In Memoriam | Prince

Prince | 1958-2016

2016, I need to have a word with you. 

You haven't been a kind year. First you sent Bowie back up to the stars, and now Prince (and those in-between). I've never seen a year with two icons pass not only so closely to each other, but at such young ages. 

Being a lover of music was practically written into my DNA. It comes as no surprise that Prince was another icon/hero/inspiration of mine growing up. Prince was a man who could embody the soul of Hendrix in his fingertips, strut around the stage as though he was every member of a iconic rock and roll band, with a voice that rivals the range of that of Freddie Mercury. 

My love of Prince comes from my Mum. Much like Bowie, she'd play Prince around the house all the time. I can remember seeing the music video for Purple Rain for the first time because of her and being absolutely stunned and memorized by it. When Prince hits those famous high notes above that iconic riff, I knew that one day I wanted to be able to do that. Not the singing. That would never happen. But that riff is the sole reason I wanted to start playing guitar when I was a kid. Obviously, the Purple Rain era is my favourite of Prince's creations. 

In all honesty, I'm more shocked over Prince dying than I was of Bowie. This is the first time that me procrastinating on the internet - when I should be on here or doing Uni work - ended up in finding out that a hero of mine apparently died through a gossip website, TMZ. From there, chaos ensued amongst my friends and my colleagues at the student paper I write for as to whether TMZ was a credible source to eventually finding out that they were indeed true. 

But it all comes back to Prince. There wasn't anyone like him before him, and there won't be after. He was one in a million - like we all are - but he did something with his life that only we could ever have dreamed of. I'm proud that I got to be one of the lucky ones to spend 20 years on earth with him. 

That's what we need to think about now. To celebrate our time with a legend not only in music, but the creative world as a whole.