along the lines of (and I am paraphrasing) "We didn't have time to put that together."  He said they are fans of Prince, and so the "whole show" is dedicated to Prince.

 

So, basically, they didn't do anything "special" other than say they were fans (at least, not that I saw).  It is possible that they couldn't get together in enough time to work out a Prince song, but I have a feeling they either couldn't agree on a song, or Axl didn't want to do it unless they had time to learn it, rehearse it and perfect it.  I think that Slash and Duff probably would have risen to the occasion and done their best with a 'not quite perfect' version of a Prince song.  I mean, look at Bruce Springsteen -- his version of the song wasn't perfect, and I'm sure he would have liked to take more time to work on it and make it better, but he wanted to do it while people are still thinking about Prince.  The Dixie Chicks' tribute song was not completely perfect due to lack of time to practice, I assume, but again... it's all about timing.  And... it's the thought that counts.

Edited April 24, 2016 by Sherry67

[Ohwell]

That is the first time that I have read that he was working on something with one of his siblings. Maybe Dan will go through with it anyway. 

 

(Until yesterday, I did not know that he had siblings.)

I took this from the article:   (“Dan,” refers to the Paris Review’s Dan Piepenbring.)  

 

I wonder how far along they were on the memoir.

[Ohwell]

I'm relieved that they've already had the service with his family and closest friends, that it was done so quickly and privately.  I was afraid there would be the gaggle of celebrities, hidden behind big sunglasses, stepping out of limos and such, so I'm glad that didn't happen. 

 

I'm looking forward to the musical tribute and I just hope they do his music justice.   

[DollEyes]

Another great thing about Prince was his live performances. I've never had the pleasure of going to one of Prince's concerts, but I have seen many of his concert videos and his stage work in Purple Rain and I was blown away every time. One of the best examples is his performance of "Let's Go Crazy" at SNL's 40th anniversary after party, which featured an all-star cast on stage, including Jimmy Fallon, Chris Rock, Bill Murray and Maya Rudolph:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cSH7bf2_ag

 

 

  The woman in Prince's band, past and present, were also amazing, especially Wendy Melvoin, Lisa Coleman, Sheila E. and Rosie Gaines. All of them were fierce in their own right, but with Prince, they were phenomenal.

 

  If the response to Prince's passing is any indication, his impact was even bigger than expected, from the purple-colored monuments worldwide to the impromptu tributes on Broadway. He also made a huge impact on the small town he called home. He regularly visited the local record shop and supported the local music industry. He even gave $30,000 to the elementary school's music program. Speaking of which, since Prince's 57th birthday would have been June 7th, if there is a tribute, I think it should be on that day with not just one, but several performances, broadcast on several TV networks. If planned right, the shows could be in Hollywood, New York, Nashville and Minneapolis (naturally) and they could be benefits for the Save the Music Foundation, which helps school arts programs nationwide.

Edited April 24, 2016 by DollEyes

[Enigma X]

DollEyes, I was thinking along those same lines. Since Prince spoke often of and gave to music education, I was thinking whatever tribute given to him or whatever profits made from the tribute be donated to some form of music education. I was a music major in the Chicago public school system. In my senior year, the arts program was gutted. It was a huge blow to us music, art, and drama majors.

[WendyCR72]

The NFL YT account has uploaded Prince's complete halftime show from 2007 - played in the pouring rain:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RT4Tn5ztwdA

[ketchuplover]

I am suspicious of quick cremations.  

[Shannon L.]

 

I am suspicious of quick cremations.

Prince was a devout Jehovah's Witness.  They require cremation or burial within a week of death. 

[Accidental Martyr]

Some of you may enjoy this Prince medley. It was done by a musician/radio personality in Birmingham, AL.

https://audioboom.com/boos/4469886-live-in-the-roundtable-lounge/embed/v4?image_option=full&link_color=%2355ACEE&source=twitter_card&utm_campaign=detailpage&utm_content=card&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter

[TVFan17]

And again, all the greats are coming forward to sing Prince's praises.  First, Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger, Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, and so many others. 

 

Now Eric Clapton.  And I hope that Clapton had a chance to tell all of this to Prince at some point -- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/eric-clapton-prince-depression_us_571bf3b4e4b0d0042da97b11

 

 

Lady Gaga finally spoke up (I was wondering why she had been silent) --  http://www.people.com/article/lady-gaga-prince-tribute

 

Adam Levine, Pharrell Williams and Christina Aguilera expanded a bit more -- http://www.people.com/article/adam-levine-remembers-prince

 

(Blake Shelton offered some nice comments a few days ago.)

Edited April 24, 2016 by Sherry67

[GreatKazu]

I have had the DVR working overtime with all the recordings of Prince's music videos and his other performances. It has been a long while since I have watched his music videos especially since Prince made sure to remove his work from the internet. I also have my DVR set up to record certain shows that will repeat any Prince interviews.

I already have on disc the appearance Prince made on the Arsenio Hall Show in 2014. I watched that today. Prince, as usual, did an outstanding job with his performances during that appearance. He was so damn cute, too.

I had the pleasure to see the man in concert. It was thee best concert I have ever attended. Today I was looking at the photos and videos I took of him during that concert. My heart broke all over again. This is so hard to take in. My heart breaks just knowing he died all alone.

[CaughtOnTape]

I already have on disc the appearance Prince made on the Arsenio Hall Show in 2014. I watched that today. Prince, as usual, did an outstanding job with his performances during that appearance. He was so damn cute, too.

 

This is one of the funniest, most entertaining and fantastic late night interviews ever done on TV.  The question and answer session with the audience when he quoted lyrics made me cry laughing.  

[DollEyes]

 

Am I remembering correctly that he had a son once who died shortly after birth?

 

  Unfortunately, it's true. For those who don't know, Prince and then-wife Mayte Garcia had a son who died a week later, plus IIRC there was another miscarriage and I think those losses were too much for their marriage. On the bright side, as someone who is a person of faith like Prince was, I believe that Prince is in Heaven, reunited with his lost loved ones.

 

  The tributes keep coming. Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder said that Prince was "possibly the greatest guitar player [he had] ever seen." Keith Richards called Prince "A unique talent. A true original....and I will add, a great guitar player."  Next are two quotes from U2's The Edge & Bono, respectively:

 

 

 

"One of the all-time greats. Prince has gone. A huge loss for Music."

 

"I never met Mozart. I never met Duke Ellington or Charlie Parker. I never met Elvis. But I met Prince."

 

Another tribute, this time Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell's version of "Nothing Compares 2U":  

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61XdPtGMErs

Edited April 25, 2016 by DollEyes

[Enigma X]

Just wow to Chris Cornell's version of Nothing Compares 2 U. I am a huge fan of Chris' and was hoping he would perform a tribute.

[TVFan17]

Chris Cornell is one of those musicians that does a great job with cover versions of songs -- especially songs sung by artists that are typically not in his genre, like Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston.  (Although he did a great Led Zeppelin cover too.)  He brings a lot of power, feeling and impact to them and makes them his own.

[DearEvette]

I was listening to that A-Z Prince song program as much as I could, marvelling at how many songs I own and how many I hadn't even heard of.

 

By far my favorites of the "I haven't heard this one..." is Chelsea Rogers.  I have been rocking out to for the lsat few days:

 

Here's an awesome video of it:

 

[Enigma X]

I am at work, so I can't post the link. David Gilmour has done a Comfortably Numb/Purple Rain mashup.

[BW Manilowe]

Bruce Springsteen opened his Saturday night concert in Brooklyn with a cover of Purple Rain. He's now made it available as a free digital download.

A link to the download is in the article linked below. In the paragraph above the video player with the video of the performance, look for the word "here" in turquoise/blue. Clicking on it should take you to where you can get the song.

http://www.ew.com/article/2016/04/25/prince-bruce-springsteen-purple-rain-download

[Deanie87]

I am at work, so I can't post the link. David Gilmour has done a Comfortably Numb/Purple Rain mashup.

 

Oh my god, this may finally be what sends my husband over the edge!  He was out of the country for work when Prince died and so wasn't really able to celebrate him as much as would have here and since he has been home, he has held it together pretty well.  But he is also a huge Pink Floyd fan so this just may be his undoing.

 

Speaking of concerts, I saw Prince a few years back with one of my nephews who is an odd mix of redneck and Deadhead.  He initially balked at going but his girlfriend really wanted to go.  Needless to say he loved it and still talks about how it is the best concert he has ever been to in his life!

[Ohwell]

I'm still not over it.  I still can't believe he's really gone.

[BW Manilowe]

The Minnesota Twins are having something of a tribute to Prince at their home game tonight (I think against the Cleveland Indians). They're encouraging their fans to wear purple to the game & each member of the Twins' starting lineup has picked a different Prince song as the song they walk on the field to.

http://www.ew.com/article/2016/04/25/prince-minnesota-twins-tribute-night

[DanaMB]

New Girl is repeating their episode with Prince tomorrow night.

[LADreamr]

New Girl is repeating their episode with Prince tomorrow night.

Thank you, DanaMB.

[DollEyes]

Entertainment Weekly is putting out a special Prince tribute issue this week.

[BW Manilowe]

3 hours ago, DollEyes said:

Entertainment Weekly is putting out a special Prince tribute issue this week.

As far as I know, he should be either the main cover story, or 1 of the "smaller picture" cover stories on People magazine's next issue too. And probably on a lot of other major news/celebrity/entertainment & music industry type publications (Billboard, US Weekly, etc.) which still put out print issues.

[DollEyes]

Prince will not only be the main Cover Story on both EW & People, chances are he'll be on the cover of the next Rolling Stone.

The tributes keep coming: D'Angelo & Princess, a Prince cover band featuring Maya Rudolph, do a very touching version of "Sometimes It Snows In April":

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uzBHhPEWpE

Edited April 30, 2016 by DollEyes
to add videos

[MyAimIsTrue]

On ‎4‎/‎27‎/‎2016 at 0:18 PM, DollEyes said:

Entertainment Weekly is putting out a special Prince tribute issue this week.

I'm a long time subscriber (20 years) who will be cancelling this year and while this may sound morbid EW did a great job with their David Bowie tribute issue and I expect this week's for Prince to be just as good.

[ebk57]

If you have Sirius/XM, channel 50, The Groove, has turned into the Prince Tribute channel.  I listened on Saturday, but Sunday they were playing something else and thought they'd stopped.  However, I randomly tuned in yesterday and it's still happening.

[TVFan17]

I loved the SNL tribute last Saturday night, with the footage of Prince playing at the SNL Anniversary after-party last year.

Jimmy Fallon's stories about Prince (on his show a few nights ago), and Ellen Degeneres' remembrance of the time he was on her show and performed "Kiss" were two of the best tributes I've seen.  I can't explain it but, from Jimmy's and Ellen's recounts and/or clips of Prince-ly shenanigans combined together, I felt like I got an almost full picture of Prince.  He was funny.  He was sassy.  He always had a bit of a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.  He was quirky and a bit odd.  He was, at times, difficult -- but in a way that was funny and made for a good story.  He was mysterious.  And he was supremely talented, dynamic and charismatic.  

Jimmy talked about his experiences when asked to go up onstage and dance with Prince, and when asked to set up a ping pong table because Prince wanted to play.  And Ellen showed her interview with Prince in the first year of her show, as well as his performance.

I also enjoyed seeing a clip of an old Bryant Gumbel-Prince interview (don't know what year it was), in which Bryant is talking about Prince's wardrobe and style.  He asks Prince if he would wear the shoes that Bryant is wearing, and Prince takes a peek and says, "Hell no!"  (He also chuckled when Bryant asked him if he owned any khaki pants.)

Edited April 29, 2016 by Sherry67
typo

[angora]

Coming late to this thread.  I needed time to sort out what I wanted to say, and the forums being down gave me more time than I was expecting!

I was never a “fan” on Prince's – not because I didn’t like him, but just because I'd never really sought him out.  I was more aware of him as a cultural icon than anything else.  I knew that he was weird and wonderful, I knew about the love symbol, and I knew that he was a Minnesota boy, which I loved (represent!)  But I can honestly say that the only song I knew that Prince wrote was “Purple Rain,” and 1) that’s only because I’d heard of the movie and 2) unless I heard the title in the chorus, I wouldn’t have known that’s what it was.  VERY little Prince exposure, people.  But it still hit me hard to hear that he’d passed.  Like Bowie, he seemed like the sort of person who wasn’t really meant to die, a strange, ethereal creature who would just glide off to the stars when his time came.

And so, over the past week, I've been dipping my toes into Prince education, and - no surprise to everyone here - what I found blew me THE HELL away.  I found that incredible Superbowl halftime show, I watched SNL's "Goodnight, Sweet Prince" episode (it occurs to me now that most of my original Prince understanding probably came from the old "Prince Show" sketches,) and then I found out my local theater was doing special showings of "Purple Rain" and bought a ticket on impulse.  Needless to say, the rest is history.

What can I say?  What an electrifying stage presence, what a versatile gift for songwriting, what a beautifully original style, what an incredible singer, what an amazingly multi-talented instrumentalist (his guitar solos are so badass - that's the only way I can think to describe them.)  I'm currently listening to everything I can get my hands on (thanks for the many recs here and in the In Memoriam thread!) and looking for more of those great "Prince stories" Sherry67 talked about - I already found Jimmy Fallon's ping-pong story and the Chappelle reenactment of Eddie Murphy's basketball story, plus New Girl's Prince episode (which seems like it's probably way truer to life than one would ordinarily think.) 

RIP, Prince.  I may have come shamefully late to the game, but I have no doubt you've left me so much more weird wonderfulness to discover.

[CaughtOnTape]

Jimmy Fallon's story is by far the best one I've heard yet.  I was crying laughing through it.

"HE wants to speak to you."

"I'm here to play ping pong with Prince."

"I turn around and he's gone!"

"Do you wanna warm up?"

"Ask your boy"

So hilarious.  Questlove was a great addition to that story too.  And the fact that Jimmy kept saying "This is a totally true story".

Prince had a great sense of humor.

Nick's reaction to seeing Prince on The New Girl is exactly how I would react.  Staring and screaming.

[DollEyes]

Another great Prince story is from Lionel Richie, who told Access Hollywood that Prince was not only one of his daughter Nicole Richie's godfathers-Michael Jackson being the other one-he said that Prince gave Nicole her first puppy. Then there's the one from Mark Hamill, who said that Prince played the reception of George Lucas' wedding.

 Even more proof of Prince's greatness: his rendition of George Gershwin's "Summertime," played during a soundcheck before one of his concerts:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxVeUvo5COI

Edited April 29, 2016 by DollEyes

[TVFan17]

This is a fantastic article -- http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/28/arts/music/prince-guitar-rock-hall-of-fame.html?_r=2

Not only is it great to get the different perspectives on what happened before and during Prince's performance, but also... I am a huge Tom Petty fan.  (I'm not talking about jumping on the TP bandwagon with "Free Fallin'" or whatever.  I go way back in my TP love, to the point where the earliest albums from the '70s and '80s are probably my favorites out of his entire collection of work.) 

TP tends to like artists that are obscure, that no one has ever heard of, or he likes old things, like bands who were big in the '50s and '60s.  He doesn't talk a lot about liking the music of his contemporaries, or of new, popular bands, or light, frothy bands, etc.  In fact, one of the most shocking things to me in this article is the fact that TP was talking to Susanna Hoffs of The Bangles before Prince passed away.  I'm thinking, "Tom knows Susanna Hoffs?  When did that happen?"

Anyway, because I love TP so much, it warms my heart to see that he is coming forward to say such positive things about Prince and that famous performance at the Hall of Fame.  I wish he had followed his intuition and instinct and called Prince.

Edited April 29, 2016 by Sherry67

[ebk57]

3 hours ago, DollEyes said:

Another great Prince story is from Lionel Richie, who told Access Hollywood that Prince was not only one of his daughter Nicole Richie's godfathers-Michael Jackson being the other one-he said that Prince gave Nicole her first puppy. Then there's the one from Mark Hamill, who said that Prince played the reception of George Lucas' wedding.

 Even more proof of Prince's greatness: his rendition of George Gershwin's "Summertime," played during a soundcheck before one of his concerts:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxVeUvo5COI

That's amazing.  Thank you so much for posting that.

[DearEvette]

On 4/29/2016 at 1:21 PM, Sherry67 said:

This is a fantastic article -- http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/28/arts/music/prince-guitar-rock-hall-of-fame.html?_r=2

Oh man I loved that article.  I am enjoying the stories everyone has of working with him more than I am enjoying all the videos that are now available on youtube.  I especially love hearing about him from other musicians.  It doesn't feel like lip service because someone just died, but it feels like real respect for a great performer.  And it seems like he has left a great reputation as a fellow artist behind. 

[Ohwell]

I keep thinking about him in his boots and how wearing them must have taken a toll on his body over the years.  I rewatched "Purple Rain" for the umpteenth time, and he's jumping off the giant speakers onto the floor, and my hips and feet hurt just looking at him.  Not to mention the spinning around up in the air, coming down, and then doing splits.  So much was made of his singing and musicianship, but I always thought he was a phenomenal dancer as well.  

[DollEyes]

One of the very few bright sides of Prince's death is that it exposes young people to his music, via the tributes to him whether musically or on social media by some of today's hottest artists of many genres, from country (Keith Urban, Brad Paisley, Luke Bryan, Tori Kelly & Little Big Town) to adult contemporary (Josh Groban, Michael Buble), from hip-hop (Chuck D, Kendrick Lamar, Big Sean, J.Cole) to EDM ( Diplo, Steve Aoki), from neo-soul ( D'Angelo, Maxwell, Jill Scott, Anthony Hamilton,Erykah Badu) to heavy metal (Anthrax, Guns & Roses, Deep Purple-naturally), from old school ( Brian May, Joe Walsh) to new (Nick Jonas, Demi Lovato), to literally name a few. If their giving props to Prince gets more kids to listen to him, then so be it.

  I also love hearing all the incredible stories about Prince from other artists, such as when Public Enemy frontman Chuck D. & Flavor Flav were at a Prince concert in Melbourne, Australia and Prince invited them to join him onstage, or when Luc Besson, the writer/director of The Fifth Element, originally wanted Prince to play Ruby Rhod, the role that went to Chris Tucker, but scheduling conflicts wouldn't let him.

 

 Here's a story about Erykah Badu's tribute to Prince:

 

http://www.dallasobserver.com/music/erykah-badu-delivers-the-prince-tribute-that-everyone-was-waiting-for-8238924

 

  Next, here's another example of Prince's generosity, this time about him helping to pay another musician's medical bills:

 

http://host.madison.com/entertainment/music/article_7d29f672-6a56-56d5-99ed-504a715778cd.html

Edited May 2, 2016 by DollEyes

[ebk57]

I received Entertainment Weekly today.  The cover is beautiful and made me cry.  The photos with the story are lovely.  I'm making my way slowly through the article...want to stretch it out...

 

I also find it amazing/amusing that all of his albums on Amazon are sold out in CD format.  Or at least the first dozen I looked at.

[Rick Kitchen]

According to the weekly music report in yesterday's paper, Prince has four of the top ten singles and four of the top ten albums.

[MyAimIsTrue]

3 hours ago, ebk57 said:

I received Entertainment Weekly today.  The cover is beautiful and made me cry.  The photos with the story are lovely.  I'm making my way slowly through the article...want to stretch it out...

I received my issue today and was disappointed in the cover.  Couldn't EW have used a photo that didn't look like Little Richard?

[Enero]

Hopefully the EW issue is better than what People did. He's on the cover of People but ultimately he's just another story of many in this week's issue.  I was expecting them to do a tribute like they did for Michael with pretty much the whole magazine being full of Prince pictures etc. but no such luck. Perhaps they couldn't get rights to a lot of his pictures and footage to print? Anyway it was disappointing. 

[DollEyes]

 The EW issue is not only better IMO, it includes a powerful tribute ad from VH1, which is almost a whole page of purple, except for a white dove flying away with "1958-2016" at the bottom, plus  Prince was The Bullseye, with the quote "Heaven just got a whole lot funkier."

  One of the coolest tributes to Prince was from Dame Helen Mirren, who not only wore a purple gown to the annual White House Correspondents' dinner, she wore the Prince symbol on her chest.

 

Quote

I am certainly celebrating how Prince lived and the unique phenomenon that he was...but I think a lot of us would be lying if we said we weren't curious to know what caused it. A man of his age--it's not like he was 95 years old--in good shape, with no known history of drug or alcohol abuse, should not have died.

   While I agree that the details of Prince's are important, knowing how he died isn't a top priority to me. I'm slightly curious, but I'm not obsessed. There are questions, but I can wait for the answers. Closure matters, but Prince's inner circle needs it much more than I do.

Another great tribute to Prince is from Rob Thomas, lead singer of Matchbox 20:

 

Quote

Literally the greatest musician I have ever seen in my life. His show was like church and school rolled into one.

Edited May 7, 2016 by DollEyes

[TVFan17]

2 hours ago, DollEyes said:

 While I agree that the details of Prince's are important, knowing how he died isn't a top priority to me. I'm slightly curious, but I'm not obsessed. There are questions, but I can wait for the answers. Closure matters, but Prince's inner circle needs it much more than I do.

Another great tribute to Prince is from Rob Thomas, lead singer of Matchbox 20:

 

I'm not obsessed either.  Just curious.   He was only 57.  It's not like he was an elderly man or someone in bad shape, nor had there been any reports of ongoing or severe drug/alcohol use.  It's not like we can all pretend "Hey, healthy 57-year-olds die all the time for no apparent reason."  That's simply not the case.  And if he had some sort of illness that was untreated -- like, for example, a bad flu -- it helps to get the word out there so that other people don't let something like that go without being checked. 

Of course, Prince's family needs to know first, before the general public -- that goes without saying -- but we would be lying and probably not human if we tried to pretend we didn't want to know what happened to this vibrant, electric, vital being.

Edited May 1, 2016 by Sherry67

[Ohwell]

I agree, I think it's only natural to be curious as to why a relatively young person died so suddenly. 

[Rick Kitchen]

Today's newspaper says that Prince has six of the top ten singles and six of the top ten albums on the charts.

[ebk57]

I went to see Under the Cherry Moon last night.  Hadn't seen it before.  It's a really fun film - not good, but fun.  The woman sitting a few seats down had obviously seen it many, many times as she was reciting most of the dialogue along with the film.  Quite impressive.

[UYI]

I love this story. Prince rules.

http://jezebel.com/the-new-girl-staff-had-to-burn-all-evidence-of-kardashi-1775774151

[DearEvette]

That Jezebel link led me to this piece written by the creator of The New Girl, Liz Meriwether, on how the whole thing came about.  I love her writing style and I can totally see her reaction when she gets his phone call.  I swear, I'd react the same way,.

 

http://www.vulture.com/2016/04/new-girl-liz-meriwether-prince.html

[DollEyes]

As expected Prince is the Cover Story of the new issue of Rolling Stone. It's a great tribute to him, which includes photos, his last interview and other tributes from Stevie Wonder, Lenny Kravitz, Questlove & Shiela E.