My first memory of ever hearing Prince is when a black radio station

I used to listen to in Los Angeles began playing “I Wanna Be Your Lover” in 1979.

I remember hearing the song and liking it, but I didn’t really identify with him until the following year when Dirty Mind came out.

That was a pivotal moment for me.

Just seeing the album cover opened up my imagination.

Here was an African-American cat, skin color like mine was,

playing the guitar like I wanted to play.

Obviously I would have been into Jimi Hendrix as that prime example,

but this person was alive.

This person was doing his thing right in front of me.

So he had a very deep impact on me.

I was able to see where I could go.

I never saw a huge difference between the private person

and the public persona with Prince.

I saw one person.

When you were with him he could be serious or he could be incredibly funny and goofy,

which is the side I always liked because we used to laugh and talk.

The most noteworthy time we played together was his Rave Un2 the Year 2000 concert

he taped right before New Year’s Eve at Paisley Park at the end of 1999.

We did “Fly Away” and “American Woman.”

It’s really funny because I was in the Bahamas for Christmas vacation.

I’m on the beach with my family and friends and he calls me and says,

“I want you to come play this New Year’s thing with me.”

I said, “Where?”

He goes, “Minneapolis.”

And I’m like, “Oh my God.”

I looked at the weather there and saw it was below zero,

and it was snowing.

I was like,

“God, I really don’t want to leave the Bahamas.

I just got off tour.”
.
But it was Prince. I agreed.

“He was a loving guy.

If he liked you, he really liked you and treated you beautifully.”

I hired a private jet and loaded my guitar and a couple of people and we flew to Minneapolis.....

Cut to two days later.

He’s kept me awake the whole time.

Man, I’m starting to fade and I’m still waiting to go do these songs.

I’m just falling apart, ready to crash.

At the exact moment where I’m starting to fall asleep he goes,

“C’mon man, we gotta do it now.”

I was like, “Now?”

He’s like, “Yeah, right now.

Grab your guitar. We gotta do it now!”

That’s what we did.

If you watch the video I seem a little out of it and I’m low-energy.

My voice wasn’t really in great form.

No excuses, but I stayed up for two days and I was done. I was like,

“This guy is a vampire!

How does he do it?”

His energy was beyond anybody’s energy I’d ever met.

Spending all that time at Paisley Park was incredible.

It was like Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, or the Wizard of Oz.

It’s this larger than life compound that is just his world.

The minute you walk through the door you’re in Prince’s world.

It’s all about being creative.

It’s all about music.

Everything you did there was recorded.

Sometimes we would just go into the studio and jam with members of my band and members of his band.

We’d come up with grooves, just instrumental stuff.

He would film it and record it.

He called them “mementos” and hand me a cassette when we were done.

This is before printing CDs.

He’d say, “This is just for you.

I have the master tape here and I’m gonna lock it up.”

He was a mentor and then someone

I got to know as a friend and play with.

So when he left, a part of me really went too.

" Not to be dramatic or overly sensitive,

but I really feel like a piece of me died."

~Lenny Kravitz~

[Edited 10/16/18 17:05pm]

"He was my brother;

he was my teacher.

He was someone who wanted to help me,"

"I had on an outfit and it was like all black because

the twins were going to wear all black,".

"He was like,

'I want you in all white.

They won't see you.'"

~Shelby J~

"He was like the best CEO you could ever meet.

He knew how to do every person's job.

He could tell the drummer that he wasnt doing a good job.

and could do better.

He could tell the producer that he wasn't doing a good job'

and could do better.

And he was right.

Everyone knew he knew their jobs better than they did

He was made to make music.

He lived for his work.

He was a genius."

"That would be enough"

~Michael Kronick~

Startifacts

[Edited 10/9/18 13:58pm]

awww melt

"I had greeted him as he came into the party

and had just admired his ass in that jumpsuit

which (film critic Gene) Siskel kidded me for so obviously doing.

Then later I went up to his bodyguard

standing right next to him and knowingly played the game.

‘May I speak to Prince?’

I asked the bodyguard as Prince listened above the din and

dared to smile at my knowingness.

This was Vanity Fair’s first Oscar party at Morton’s

in 1994 and he was the biggest star in the room.

Yet no one else seemed to be going up to him.

The bodyguard looked down at The Diminutive One who,

in turn, nodded his approval – knowingly.

‘Yeah, you can,’ the bodyguard said.

So Prince and I had a little Oscar party tete-a-tete.

‘Gigolos get lonely too, huh,’

I said to get his attention – which it did.

I then told him about the one time I ever saw him perform.

It was the Purple Rain tour in Daly City at the Cow Palace.

I was visiting San Francisco for the first time and a friend,

Adam Block, who was the music critic for the Advocate,

had prime seats right next to the stage.

I also told him his jump suit made his ass look hot.

He lowered those eyelids of his,

deciding if he should take that as a compliment or a threat.

I wasn’t sure if he was going to hit me with his walking cane.

He tapped me on my own butt instead.

“You’re right” he said.

And laughed – knowingly – a gigolo giggle,

amusement gargled back down in his throat where those guttural notes

could be grunted out amidst those airy high ones

that could so shockingly take flight as he himself now has"

~Kevin Sessmuns~

“He Didn’t Just Influence My Work,

He Epitomized What Versace Stands For”

Sketch by Gianni Versace

"Creative, fierce, daring, extraordinary . . .

He created an aura of uniqueness around himself that

very few artists in history have been able to do.

He was not afraid to show who he truly was,

and that’s a lesson also my brother Gianni taught me."

"He showed to men what playing with your own image really meant.

He showed men how to dare and,

most importantly, to not be afraid to be who they are.

He ignored rules,

he did what made him feel good without caring of people’s judgment.

I am so proud to have called him a friend".

On July 8, 1995, The Versace Experience

(Prelude 2 Gold) - a promotional cassette of previously-unreleased material -

was given to attendees of the Versace collection of Paris Fashion Week.

The cassette was mostly a promotional tool for 's upcoming album

The Gold Experience,

but also contained tracks from other planned projects,

the New Power Generation's second album Exodus

(which had already been released in Europe),

Madhouse's third album 24 (which was ultimately left unreleased)

and The NPG Orchestra's Kamasutra (which was released in early 1997).

~Prince VAULT ~

“I wanted to express my love and admiration for my friend who I miss so much. Celebrating him and his music at my menswear show seemed like the best way.”

"I miss HIM

His presence in my life.

The grand gestures he was able to do as well as the small things.

His generosity,

his creativity,

his heart.

I miss everything because he was one-of-a-kind"

~Donatella Versace~

[Edited 10/16/18 2:53am]

WOW. What a photograph. He is beautiful. Love is definitely in his eyes. A very attractive couple.

"I gave myself the challenge of creating a portrait of Prince,

one for every year he's been in the music business,

using only simple shapes."

"As well as a special edition for the song Baltimore,

individual portraits were used for the album covers of HitnRun Phase One and Two.

A selection were also used on social media and across the Tidal music platform".

"My time working for Prince was an incredible experience

that shined a new light on life as a Creative person

and taught me things I will never forget."

Free Urself — Be fearlessly Creative

"I had all of these barriers to an idea I had a long time ago,

which was to depict a portrait of Prince,

one for every year he was in the music industry.

I called it ‘The many faces of Prince.’

....I carried this idea for a long time,

worried I’ll never get it right and I certainly didn’t think I had the time.

But I realised that I always woke early,

ready to take on the day — too early when it came to weekends.

And there I found my opportunity.

I dedicated that time to commit to this project.

I threw myself into it and eliminated the fear by actually taking it on.

And the excitement of learning something new and making something kept up my energy.

I was only part way through the project when Prince saw it

and liked what I was doing

He actually started to buy the rights to the work

before I’d even finished the project"

Prince at his studio with his piano in front of a backdrop comprising of my ‘The Many Faces of Prince’ project and wearing an outfit with one of my designs.

Photo: © Madison Dubé / Paisley Park / The Prince Estate

His Creativity and expression of his art was always fearless.

A young black male performing in an outfit comprising of high heels, stockings, underwear and a trench coat…in a place like Minneapolis…

in the late 70’s and early 80’s is the very definition of fearless.

But it didn’t stop there, his fearless streak was evident throughout his whole career. He created what he felt, rather than pander to a record label or chase commercial success.

And so much of what he created was of the moment.

His philosophy seemed to be:

make it, get it out, learn and move on to something new.

Push — Take a ‘why not?’ approach

"The Creativity of Prince had no boundaries.

It never did. In the beginning,

he started learning music by playing piano.

And then took that skill and applied it to playing guitar.

Then the bass and so on.

Until he mastered them all.

By the time he was in his teens, he was doing everything.

The credits on his music were nearly always ‘produced, composed and arranged by Prince’.

He’d taken that approach into the studio too.

This doesn’t mean that we are all super-human Creatives who can do everything.

But when you work with Prince,

he connects you with those other possibilities to see what you can do.

To find your boundaries and push them so you can do things you never thought possible.

You hear this from many of those who worked with him —

often asking his photographers to make his music videos,

for example.

Always blurring the boundaries between different Creative disciplines"

"It was a similar story for me.

My style of illustration was very much using simple geometric shapes.

That’s what I was exploring in learning how to illustrate.

I was already pushing myself.

But when ideas surfaced that didn’t use that method,

I felt empowered to try and make them anyway.

One of those pieces was an idea I had for an image called ‘Moonfro.’

Prince was using a lot of moon iconography at the time

and also had a growing, almost perfectly circular, afro.

I decided to use his profile and the moon together to create

a silhouette-style portrait of a crescent moon.

My usual style of using shapes wouldn’t work for this idea,

so it had to be painted.

Not something I usually do, but I tried it anyway."

Prince loved the image so much he asked for a 20ft version

to be used in his studios, Paisley Park.

The original image I painted was only about A3 size.

So this involved me painting a bigger version.

Again, I thought why not?

The bigger version now hangs in the sound stage of his studios a

nd was also used as the backdrop to his last tour, Piano & a Microphone.

Positivity—Playful minds need a playful place

"My first time visiting Prince’s studios,

Paisley Park – in Minneapolis, was a surreal experience.

The only way I can describe it is there is magic in the air.

And I mean actual magic.

You can reach out and touch it"

Paisley Park is in your Heart

"there’s an electricity and energy about the place.

Anything can happen at Paisley Park and usually does.

Prince would feed off of the energy when other people were at Paisley Park

and use this to give truly unique performances

and magical memories for those lucky enough to be there."

"

"Prince spoke a lot about positivity and, of course,

wrote a song about it too.

And it’s something that’s so important in the Creative process.

You need to foster an environment that gives you the right energy

to go and create.

A playground for your mind.

For Prince, this was a huge studio complex full of everything he would ever need".

"Embrace that Creativity is messy,

not always perfectly formed and sometimes

the ideas end up in a different place than where they started. When you do, who knows what will happen to your ideas?

In short,

be more like Prince"

~RedFoxBandit~

aka Martin Homent

Nicole Scherzinger Pens Emotional Tribute to Prince: He's the ''Most Phenomenal Human I've Ever Been Blessed to Know''
By: BRUNA NESSIF
Mon., Apr. 25, 2016 5:25 PM
.
Prince's friend and fellow singer Nicole Scherzinger couldn't quite conjure up the right words to say until today.

The former Pussycat Dolls singer took to Instagram to share a black and white photo of the late artist sitting at the piano, with a lengthy and heartfelt tribute written about her dear friend.

"Its been a few days since our Prince has passed, but I needed some time to finally collect my broken heart and gather my thoughts...I've been fortunate enough to cross paths with some pretty special people throughout my life, but Prince, hands down, is the most phenomenal [or as we would've spelled it, fun-awe-man-all] human I've ever been blessed to know," she began.
.
"One cannot put into words the godly talent, power and magic he possessed- both on and off the stage. The world will remember him as the legendary musician, humanitarian and activist who united people through the universal language of music. But I will remember him as my dear friend, a brother, mentor and my inspiration. Through his integrity, Prince taught me the importance of being true to myself in this industry and through his wisdom and love, he has fueled my purpose and vision."

She continued, "Prince once told me, 'Anything we can think up, it can actually happen.' These words awaken and ignite the truth now more than ever. To quote from one of my favorite songs of his, 'sometimes it snows in April, sometimes I feel so bad, sometimes I wish life was never-ending, and all good things, they say, never last'…though you are no longer with us, your Legacy remains forever. Rest in the Heavenly Kingdom, Prince."
.
Source: https://eonline.com/news/...ed-to-know
.

Nicole looks like a young Sheila E, seriously.

Source: https://www.dailymail.co....-fans.html

the Martin Homet post. Always wanted to know more about him. The Moonfro IS just magic. And the graphics are so vibrant, can see why Prince snapped his work up. The way you put it all together, Lovejunky, including his contribution to the fence memorial at Paisley is just masterful. Thank you again.

[Edited 10/20/18 19:57pm]

SO very Welcome poppys....

I really love to make these posts....

Its an every day reminder of a

truly special Human Being...

I have actually lost count as to the Number

of times he has been refferred to

by those who knew him..

as

"Magical"...

[Snip - luv4u]

Wonderful thread. Thanks to all for sharing!

Yes yes..

Oh my goodness

Let me just begin…

THere are many kings..

King Solomon

King Tutt

King James

King Kong

The Three Kings

But there is only one

Prince.

Only one man who has defied restriction

Who’s defied the obvious and all the rules to the game

A mysterious figure,who when a river of words will not suffice

Can only be identified By a Symbol

There is only One man, who is so loud he makes you soft..

So strong he makes you weak

SO honest you feel kinda bashful

So BOLD he defies you to be subtle

And so

Super Bad

he makes you feel so super good…

He’s the only man that I’ve ever seen that lights the stage on fire

Leaving you to burn within it in a frenzy of movement

https://i.giphy.com/media...giphy.webp

Lights Electric Guitars, slides pianos, dances ,voices ,splits

And.... songs

OH My God…

Songs that are so powerful that you are forever changed

Songs that make you laugh and cry ,Think and dance

Songs that made ME look at song writing as stories that are un told passions

Dying to be heard…

He is the inspiration that the generations will return to till the end of time..

So Yes Ladies and Gentleman

Throughout History there have been many many Kings….

Both real and Mythological

They have borne sons

But none of them can touch the Rays from this man who stands alone…

A man who I am tremendously proud to help induct into the rock and roll Hall of Fame tonight

Because NOW

It is forever changed…

Ladies and Gentlemen I want you to get on your feet

And I want you to pay homage to

The One and Only.....

"Prince"

~Alicia Keys~

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Induction Speech

[Edited 11/2/18 19:00pm]

[Edited 11/2/18 19:01pm]

[Edited 11/2/18 19:02pm]

[Edited 11/2/18 20:35pm]

What a beautiul way to be honoured. I am sure he realised the adoration of his peers as well. Thank you Lovejunky- beautiful post as always.

Having Prince in my house Yesterday..

there was smoke machine..

so it looked actually like we were on top of a cloud..

I mean he is a lovely guy...

very respectful..I mean respectful of everybodies space..

He takes his tea with honey.....

He's tidy and just lovely.

He's great to have around and have in your home

....the gig that happened here..

I mean..it was just..really mind blowing....

Prince’s presence made others instantly feel good.

He treated everyone like it was their birthday,

you’d always feel really special around him,”

There was an older brother/ mentor role that he assumed.

I was happy to hear what he had to say and the suggestions that he had to make

.

He invited me to sing with him at Essence Festival in New Orleans

and he invited me on stage to sing in front of 80,000 people.

We played ‘Sometimes It Snows In April’ together.

I remember him teaching it to me in his hotel troom the night before on guitar.

He was on piano and that’s one of my fondest memories.

“He gave incredible advice, it was always encouraging.

He would say: ‘Don’t worry about what your label thinks.

Just do what you want to do,’”

He was everything.

Of course he was massively inspirational in a number of ways

and I guess one of the main things I took away from having spent any time

with him is just his incredible work ethic,

but at the same time having it not feeling like

work because its music and

it's just so enjoyable to do,

He really made you remember how enjoyable music

is and how many possibilities there are and

he always encouraged me to just keep doing it.

He just did what he wanted,

what he felt was right and

I think that is so important to do for a lot of artists

~Lianne La Havas~

[Edited 11/5/18 2:03am]

[Edited 11/5/18 2:07am]

Terry Gydesen is a freelance photographer based in Minneapolis

Terry has been commissioned for several projects

which include documenting

Prince’s 1993 New Power Generation Tour in Europe

which resulted in the book,

Prince presents the sacrifice of Victor

"I had gotten a call from another Photographer

who had told me Prince was looking for a Photographer

and its a long story...

but I ended up being hired to document his 1992 Tour to Europe,

and it resulted in a book of Photographs,

"Prince presents the Sacrifice of Victor"..

His title

not mine.."

"The parts that were the most fun were the After party gigs,

coz he,d have the concert and then he,d go and Jam

for two or three Hours..and thats where I made some of my best pictures..."

"One of my favorites was after he had you know..

just jammed for like 45 minutes on one song...

at the end..

.and he went down behind stage and just laid back on the floor .

.theres almost this religious like nature..

of him stretched out..

Christlike

in a way..."

"Probably the best part of the experience is seeing what a genius he is ..

Musical genius and to be able to have this record of that period of time

ties in with my own whole feeling of wanting to be a visual historian...

He is definately Minesottas greatest artist and it was a privledge

for Me to be able to watch HIM make his music and just observe that artistry"

~Terry Gydeson~