When it’s all over what will history say about Prince?

Will he be remembered more for being an 80’s icon?

Will he be remembered as weird and eccentric?

With more albums that were commercial duds than successes will it hurt his legacy?

Will he be worshiped 50 years after he is gone much like Elvis?

assless pants

Mach said:

I'm afraid you may be right

A short high-yella dude with long hair.

LittleBLUECorvette said:

he was brown when he started out...skin bleaching and microdermabrasion every week made him high yellllar

mirrorbestfriend said:

who are you talking about again?

wonder505 said:

prince

He will have absolute legendary status. In a different way than Elvis though.

He will be immortalized for his musicianship, similar to Mozart, more than his

ability as a performer, which happens to be just as great (but is overlooked at

times).

he will be remembered, greatly missed, held in very high esteem, characterized as an eccentric, diminutive, eclectic, sprawling, prolific, artistic genius. fans will pilgrimmage to Minne often

Whatever it becomes, it would have been a lot more if he'd have put out a lot less.

machinegun said:

what do you mean?

mirrorbestfriend said:

well, it basically comes down to the old 80s vs 90s argument. I like a lot of his 90s work, but it was certainly not as well received critically than his 80s work and hence has probably diluted his impact and overall legacy. Imagine if Prince had stopped after Lovesexy. That would have been one absolutely flawless body of work which probably would have created an Elvis like legend. Instead Prince allowed stuff like GB/Rave/C&D/NPS to somewhat alter that balance. Nothing personal against the material, just how I preceive the impact of their release on how he will be viewed historically.

Prince will be talked about 4 years. They are a lot of people who have no idea the amount of work and influence this man has had.

Prince is already legendary,and will probably b recognized as putting on the best live shows ever!

machinegun said:

don't forget that Elvis is still a legend despite the majority of crappy material he put out in the 60's.

Bowie is still a legend despite sucking for most of the 80's.

Paul MacCartney is a legend despite putting out a lot of shit, and seems to be having an artistic rebirth on par with Bowie, with his last few albums.

Dylan as well.

U2 also.

I think it's mandatory to have some "wilderness years" in there if you're going to end up a legend
[Edited 6/12/07 8:57am]

Raze said:

yep, good points. I'd add that Prince has taken steps to at least re-establish himself and avert a sad disappearance. All this recent activity over the last couple of years, playing the hits concerts and all have definitely put him back on the radar and gone a long way to mending the mess of the late 90s. Prince's second coming has added a whole new dimension to his legacy and perhaps makes him even more of an enigma.

Mach said:

i guess u didn't see the booty pics. Prince has the perfect booty!

ReginaCarman said:

use too its flat as day old coke now

Much of what he should be remembered for, he probably won't. When your influence is so widespread, it's hard for some to imagine the world before it... kinda like the way people don't fully get the influence of James Brown.

Since he's in good health, and will probably never stop playing unless he's physically crippled in an accident, I wouldn't be surprised if future generations remembered Prince as 'that little 100 year-old man who'd get up on stage and kick everybody's ass... twice!'

Id say:

In no order -

1) Bringing Substance to the MTV Era! An actual musican in Pop Music.

2) Inventing a new sound which was Alternative back when there wasnt any gray areas to music.

3) Being the first Black Artist in Heavy Rotation on MTV! He was the first Black Artist with 2 Videos on the channel. (The Message & Electric Ave were on before, but Prince was the first to be Marketed and thought as not a flash in the pan for the station)

4) Youngest Producer in Warner Bros History (18) and that was back in 1977!

5) The First Major Artist to Sell Product over the Internet. (remember when he used to be made fun for this!! NOW everyone sells everything online)

6) Being the inventer more or less of how to promote in the Multi-Media era of Cable, MTV, Internet,etc.. He was the one that Madonna stole from, she learned from him to get press outside of just the music with Sex, Shock Promotion, Mysterious Behavoir. Michael Jackson learn this, Musically anything in 1984 -85 was Prince. Look at Heart when they came back from the 1970's look (look at their Look and Promotion for their comeback album) Janet was a nobody until she used the "Prince sound" which inturn all the Britney's etc took from her, but it started ALL WITH PRINCE. Madonna gets allot of credit for doing stuff Prince did in 1980. In a nutshell she was a white Vanity grinding on the MTV Stage doing "Like a Virgin".

7) Purple Rain Movie is the next step and really the last step. Like Lionel Richie said He made a movie around his entire album! Everyone before and after has chosen one song and made a video. Prince made a full movie from his album!That was the next step. Now that MTV is over, I dont think we will ever see anyone doing anything.

first male musician to walk and perform in 4inch heels for 20 years

mirrorbestfriend said:

adorable2 said:

i wasnt lyin

Ground Breaking Innovation, Diversity and Slamming Jams

mzflash said:

i agree with the first two...the last one is suspect

its simple, prince will be remebered as the greatest artist there ever was. period

lowercasemumbles said:

BOLD STATEMENT CARE TO ELABORATE?

What's yours? you're a musician right?
[Edited 6/14/07 9:04am]

wlcm2thdwn said:

He will be remember as never reaching his full potential because of bad choices he made.