This is quickly shaping up to be one of the saddest years for losing some of our greatest musical artists and actors. Today brings the devastating word that the legendary Prince has died at the age of 57, found at his Paisley Park home in Minnesota early this morning. Prince, born Prince Rogers Nelson, had been suffering from health issues over the last few weeks. He recently cancelled a pair of shows for what was described as the flu, and a couple of days ago his private plane was forced to land to attend to his health concerns.
Prince's music helped define an entire generation, beginning in 1982 with his breakthrough album, '1999'. He followed that up in 1984 with 'Purple Rain', which many consider to be his greatest contribution. The album was accompanied by the film, Purple Rain, which was loosely based on his own life and earned an Academy Award for Best Original Score. Prince would go on to direct and star in other movies, Under the Cherry Moon, which was released alongside the 'Parade' album, the 1987 concert film Sign o' the Times, and 1990's Graffiti Bridge.
Prince would go on to win 7 Grammy Awards and sell more than 100 millions albums during his 30-year career, and in my opinion had the last truly great Super Bowl halftime show in 2007. Everything that followed has been a pale imitation. I grew up listening to Prince through my uncle who at the time was a huge fan. I used to ask him who the purple guy was in all of the posters scattered around his room. Obviously, this is a huge loss and we send our condolences to the friends and family who knew Prince best. [TMZ]
