april 21st 2016, just another day in my somewhat crappy, sometimes wonderful life. my kid and i were deep in our storage locker cleaning out stuff to take to the dump. i was literally up on top of a pile of stuff at the very back corner when my phone rang, it was my ex husband. we are friendly and talk often, but i was busy and did not want to talk, i let it ring a few times, but picked up anyway, he said “ did you hear prince died?”…what…standing on a pile of junk…prince? i told my kid, she had the same reaction the entire world had, but at this point it was really truly disbelief, so of course, we asked the internet, did prince pass? the first thing to pop up was a headline saying prince’s death is a hoax, oh my god, relief flushed over me. by this time, really only a few minutes after i had heard the news, we were on the way to the dump with a big load of trash. we were googling and asking suri all the way, and the only people that said is was true was tmz… we pulled into the dump, it was super busy, tons of huge trucks and industrial size back hoes, we backed up to off load our stuff, and the radio started to play purple rain…oh no…we sat in the truck for a minute, and i had to fight back tears for the first time in a very long time, i can not cry for a celebrity i told myself. we got out of the truck, turned up the radio as loud as it would go and within a few minutes all of the noise and chaos had stopped and all of those people stood quietly listening to purple rain blare from my truck radio, princes mournful crying at the end felt like a jab to my heart, and tears blew from my eyes… and then the radio said prince was…..i can not type the word.

flipper1960 said:

april 21st 2016, just another day in my somewhat crappy, sometimes wonderful life. my kid and i were deep in our storage locker cleaning out stuff to take to the dump. i was literally up on top of a pile of stuff at the very back corner when my phone rang, it was my ex husband. we are friendly and talk often, but i was busy and did not want to talk, i let it ring a few times, but picked up anyway, he said “ did you hear prince died?”…what…standing on a pile of junk…prince? i told my kid, she had the same reaction the entire world had, but at this point it was really truly disbelief, so of course, we asked the internet, did prince pass? the first thing to pop up was a headline saying prince’s death is a hoax, oh my god, relief flushed over me. by this time, really only a few minutes after i had heard the news, we were on the way to the dump with a big load of trash. we were googling and asking suri all the way, and the only people that said is was true was tmz… we pulled into the dump, it was super busy, tons of huge trucks and industrial size back hoes, we backed up to off load our stuff, and the radio started to play purple rain…oh no…we sat in the truck for a minute, and i had to fight back tears for the first time in a very long time, i can not cry for a celebrity i told myself. we got out of the truck, turned up the radio as loud as it would go and within a few minutes all of the noise and chaos had stopped and all of those people stood quietly listening to purple rain blare from my truck radio, princes mournful crying at the end felt like a jab to my heart, and tears blew from my eyes… and then the radio said prince was…..i can not type the word.

I hate that word and will never use it again. It's like the period at the end of a sentence. The right phrase is "passed on..."

I'm sure I'm not the only Prince fan who recalls back in the day when the network news had actually reported his "death." Everybody I knew texted me at once and I didn't truly believe it at first. Yea yea yea, heard this one before.

But then it was EVERYWHERE and shit started to sink in.

nursev said:

jumanji2016 said:

nursev said: Someone posted this on Instagram for his birthday and it immediately felt like April 22 again when the news started sinking in. I wanted to sob, but I was in public when I saw it. I mean Prince can't be just a memory now? https://instagram.com/p/BGXMXMQk1x4/

OMG Why did I click on it? too sad

I hate that flippin' song.

i wonder what he would have made of the process we're all going through.

maybe he'd write us a song called "Gett Over Me" it'd be a nice country western hit.

[Edited 6/17/16 18:26pm]

Being in a crazy time zone here (GMT + 12), I got up on the morning of the 22nd of April, to open up the computer and find all these messages on Facebook and seeing "I'm so sorry for your loss" and "Oh Tane, I knew what he meant to you" and I was like okay, I hope its not some family member and then the next one said "I remember you from school as this big Prince fan" and I was like "Hmm Prince, he had that flu, but surely not"

.

Turn on the TV, on to one of those international news networks (Al Jazeera or BBC world I think) and its "Pop superstar Prince has died, the singer was found dead in a lift" This was 8.30am our time which I think was 1.30 or 2.30pm on the 21st Minneapolis time. Just in denial for the first hours, then shock as I put it all together, the cancelled Atlanta show and the recent flus. Then I realised how cruel life was and put "Sometimes it snows in April" on.

I had literally JUST parked my car to go into a job interview and my friend from Philly called me with the news. I didn't believe it and said "no he didn't. He had the flu and went to the hospital. He just did a show." HE's like, "dude I'm telling you."

So before I went in the interview, I googled it on my phone and yep. I had to tirn it off cuase I knew my phone was about to blow up. Everyone who knows me knows Prince is my favorite musician. When I got out of the interview (I got the job), I had about 50 text messages and phone calls.

Twitter. So very sad.

I just remember posting that it was just a rumor and hoping it was just not true. Alas, for all of us. We were lucky to have him while we did.

I was at work and a news alert went off on my phone. Still very unreal and devestatingly sad. Have been in that state ever since April 21st!

some guy at a bus stop was talking on the phone and said " they killed my boy prince"

muleFunk said:

I have taught high school for 21 years and I am known by the whole school as a huge Prince fan because I write the lyrics to Prince songs on my board as a bell ringer/Thought 4 2day type of thing.

April 21, 2016 started for me at 3:33 am when my doorbell rang. When I got to the door no one was there. This is an omen in our family of death. I was extremely worried and did not go back to bed. When no phone call came I called my parents around 7 am to check up on them and everything was fine so I headed to school.

That morning was one of the few mornings that I did not listen to Prince on my way to school. My son looked funny when we arrived and asked what's wrong? I responded by saying nothing and he said you didn't play Prince today. I was so worried about the doorbell that I didn't even think about it.

The day was normal and passed quickly until 12 noon and I went to lunch and one of my students was outside my door and he said I wanted to check on you to see if you are cool. I was like "What?" and he said "You don't know?" I said know what ? He said Prince is dead.

I grabbed my smartphone and it was dead. I plugged it into the charger and I had over 30 missed calls. My wife had called multiple times. My sister called multiple times. My mother called multiple times. I looked on Facebook and I had 70 messages and over 300 notifications. When the bell rang for the next class to start I had over 400 students at my door checking on me to see if I was OK.

To which I responded I'm fine because I was expecting it. "It" being a death because the doorbell warned me.

That was the first time that someone who was not related to us died and that happened

Incredible. It must feel comforting to know how MANY reached ot to you!

2nd worst day of my life (first was when my dad died)...

I'm an interior designer in Cleveland and was en route to a client's home on a very cold and rainy day when my phone started BLOWING UP. I finally looked down and read the first text from a very good friend who texted, "is it true Prince died?" I immediately called her and said, "Marla, what are you talking about!??!" and that's when she said, "I'm so sorry Joey but it's all over the news". I nearly drove off of the road. I switched on the radio (I rarely listen to music on the radio) and said to myself if I hear a Prince song I will know it's true. Sure enough I heard "I wanna be your lover"... I felt this unbelievable sense of loss and pain and numbness. My heart felt like it was snatched from my body. Death is so painfully perminent. Before I made it to my client's home I let out this horrific scream and lost it. I know, I sound dramatic but this is how it went down. When I got to my client's I told them, full disclosure, that I just found out about Prince and they had too. They were incredibly sympathetic and kind.

Interesting story...2 days before *that* day I went in for an endoscopy and right before I fell under I tilted my head to the nurse and said "Is this when I start singing Purple Rain?"

I don't think I will ever fully accept or come to terms with his death.

justAmeda said:

Hahaha the part about Prince writing a country/western song just cracks me up!...hmmm wonders what a cowboy version of Prince would look like?..goes of to dream...

i wonder what he would have made of the process we're all going through.

maybe he'd write us a song called "Gett Over Me" it'd be a nice country western hit.

[Edited 6/17/16 18:26pm]

purplethunder3121 said:

justAmeda said:

Hahaha the part about Prince writing a country/western song just cracks me up!...hmmm wonders what a cowboy version of Prince would look like?..goes of to dream...

i wonder what he would have made of the process we're all going through.

maybe he'd write us a song called "Gett Over Me" it'd be a nice country western hit.

[Edited 6/17/16 18:26pm]

.

purplethunder3121 said:

In my car driving and listening to the radio in Paris, end of the afternoon.

The regular program stoped and they annonced that someone was found Dead in PP and that it might be Prince. I started to have a cold sweat...thinking THIS can't be true, this can't be true.

I pulled over, got to the nearest bar, ordered a pinte and check the org and Schkopi (french site).

When I read "Prince is dead" I thought the three words didn't make anysense...then I started to cry.

I got realy really drunk that night.

I was at work and a friend called me and said "Prince is Dead". I dang near hung up on her and started trying to stay really calm. Then received texts, emails and other phone calls from friends asking if I was ok. Had to close my office door because I couldn't contain my tears.

It was a typical busy day at work and I had returned to my desk with lunch, poised to get on the net to check the local news and the Org. Prince had done that last Atlanta show after battling the "flu" and had that in-flight-emergency-landing-scare and I was hoping that he would chill for a while before making the next move to another concert date--dude needed his rest! I was ready to check up on the situation and the usual mishmash that folks post on here. Started in on my first bite of lunch and a colleague rang my phone. I answered and he says in a distraught tone that Prince died! I said "what" about a half-dozen times. Things were a blur, but at least I was sitting down and my door was closed to sheild my sensitivity. Wow. Yes there were tears and crying in tissues. How does this happen for someone I never met ouside of audience participation? I tried the Org and it wasn't happening. Oh, damn--this is too much. I don't think I got much work done through the remainder of the day; I couldn't, needing to attempt to discover what I could about what really happened to result in this (to me) shocking development. I got a happy-hour invite by someone who doesn't know me well and I texted my sis with the news on Prince and that I'd be drinking tonight. After work, at the bar I let the folks know that Prince's death was heavy for me, had 1 drink and went home. It was a very sad & quiet night. The next day was not any better for work performance. It also happened to be my mother's birthday so I had to man-up, muster cheer for her and not speak of what was heavy on my mind--what I believe she really knew to be, bless her heart. Man--I went home at workday's end, got on Youtube and commeced watching the unbelievable-if-not-for-seeing-with-my-own-eyes stream of Prince video that had previously been blocked from the site (that I supported, but damn, he's dead and I am in grief): live shows bootlegged--classic and down-low; interviews; music videos; bootlegged songs I'd previously not heard. Coming to terms with this reality has been challenging as Prince was a great escape from daily drudgery for a major portion of my life. He was a stylish distraction in myriad forms; a beacon for better things to come as a fan of music and patron of musicians; one on the cusp of refreshing his repertoire; a source of pride for community and a superhero among stage performers; controversial one moment and comical the next; daring; beloved by many women and the rest of the fans; lovely, yes, with that Christopher Tracy vibe. Prince was just too cool. He was too cool. I'd better stop now with my lament, as it just lingers on. But before I do I will say that addiction is a threat that any of us are susceptible to experience. It is unfortunate that Prince had his enablers. I am afraid that he did realize the depth of what he was facing at some point in his private struggle with medications. He did not want to be embarrassed in a moment of catastrophe (sigh), was hopeful toward the future, but just came to the end of this mortal coil.

>

I'm sorry I couldn't leave this post at describing my discovery of his passing. This was too much of a shock.

I woke up to get ready for work and saw a text messages from my bestie saying "I'm so so sorry hun, it's so tragic'

That got me awake in an urgency, "why, why, what's happening?"

And she said, Prince. I'm sorry, I thought you'd know"

And i would have if i was't sleeping :'(

Worst news ever.

Mercurybebe said:

I was in the hospital and it was awful. I started crying nurses thought I was crazy. I was in there until the 28th and as soon as I got home I started to actually accept...or process that it was real.

Not to pry, but you were in the hospital before this happened?

I had just come from a meeting and was sitting in Central Park with a friend. My phone was still on silent from the meeting, but I could feel it vibrating 2 or 3 times in succession, indicating several texts were coming in which alarmed me because that rarely happens like that. I immediately said to my friend "I hope this isn't bad news..." and checked the first text which came from my sister-in-law that read "We're so sorry, we know how much you loved Prince, may he RIP".

Without even thinking, I shouted "Oh no!" loud enough that it caught the attention of several others in the area. My friend asked what happened, and because he's not from this country, I asked him "Do you know Prince?". He said "The singer?". And I said "Yeah"... then explained to him that I just got a text that said Prince was dead. My mind immediately went to the plane incident, and Prince having "the flu", so it seemed possible even though I was having trouble processing it. I spent a few more moments with my friend in the park, but as I left he mentioned that I didn't look well, and I told him "I'm not! You have no idea what Prince meant to me!".

It's all that I could think about on my way home to get more details. But shortly thereafter, reality set in and weighed me down like a ton of bricks.