stringerbell said:

It has taken me a month to post this. For weeks, I was in a state of sadness and disbelief. The loss of the talent and humanity in such a sudden way was too staggering to comprehend.

Unlike others here, I drowned in his music, his concerts, his interviews. I taught my kids the catalogue of hits. I watched Purple Rain, Under the Cherry Moon and dozens of concerts.

For a month, I wavered between being deeply grateful for having had Prince and being despondent and inconsolable that we had lost him. It has been said before, but it bears repeating: in the world of popular music, nothing compared to Prince.

But more than the music, I remember the humanity. I am from Baltimore. And last year, as our city lay in flames, many avoided us. Even the police abandoned the streets for weeks on end as violence in an already violent city spiked. But Prince was there - putting out "Baltimore" and performing in concert for Baltimore youth charities.

That night, he brought out family members of Freddie Gray's and Michael Brown's and Eric Garner's. He played for three hours and inspired a crowd that had seen its share of hard days. He was there for Baltimore when it seemed nobody else was. For that, I and my fellow Baltimoreans will forever be grateful.

That night, he was vibrant, he was incredible and he was amazing (as always). I cannot believe that less than 12 months later, he was gone. The loss was crushing.

It has taken me a while, but I can finally be at the point where I am grateful that we had him and lived alongside his genius for four decades. With the possible exception of Stevie Wonder, no one else was in his league.

Rest in peace, my friend. Baltimore will always hold a candle for you...

Now i'm crying all over again. What a beautiful post

stringerbell said:

It has taken me a month to post this. For weeks, I was in a state of sadness and disbelief. The loss of the talent and humanity in such a sudden way was too staggering to comprehend.

Unlike others here, I drowned in his music, his concerts, his interviews. I taught my kids the catalogue of hits. I watched Purple Rain, Under the Cherry Moon and dozens of concerts.

For a month, I wavered between being deeply grateful for having had Prince and being despondent and inconsolable that we had lost him. It has been said before, but it bears repeating: in the world of popular music, nothing compared to Prince.

But more than the music, I remember the humanity. I am from Baltimore. And last year, as our city lay in flames, many avoided us. Even the police abandoned the streets for weeks on end as violence in an already violent city spiked. But Prince was there - putting out "Baltimore" and performing in concert for Baltimore youth charities.

That night, he brought out family members of Freddie Gray's and Michael Brown's and Eric Garner's. He played for three hours and inspired a crowd that had seen its share of hard days. He was there for Baltimore when it seemed nobody else was. For that, I and my fellow Baltimoreans will forever be grateful.

That night, he was vibrant, he was incredible and he was amazing (as always). I cannot believe that less than 12 months later, he was gone. The loss was crushing.

It has taken me a while, but I can finally be at the point where I am grateful that we had him and lived alongside his genius for four decades. With the possible exception of Stevie Wonder, no one else was in his league.

Rest in peace, my friend. Baltimore will always hold a candle for you...

Now i'm crying all over again. What a beautiful post

-----

Thanks for the kind words. I appreciate all that you guys have done in the past 32 days. It has helped me keep it together when others just wouldn't understand...

purplepoppy said:

stringerbell said:

It has taken me a month to post this. For weeks, I was in a state of sadness and disbelief. The loss of the talent and humanity in such a sudden way was too staggering to comprehend.

Unlike others here, I drowned in his music, his concerts, his interviews. I taught my kids the catalogue of hits. I watched Purple Rain, Under the Cherry Moon and dozens of concerts.

For a month, I wavered between being deeply grateful for having had Prince and being despondent and inconsolable that we had lost him. It has been said before, but it bears repeating: in the world of popular music, nothing compared to Prince.

But more than the music, I remember the humanity. I am from Baltimore. And last year, as our city lay in flames, many avoided us. Even the police abandoned the streets for weeks on end as violence in an already violent city spiked. But Prince was there - putting out "Baltimore" and performing in concert for Baltimore youth charities.

That night, he brought out family members of Freddie Gray's and Michael Brown's and Eric Garner's. He played for three hours and inspired a crowd that had seen its share of hard days. He was there for Baltimore when it seemed nobody else was. For that, I and my fellow Baltimoreans will forever be grateful.

That night, he was vibrant, he was incredible and he was amazing (as always). I cannot believe that less than 12 months later, he was gone. The loss was crushing.

It has taken me a while, but I can finally be at the point where I am grateful that we had him and lived alongside his genius for four decades. With the possible exception of Stevie Wonder, no one else was in his league.

Rest in peace, my friend. Baltimore will always hold a candle for you...

Such a moving post, Bell. Got chills when you described what your city was/is going through. Sure didn't get any easier today with the acquittal. How can so many cops be right and so many victims be wrong? Madness. + Strength 2 U

Thanks, purplepoppy. I don't want to get too political, but we are spending our time debating irrelevant issues in our political system when there is a real threat that our society will tear apart in the not too distant future. You can't keep stacking the deck against the same people all of the time and expect them to take it indefinitely. My fear is that what we saw in Baltimore last year is just the beginning -- unless we begin to address structural inequality.

May 10, 2015. That was the night Prince played for us and brought a bit of healing to our wounded city. Throughout the show, he would occasionally pop back stage, turn out the lights, pretend to be done with the concert and then lift the crowd up with the words: "No. Curfew!" The audience went wild. The city was under a mandated curfew that was applied quite unevenly.

Towards the end of the concert, Prince said to the crowd that it was time for economic empowerment. He said (and I think this is verbatim), "When I come back to Baltimore, I want to stay in a hotel owned by one of you. I want to be driven in a limo service owned by one of you. And I want to play in an arena owned by one of you!"

It tears my heart to pieces to know that he never will. BUT if just one person in the crowd that night was inspired enough by Prince to start their own business, pursue their degree and to overcome the many obstacles put in the way of so many residents of our city, it will compensate in part for the tremendous loss we suffered.

I always loved Prince the musician. I had been to many concerts, had followed him for years and always marveled at his sheer talent on the guitar, piano, bass, drums, sax - you name it. If he had only been a musical genius, he would have stood head and shoulders above the rest (whatever his size - again, with only Stevie being in the same ballpark). But after he played in Baltimore, I had an appreciation for Prince the man, the humanitarian and the advocate of social justice.

When I first heard of his death, I felt like I was sinking into the floor. For weeks, I couldn't believe it. I played his music so much that my four year old has memorized The Beautiful Ones, Kiss, Purple Rain, She's Always In My Hair, Another Lonely Christmas, Baltimore, Breakdown, etc. It has taken me a long time just to be able to write this. But every day for 32+ days and counting, I have come here and read your wonderful words in tribute to someone the likes of which we will never see again. And thanks to you all, while I will never get over the loss, I revel more in my gratitude for the gift of having been alive at the same time he was - and I work to keep that gift alive with my own kids.

Thebigpill said:

stringerbell said:

It has taken me a month to post this. For weeks, I was in a state of sadness and disbelief. The loss of the talent and humanity in such a sudden way was too staggering to comprehend.

Unlike others here, I drowned in his music, his concerts, his interviews. I taught my kids the catalogue of hits. I watched Purple Rain, Under the Cherry Moon and dozens of concerts.

For a month, I wavered between being deeply grateful for having had Prince and being despondent and inconsolable that we had lost him. It has been said before, but it bears repeating: in the world of popular music, nothing compared to Prince.

But more than the music, I remember the humanity. I am from Baltimore. And last year, as our city lay in flames, many avoided us. Even the police abandoned the streets for weeks on end as violence in an already violent city spiked. But Prince was there - putting out "Baltimore" and performing in concert for Baltimore youth charities.

That night, he brought out family members of Freddie Gray's and Michael Brown's and Eric Garner's. He played for three hours and inspired a crowd that had seen its share of hard days. He was there for Baltimore when it seemed nobody else was. For that, I and my fellow Baltimoreans will forever be grateful.

That night, he was vibrant, he was incredible and he was amazing (as always). I cannot believe that less than 12 months later, he was gone. The loss was crushing.

It has taken me a while, but I can finally be at the point where I am grateful that we had him and lived alongside his genius for four decades. With the possible exception of Stevie Wonder, no one else was in his league.

Rest in peace, my friend. Baltimore will always hold a candle for you...

Now i'm crying all over again. What a beautiful post

this is such a sad time.... i was watching the Shepards Bush show today... he was amazing thatnight such in a playful mood just enjoying the shit out of that performance he seemed so healthy dancing around it is just bizarre that hes gone... i dont care about any tributes....i just want him back

Bluu said:

JediMaster said:

Just realized that I never posted this here...only shared with Orgers on Facebook. This is a print I ordered by David Mack, called "Dearly Beloved". Mack is a comic artist who has worked on Daredevil, Alias: Jessica Jones and his creator-owned title Kabuki:

If anyone wants to order their own print of this piece, you can get it here:

http://www.gallerynucleus...tail/20611

Mack donates a portion of all sales to various charities, so it's a good thing all around!

[Edited 5/19/16 13:08pm]

Wow... I am so glad you shared this. Back in the day I collected all the Kabuki comics. David Mack is so versatile and brilliant as both an artist, writer (not to mention a fantastic storyteller), I would tell people he was 'the Prince [Nelson] of Graphic Novels.'

.

How absolutely fitting. And what a beautiful rendering of an even more beautiful soul. It is so touching to witness an art virtuoso paying homage to the memory of a music virtuoso. Game recognizing game. Both men shared an uncommon brilliance. Prince in spirit must be so honored by this.

.

Thank you David. I think i'm gonna order this print.

I'm glad you enjoyed!! Yes, it's a beautiful piece! I'm a huge fan of Mack's work, and have had the pleasure of meeting him on a few occassions at comic conventions. A really nice, humble man who is very much an artistic genius. Your comparison to Prince is not at all unfounded...the two definitely have much in common!

It's hard to believe that it has been a little over a month since April 21st. Every now and again I find myself thinking that this has been a cruel hoax, then I realize that it's not. I have been watching, reading, listening to everything I can about Prince to hold on that he is still here.

I hope that there is tribute for us all. I think that I need it for closure. Also, it may help me to know cause of death, was he ill? did his heart give out? I am sick of the TMZ crap. I just want the rumors to be put to rest. I still hope that there is a will. Knowing how he wanted his affair and estate taken care of will give me a peace of mind.

I have never felt this moved by a person that I did not know personally.

Thank you for reading my rambling words. I still don't how to get everything I want to say out.

Hugs to you all.

Good day Org. I have posted here for years under a different name and I am finally mentally stable enough to pay my respects to the 'Great One.' The universe has shifted and I have come to accept it. My first P. track I ever heard was 'Head' introduced to me by my brother at 11 years old. Been riding with him since. Enough about me tho, just want to say I am so sorry for his lost Prince fam and with you I mourn. To me he was the most incredible Artist off all time and there are moments when I feel we didn't deserve such an awesome showman. I will not lie I am a lil angry at some things I have seen and heard from the media and a few of his peers in the last few weeks, However, thats unimportant and comes with the territory. My fiance passed away 5 years ago on April 21st and just like her I will miss him. All day, everyday for the rest of my life. Stay strong fam and don't you dare let the vultures out there mess with his Beautiful legacy.

stringerbell said:

It has taken me a month to post this. For weeks, I was in a state of sadness and disbelief. The loss of the talent and humanity in such a sudden way was too staggering to comprehend.

Unlike others here, I drowned in his music, his concerts, his interviews. I taught my kids the catalogue of hits. I watched Purple Rain, Under the Cherry Moon and dozens of concerts.

For a month, I wavered between being deeply grateful for having had Prince and being despondent and inconsolable that we had lost him. It has been said before, but it bears repeating: in the world of popular music, nothing compared to Prince.

But more than the music, I remember the humanity. I am from Baltimore. And last year, as our city lay in flames, many avoided us. Even the police abandoned the streets for weeks on end as violence in an already violent city spiked. But Prince was there - putting out "Baltimore" and performing in concert for Baltimore youth charities.

That night, he brought out family members of Freddie Gray's and Michael Brown's and Eric Garner's. He played for three hours and inspired a crowd that had seen its share of hard days. He was there for Baltimore when it seemed nobody else was. For that, I and my fellow Baltimoreans will forever be grateful.

That night, he was vibrant, he was incredible and he was amazing (as always). I cannot believe that less than 12 months later, he was gone. The loss was crushing.

It has taken me a while, but I can finally be at the point where I am grateful that we had him and lived alongside his genius for four decades. With the possible exception of Stevie Wonder, no one else was in his league.

Rest in peace, my friend. Baltimore will always hold a candle for you...

Beautiful post StringerBell. Like you, I've found this forum to be the most therapeutic step - far beyond everything else - including my recent visits to Paisley Park and the fan memorials. The words from each of you have been so helpful, that's it's hard for me to even articulate what it would be like without them. We all miss him so much. He was the best, ever.

purplethunder3121 said:

cc3078 said:

Prince fans are the best; and relentless. The Paisley Park fan memorial 2.0 is underway. After the fence was emptied last Friday (May 20), fans have already begun building up the fence again. New photos from May 21 are below. And one updated photo of the star at First Avenue also from May 21.

Thanks so much for the update on the PP tribute fence and reposting my poem. I am deeply touched by your action. Looks like the fence will turn into a permanent Prince shrine whether the city likes it or not! I didn't know that the artist Dan Lacey, who painted that huge Prince painting above, was a Prince fan. I have one of his MJ paintings hanging on my wall. Small world, indeed.

that truly was sweet of him to do...Prince wouldve been proud

cc3078 said:

stringerbell said:

It has taken me a month to post this. For weeks, I was in a state of sadness and disbelief. The loss of the talent and humanity in such a sudden way was too staggering to comprehend.

Unlike others here, I drowned in his music, his concerts, his interviews. I taught my kids the catalogue of hits. I watched Purple Rain, Under the Cherry Moon and dozens of concerts.

For a month, I wavered between being deeply grateful for having had Prince and being despondent and inconsolable that we had lost him. It has been said before, but it bears repeating: in the world of popular music, nothing compared to Prince.

But more than the music, I remember the humanity. I am from Baltimore. And last year, as our city lay in flames, many avoided us. Even the police abandoned the streets for weeks on end as violence in an already violent city spiked. But Prince was there - putting out "Baltimore" and performing in concert for Baltimore youth charities.

That night, he brought out family members of Freddie Gray's and Michael Brown's and Eric Garner's. He played for three hours and inspired a crowd that had seen its share of hard days. He was there for Baltimore when it seemed nobody else was. For that, I and my fellow Baltimoreans will forever be grateful.

That night, he was vibrant, he was incredible and he was amazing (as always). I cannot believe that less than 12 months later, he was gone. The loss was crushing.

It has taken me a while, but I can finally be at the point where I am grateful that we had him and lived alongside his genius for four decades. With the possible exception of Stevie Wonder, no one else was in his league.

Rest in peace, my friend. Baltimore will always hold a candle for you...

Beautiful post StringerBell. Like you, I've found this forum to be the most therapeutic step - far beyond everything else - including my recent visits to Paisley Park and the fan memorials. The words from each of you have been so helpful, that's it's hard for me to even articulate what it would be like without them. We all miss him so much. He was the best, ever.

This thread has been my therapy for the past month. He was the best - without a doubt. And though I am sad I will never be able to take my kids to see him live, they are bathing in his repertoire with me every day - and arguing with their friends at school that Prince was the best ever. That and this thread are small silver lining in this tremendous loss.

Now, if we could get the government to put Paisley Park on the National Register of Historic Places, that would be the next victory...

Stringerbell, you just brought up one of the most painful things for me...the fact that my kids won't ever get to see him live, in the flesh. I kept hoping he would come to Houston during the Welcome 2 America tour so I could take them, as they were finally old enough to go, but alas...no luck. Both my kids have grown up hearing his music, as well as many other great acts I love. I've managed to take them to many great concerts, but I always told them that when they finally got to see Prince it would blow away every show they'd ever witnessed.

Heck, even though I've seen him many, many times live...I wish I'd been able to see some more recent events. The last time I saw him was when he played the Warehouse Live venue here in Houston with Tamar. That was back in 2006! A decade has gone by since then, and I always thought there'd be another chance to see him. Just never could dream that one day it would end, as I always believed he'd be playing until he was 100 or more. I ain't gonna lie...I honeslty thought he'd outlive me!

free2bfreeda said:

Naked Prince on a motocycle...

purplethunder3121 said:

free2bfreeda said:

Naked Prince on a motocycle...

Naked Prince riding a motorcycle backwards up a rainbow staircase!

*a fun game wild be how many Princes are there? I see 8!

[Edited 5/25/16 11:47am]

OnlyNDaUsa said:

BillieBalloon said:

OnlyNDaUsa said:

Naked Prince riding a motorcycle backwards up a rainbow staircase!

*a fun game wild be how many Princes are there? I see 8!

[Edited 5/25/16 11:47am]

Naked Prince riding a motorcycle backwards up a rainbow staircase with a flat tire. I only count 7 Prince's and a Dame in a white bikini. Who she?

more like, an unclothed Prince who was always "free," looking back at us and perhaps not wanting to go so soon.

imo the artist that created this very interesting painting or graphic image was expressing his/her appreciation of "prince. as a man who came into this world naked (as we all do), then he exposed his creative naked musical soul to all of us through his one man vocal and musical recordings and his xexy gutsy stage performances . (and we ALL danced to his music, and rushed to his concerts, and saw the movie 'purple rain' mega times. etc

as far as the motocycle back tire,

one could see that as deflation of the self determination that Prince went through via his masters at warner bros. those years must have been exhausting for Prince. He wore the 'slave' and warner had to relent. remember? : http://www.rollingstone.c...3-20160422

so then,

maybe the warping imagery of the back tire on the motorcycle is up to the viewer's interpretation. imo as far as the warbly imagery of the back tire of the motorcycle could be a pattern created by the many layers of the rainbow (rainbows have layers of water droplets that create the beautifulc colors we see.)

like the following > A rainbow: reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky.

It takes the form of a multicoloured arc.

so it makes sense that the tires are not perfect as they ascend.

>

i kinda think the artist did a cool creation in that it's got kind of a sgt pepper album cover motif. he touched on retro - prince was both futuristic and retro

after viewing the entire prince art image, one could almost imagine being the girl with the red hair (lower right area) jammin in the crowd and being in the now at one of Prince' concerts.

>

lastly:

imo Prince being naked (like in his 'lovesexy' album) is an irony.

that being when we pass on we are also once

again unclothed, thus "naked."

Prince had the unpretentious courage of giving me/us

his original, soul baring, honest, musical & creative

Self

4 me, i see the painting/graphic more posi+ive

than negative.

kudos to the artist for being creative and showing

some positive Prince

[Edited 5/25/16 17:43pm]

free2bfreeda said:

this makes me cry

nursev said:

starkitty said:

every night I lie in bed reading these threads, looking at the picture thread (which is so wonderful and comforting) and P stuff on insta and twitter and every night I land on the org and my eyes well up with tears. it makes no sense at all, still. I used to think about my record collection and picture discs and that maybe they'd be worth some money, someday, but then probably not because I just knew he would outlive me.

Sometimes I think about the outpouring of emotion across the WORLD & I wonder if he reallllly KNEW, ya know? How could he? I don't think he could imagine what he truly meant to folks... I don't think a day has passed that my eyes haven't at least welled up, I try not to full on cry every day though, trying to stay busy. It's so hard

BillieBalloon said:

Free2bfreeda thank you for taking the time to explain. Appreciate it.

no problem thx back @ U 4 ur words.

[Edited 5/26/16 1:27am]

if you haven't seen this tribute, take a look:

https://youtu.be/U86gQ_9lvO8

[Edited 5/26/16 4:23am]

BillieBalloon said:

OnlyNDaUsa said:

Naked Prince riding a motorcycle backwards up a rainbow staircase!

*a fun game wild be how many Princes are there? I see 8!

[Edited 5/25/16 11:47am]

Naked Prince riding a motorcycle backwards up a rainbow staircase with a flat tire. I only count 7 Prince's and a Dame in a white bikini. Who she?

did you get the one wiht him in black with a white face from the ATWIAD cover

Carmen Electra on Meeting Prince
05/27
Link


Prince helped Carmen Electra launch her Hollywood career and the duo even briefly dated in the early '90s, but when they first met, it wasn't instant sparks.

"That first time I met Prince, he was very quiet," she tells LaPalme's summer issue, for which she was styled by creative director Derek Warburton. "I was very shy, so there was this awkward moment of us just kind of standing in front of each other."

Eventually, the late legend "broke the ice by asking me if I wanted to play pool, and I was so horrible that he just kept laughing at me," she recalls.

Prince also gave Electra – born Tara Leigh Patrick – her stage name when they went into the studio together.

"I reminded him that my name was Tara. He told me, 'You look like a Carmen, so to me, you're Carmen," she says. "He was so mysterious, but one of the wittiest people I've ever met. He was simply one of a kind."

According to Electra, her mentor touched those in his life with "his beautiful spirit and his powerful music," and left a lasting impact on her.

"As an artist and as a person, Prince was so extraordinarily generous," she says. "It was very generous for him to give me a chance to start a music career, and I'll always be grateful that he believed in me and took a chance on me. We're all devastated, and it didn't seem like it was his right time to go."

Tour the villa in Marbella, Spain that Prince and Mayte once called home.

Dear Org, it took me some time to push through and get it done, but at last here with much love is my heartfelt tribute to our great loss. It is lengthy so I have only provided the link. I hope you feel it does the man justice and that it helps ease your sense of loss.

http://funknstuff.net/fearless-and-peerless-how-prince-kissed-my-soul/