Yesterday the world went purple, we lost Prince. On April 21, 2016, one of the world’s greatest musicians, Prince died at his Paisley Park recording studio and home in Chanhassen, Minnesota. So, Prince is gone, and we are afraid that we are running out of cool and quality singers that are also cultural icons. The news of Prince’s death was as devastating as it was surprising since we at The Vintage News are huge fans, I personally think he invented that quirky-cool appearance.
Prince is often described as “a master architect of funk, rock, R&B and pop” or a “pop polymath, flitting between funkadelia, acid rock, deep soul, schmaltz—often within the same song”, and our personal favorite :”The only man to be able to steal your girl while wearing her blouse and mascara…”
As a performer, Prince was known for his flamboyant style and showmanship. He came to be regarded as a sex symbol for his androgynous, amorphous persona, play with gender, and defiance of racial stereotypes. During his 40 years long career he was constantly changing everything: his name, the genres, instruments, his role (he was producer, actor, director songwriter), but most of all he changed his hairstyle 36 times between 1978 and 2013.
Artist and set designer Gary Card, as a tribute to Prince created this amazing overview of all of his hairstyles during the years, which clearly indicate that Prince didn’t follow trends or style, he was STYLE, he was MUSIC, he was a LEGEND, he will truly be missed.
Prince was born in Minneapolis and developed an interest in music as a young child, writing his first song when he was seven years old. After recording songs with his cousin’s band 94 East, 19-year-old Prince recorded several unsuccessful demo tapes before releasing his debut album For You in 1978, under the guidance of manager Owen Husney. His 1979 album Prince went platinum due to the success of the singles “Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad?” and “I Wanna Be Your Lover”. His next three records—Dirty Mind (1980), Controversy (1981), and 1999 (1982)—continued his success, showcasing Prince’s trademark of prominently sexual lyrics and incorporation of elements of funk, dance, and rock music. In 1984, he began referring to his backup band as The Revolution and released Purple Rain, which served as the soundtrack to his film debut of the same name. A prolific songwriter, Prince in the 1980s wrote songs for and produced work by many other acts, often under pseudonyms.
After releasing the albums Around the World in a Day (1985) and Parade (1986), The Revolution disbanded and Prince released the double album Sign o’ the Times (1987) as a solo artist. He released three more solo albums before debuting The New Power Generation band in 1991. He changed his stage name in 1993 to an unpronounceable symbol
“Everyone has their own experience. That’s why we are here, to go through our experience, to learn, to go down those paths and eventually you may have gone down so many paths and learned so much that you don’t have to come back again.” Prince
Cool means being able to hang with yourself. All you have to ask yourself is ‘Is there anybody I`m afraid of? Is there anybody who if I walked into a room and saw, I`d get nervous?’ If not, then you`re cool.
Prince
Rest in Peace Prince,such a shame our friendship has to end.
All photos by Gary Card