Always thought it was simply due to his being a sports fan living in Minnesota.

[img:$uid]http://flagsmadeusa.com/wp-content/uploads//images/sports/nfl-flags/teams/vikings/minnesota%20house%20us.jpg[/img:$uid]

Yeah, I also suspect the purple was a nod to Hendrix, but, come on, 99% of the people in Minnesota are in love with purple and walking around wearing purple because of the football team, a.k.a., The Purple People Eaters.

No.

It just happened to be the color choice for 1999's artwork, followed by him writing the song Purple Rain, and the fact that that was his commercial peak.

Look at the clothes, sets and artwork for the various tours/albums that followed. Parade - no purple. SOTT - no purple. Lovesexy - no purple. Etc.

If TGE were his biggest commercial album, people would think his favorite color was gold. His association with purple by the media and casual fans is played out IMO.

BanishedBrian said:

It just happened to be the color choice for 1999's artwork, followed by him writing the song Purple Rain,

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Come on, it's a heck of a lot more than that.

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[img:$uid]http://www.eonline.com/eol_images/Entire_Site/2016321/rs_1024x759-160421144057-1024-paisley-park-studios-purple-light.jpg[/img:$uid]

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[Edited 5/1/16 18:56pm]

Gold, black, purple, peach...

Purple owns him just as much as he owns purple because of how big Purple Rain was, and like BanishedBrian said, 1999 was also Purple. This period is the height of his career, atleast album sales wise. It's a branding thing, like so many other things. Re using words like gold, dove, seve, purple...

I remember seeing a pic...a llooonnng time ago, he painted his house purple? Maybe pre-PP?