It has been a few days, and we’re still reeling from the loss of Prince, a cultural icon and legend who we all loved. To be frank, we’re still not even over Bowie. Or Alan Rickman. Or Lemmy. Man, 2016, can you give it a rest, already? We’ve already shared a few of our thoughts — “Good Night, Sweet Prince” — but there have been so many tributes to His Purple Majesty all over the world that we couldn’t resist sharing a few of our favorites with you. Did you see a tribute to Prince this week that touched your heart? Share in the comments!
“R.I.P. to the King Prince, thank you for inspiring me to be a musician first and using this tool to heal people.” – Wyclef Jean
The Hollywood House of Blues posted this photo of someone who “decided that Prince deserved his own Hollywood star.” We agree, artistic stranger. Also, why the heck doesn’t Prince have a Hollywood star already? Somebody should get on that.
“And just like that…the world lost a lot of magic. Rest in peace, Prince! Thanks for giving us so much…” – Katy Perry
The Broadway cast of The Color Purple paid an impromptu tribute to Prince on Thursday with an absolutely stunning rendition of “Purple Rain.” As if Jennifer Hudson as Shug Avery weren’t impressive enough on her own, newcomer Cynthia Erivo — who is a frontrunner to win a Tony award for her portrayal of Celie — brings down the house. This one made us sob.
“RIP to Prince…a true artist in every sense of the word. Gone way too soon.” – Quincy Jones
WWOZ in New Orleans posted this photo, spotted in the sky above Jazz Fest in New Orleans this weekend. Beautiful.
“I LOVED him; the world LOVED him. Now he’s at peace with his Father. Rest in power, Prince, my brother.” – Chaka Khan
Van Jones gives an incredible, tear-jerking interview on CNN about Prince’s humanitarian and charitable works, about which, as a Jehovah’s Witness, Prince was forbidden to mention.
Paul Westerberg of The Replacements gave a wonderful interview in Rolling Stone Magazine with regard to Prince’s influence on him. An excerpt:
“My first recollection of seeing him was a dress rehearsal for one of his early tours. I was next to another musician, a couple other guys that were up-and-comers and that thought they were hot shit, and we were watching Prince. The guy turned to me and said, “I’m fucking embarrassed to be alive.” And that’s how I felt. He was so good. It was like, “What are we doing? This guy is, like, on a different planet than we are.”
“Prince, the doves really are crying now. Listening to your music. Remembering you.” – Oprah Winfrey
Portland’s famous Voodoo Doughnut created their own edible tribute to His Purple Majesty–looks too good to eat!
I’m sure I’m not alone in my opinion that Chris Cornell (Soundgarden, Audioslave) is one of the most astonishing rock vocalists of recent years. Last fall, he posted a video of himself singing Prince’s “Nothing Compares 2 U,” made most famous by Irish musician Sinead O’Connor. Cornell’s rendition is a beautifully stripped-down version featuring acoustic guitars and a cello, and hearing the song laid bare with Cornell’s incredible voice makes this one of our favorite versions of the song.
“‘A strong spirit transcends rules,’ Prince once said–and nobody’s spirit was stronger, bolder, or more creative.” – President Barack Obama
The Forum in Los Angeles was one of the many building to “go purple” to honor Prince’s passing. For a more complete list of purple buildings, visit this link.
In what might be the least awkward of the brand tributes to Prince, Chevrolet put together this tasteful and tear-jerking “Little Red Corvette” advertisement.
“I couldn’t wait to have my heart broken so that I could play ‘Purple Rain.’ That’s the kind of impact that he had.” – DJ Anthony Valadez
“We lost one of the greatest artists who ever lived. Prince’s music was the soundtrack to my life. RIP, Royal genius. Nothing compared 2 U.” – Kevin Smith
Makeshift memorials to Prince went up all over the country. This one appeared outside of New York’s Apollo Theater.
“Prince was the greatest live performer I ever saw. A musical genius ablaze with astounding, sexually charged energy. Loved him. RIP.” – Piers Morgan
Even notoriously curmudgeonly Noel Gallagher (Oasis), paid tribute to Prince at his show Thursday night with a rendition of “Live Forever.” Pardon us while we get the Kleenex! “I was in a band once. We had an album called Standing on the Shoulders of Giants and one of those giants was Prince,” he told the cheering crowd. “So you’re going to help me pay tribute to the great man and help me do ‘Live Forever.'”
“When you went to a Prince concert, he had you partying until you couldn’t party any more.” – Earvin “Magic” Johnson
Spike Lee hosted an impromptu block party in Prince’s hometown of Minneapolis. Thousands of mourners brought their babies, their dogs, and danced all night to Prince’s music. More photos here in this fantastic roundup by The Daily Mail.
Need more? Jimmy Fallon describes what it was like to see Prince’s legendary impromptu performance on Saturday Night Live. More than 1,000 high school students pay tribute to Prince at the 27th Annual High School Choir Festival, Prince’s longtime bodyguard shares his thoughts on the singer’s death, Mental Floss rounds up Prince tributes around the world, and musicians at the New Orleans Jazz Festival including Janelle Monae pay their respects.
In case you weren’t already in tears, we’ll close with this–Rihanna’s astonishing tribute, “Diamonds and Pearls.” Said she, “Today is a very sad day in music. A sad day to music lovers, musicians, fans all over the world who lost one of the greatest legends, Prince. We will miss you. A lot of us have started making music and listening to music because of Prince, so right now I just wanna honor him, me and my crew, and you guys. Let’s shine some light to heaven for Prince right now.”
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