I took him, his constant flow of music and shows for granted. There was always another show. There was always another album. My focus fell off a bit over the last 5-6 year. Sure, I visited the org, bought albums when they came out and always spun a few albums here or there, but that overwhelming excitement for each TV appearance, album and show were not where it used to be. Then he died

I have listened to AOA, PE and the HitNRuns alot since his passing, and i now love them all. I was spoiled and lucky. I have a hole now that will never be filled. I didnt know just how important Prince and his music was to me until he passed.

Not buying the One Nite Alone box set when it was $39.99 at my local music shop.

Not driving out of town to see him when he was doing a nearby club show with Tamar, cause I had class the next day (and I wasn't 21 yet).

Getting a subpar seat at the Welcome to America show I went to, because I took a friend with me who didn't want to drop too much cash for floor seats.

i regret i slept in rather than go to the party on april 16th also wish i'd thanked prince personally for his generosity and general cool

I regret that I took his music for granted, not appreciating his more recent releases (3121 comes to mind).

I have no personal regrets. I bought everything I could and saw him everytime I could in concert. My regret would be selfish, but if I have to have one it is that I didn't see the piano tour. I was waiting for him to hit Europe this summer or that I didn't have the money to fly to Paisely Jan 21st. But I don't think I can really regret anything, as he gave me so much music, joy and introduced me to people and artists through his music I would never have met.

My only regret is for him. He died and he suffered in some way in passing. I wish he didn't as he gave us so much, and for this I am forever thankful to him.

theartistirl said:

I have no personal regrets. I bought everything I could and saw him everytime I could in concert. My regret would be selfish, but if I have to have one it is that I didn't see the piano tour. I was waiting for him to hit Europe this summer or that I didn't have the money to fly to Paisely Jan 21st. But I don't think I can really regret anything, as he gave me so much music, joy and introduced me to people and artists through his music I would never have met.

My only regret is for him. He died and he suffered in some way in passing. I wish he didn't as he gave us so much, and for this I am forever thankful to him.

I saw him at Mohegan Sun in 2013. That was the only time I ever saw him in concert. I regret that he was off my radar for about 30 years. I wish I had seen him in a different version of a concert, such as Musicology. This is the selfish regret. My only other one would be that he didn't seem to have anyone around him who wasn't on the payroll, who didn't truly love him for him. JMO

That the one time I was onstage with him, I didn't go over and shake his hand and say "Thank you". I was too intimidated.

The old saying is true - You will always regret the things you DON'T do far more than the things you do.

I regret not going to Paisley Park while he was still alive. Its a pretty expensive trip from the east coast but I would have paid anything to have gone had I known what would happen

missing him the last two times he was in my area, once, because I was getting older and more tired of his antics and it would have been a 50 mile drive each way. As it turns out, he cut that particular performance short, it was like an hour or less. and the second time was when he performed, with no advance notice at a club here for the debut of Third Eye Girl, by all accounts it was an incredible performance and even though it costed 250, it no doubt would have been worth it. also, like others, I regret not making it to paisley park and I didn't really know how accessible he was to fans until he passed. I wish I'd had the money to do that but I never did.

I regret not going to see him play live before and after 2007. Even though I saw him many times that year, and had a great experience, I still feel like I have taken him and a lot of things he did for granted. I also had a wish since my teenage years to go and visit Minneapolis / Paisley Park but never went. I deeply regret not going there while he was still alive (argh, feels odd just writing that). Even now, I still want to visit and see all the places where he grew up etc. Loved your post by the way.

RodeoSchro said:

That the one time I was onstage with him, I didn't go over and shake his hand and say "Thank you". I was too intimidated.

The old saying is true - You will always regret the things you DON'T do far more than the things you do.

So true.

I regret not paying attention the last several years. I was pretty hardcore until I started university and became distracted by shitty romantic relationships to dudes who could never compare to P. My friends still knew me as a Prince fan, and I would perk up whenever I heard his name mentioned and throw in a little known fact or anecdote, but I really wasn't following him closely. I bought AOA after not buying his releases from 3121 to 20Ten, and that started to get me back into his music, but I was too busy with schoolwork to get my CDs out of storage and revisit my love for Prince properly.

I also regret not seeing him when he was here in 2011. I think my excuse was not having enough money, but I could have told my new partner that I wanted tickets to the show as an xmas gift. When he came by in 2013, I had a decentish excuse in that I already had a trip to Hawaii booked and of course I thought there'd be a next time... Now sadly, I have to try to remember back to the times I saw him live in 2002 and 2004, and those memories are getting fuzzy.

I also regret letting all the negativity surrounding Prince & the fan communities get to me. I started thinking I didn't really like the man himself, and now in his passing, I've finally heard some really nice stories about him. I don't know if he chilled out a bit in the last few years, but it sounds like while he was still a complicated and sometimes moody individual, he also spread a lot of love and generosity. I got into him just after his conversion to the JWs and at the time, fans here were treating it almost like old Prince had died. He wasn't always the easiest to love, but even at those times, he was generous in a number of ways.

[Edited 6/15/16 13:35pm]

[Edited 6/15/16 13:35pm]

I will always regret that I didn't call in sick to my rehearsal and go to the Piano and a Microphone show at Paisley Park.

luvgirl said:

I was bored sitting at the front desk waiting for patients to come in. Hands folded across my chest. Dying for 5:00 to come. My eyes wondered to the TV in the waiting room. I Saw Prince 1958-2016. I stopped breathing for a few seconds, turned my head to the left and spaced out trying to come to grips with the news. Frantically, I blurted out. Oh My God! Prince died! Everyone stopped and looked at me, ( I think more for my frantic reaction than anything else) they expressed their sympathies and thoughts ( even the doctors) and moved on with the saving of people's lives.. My world was shattered though. I just couldn't express just how much shattered in front of all my coworkers who didn't even know I was a Prince fan. I felt agitated the whole day and just wanted to go home because I didn't want my co workers to see me cry and I knew it was coming, and I didn't want to be embarrassed. I text my sister and she text me back and told me she heard, but was afraid to tell me at work because she knew how much I loved Prince and didn't know how I would take it at work. That made me feel a little better because SOMEONE knew I was a Prince fan. Before I left work that day my coworkers knew I was a Prince fan. I told them how he was my teenage idol and I had every CD from the 80's and how I used to have his Posters on every inch of my walls with kisses all over them and how he was always the go to punishment my mother would exact upon my head whenever I did anything wrong. My posters would come soaring down off my walls or ripped to sherds in the space of a second as homophobic slurs would reaped down on poor Prince's head. My mother was always astounded at just how quickly they would find their way back up on those walls. What I didn't tell my co workers though was that Prince was my escape from a neglected and abusive childhood. He was glitter and sparkle to a child that didn't even have a toy growing up. He was something to be excited about. Something to look forward to. The little Jamaican punk rock girl from the south Bronx that no one understood, felt like I was apart of something. "The special people club that liked Prince". His music bought me to a different land away from the one I was living in and for that I will be forever grateful. Prince always had a special place in my heart but somewhere along the way I started neglecting him. The last 2 albums I bought were LoveSexy and then again in 1991 Diamond and Pearl. In my young adult life after being into the punk rock scene in my teenage years, I wanted to be Jamaican again. Many of my friends and boyfriends were Jamaican and I pretty much delved into all things Jamaican including reggae music. Furthermore, I just knew Prince would always be there whenever I needed him so there was nothing to be so fanatic about. Whenever I needed him I could just run back and he would be there, no biggie. After my reggae stint I met my husband. Italian and very macho, no Prince posters were going up on my walls, lol. Apart from acting a fool to his and my son's horror whenever Prince deemed to show his face on television, Prince wasn't really a big part of my life anymore. Then it snowed on April 21st... When I got home that night I cried something fierce. Away from my husband and son I mourned for Prince like I knew him. Like he was a part of my family. Like he was my brother. Like he was my lover. Like he was my best friend... I cried for weeks. I was staggered at just how hard his death hit me, but I was crying not only for his passing but for my neglect of him for all these years. I have such guilt. He was always there for me but I wasn't there for him. I should have supported his music. I should have still had his pictures on my walls. I should have told my friends and coworkers I was a Prince fan... But I always thought he would be there when I needed him, no biggie. I've become obsessed with Prince now. Going through everything he has done over the years, his genius puts me to shame. His many talents surpasses anything I could have ever imagined. His evolution from the 1984 sex symbol to the calm spiritual soul of 2016 impresses me. With an adult eye, I can see now just how much bigger he was than just a teenage idol... So here I am left with my regrets and guilt while my hero is gone from the planet. If I could do it all over again I would have never left Prince. I would have taken him along my journey into reggae music and taken him along for the ride in marriage and motherhood. I would have been the biggest Prince fan this side of Christendom. I don't have a time machine though so I will hold on to this reality. It turns out I never really left Prince. He was always in my heart... At least I had him for all those years when I was a teenager and because of his great love and obsession for music, he left me with a vast catalogue of songs to devour. Even in death he is here for me, just like when I was a teenager, helping me get through... [Edited 6/15/16 6:47am]

I can only relate to the guilty feeling for myself, when MJ died. I had always followed him but not too closely and I made plenty of jokes about him. Still, I was overjoyed when he beat the child molestation rap. I was still an asshole fan though, once when me and my best friend were rolling his son in a carriage and his son asked "where we going" I said, "we going to Michael Jackson's house" and we laughed. I felt bad for that kind of shit. But I mostly felt bad for how much shit they put him through for being who he was. that man had a horrible 17 last years. Hounded and hunted, he really became a shell of himself, a broken man. So, after we lost him, I cherished Prince, for the most part, unconditionally. I didn't really even mind his tantrums and quirks because as I've gotten older, I learned that everyone has a vile side, everyone. And I hated this site because he couldn't do anything right for these motherfuckers, nothing, and because I knew this day would come. I just didn't know it would be so soon, we all die and death is a finality. We can speculate about the afterlife but we don't know, Prince could very well be gone forever, everything that was him. And that's a big deal. I did say above that I didn't go to a concert in '11 or so because I didn't want to deal with his antics but the truth was, it was also in the middle of a recession and I was broke too, and I almost grabbed a 30 dollar ticket to go see him.

Bunsterdk said:

Oh, don't get me started.. I regret letting the negativity on the org around Musicology keep me away from here, knowing now that he lurked. I would have liked him to know he would always have a friend. And I regret not tweeting it to him because I wasn't aware that he read what was tweeted to him. I know it would almost certainly have made no difference, but he would literally always have had someone to call at 2.05 in the morning with no strings attached. It's even daytime here at that time in Minnesota. He wouldn't have called, but I wish he knew he could have. My friends use me for that sort of thing and I consider him my friend even though we've never met. I am certain he did have real life friends he could call, but I'm just not sure he knew and that makes me very sad to think of.

people always bring up isolation when they talk of superstars but in that way, i just never feel for them in that one particular area. Not because I don't understand that being a star has it's own set of problems but because, in this world, with so many people, millions are alone, dejected, hurt and no one cares. Elvis had millions who would have loved to spend time with him, Prince had millions who would have loved to been around him. I never feel pity for that aspect, I know if no one else loved the guy I did.

CherryMoon57 said:

I regret not going to see him play live before and after 2007. Even though I saw him many times that year, and had a great experience, I still feel like I have taken him and a lot of things he did for granted. I also had a wish since my teenage years to go and visit Minneapolis / Paisley Park but never went. I deeply regret not going there while he was still alive (argh, feels odd just writing that). Even now, I still want to visit and see all the places where he grew up etc. Loved your post by the way.

Me too , you got me thinking and i do regret that. Add wish i had got the chance to see the Parade show at wembley.

[Edited 6/15/16 14:19pm]

wonderboy said:

Not going to PP during one of the celebrations. Got the invites but never really took it seriously.

Me too. I forgot to list that as a regret and was just about to, when I saw your post.

PeteSilas said:

RodeoSchro said:

wonderboy said:

Not going to PP during one of the celebrations. Got the invites but never really took it seriously.

Me too. I forgot to list that as a regret and was just about to, when I saw your post.

I feel for you guys. Am in europe so was never meant to be either.

I was a fan from 1984 until today.

Got every album.

Every 12 inch from Let's Pretend We're Marrried.

Every movie

Every CD single

Every book about him

Just about every magazine/fanzine about him

I supported the internet deals he had.

The only regret that I have about Prince is not being there on April 21st.

Guitarhero said:

CherryMoon57 said:

I regret not going to see him play live before and after 2007. Even though I saw him many times that year, and had a great experience, I still feel like I have taken him and a lot of things he did for granted. I also had a wish since my teenage years to go and visit Minneapolis / Paisley Park but never went. I deeply regret not going there while he was still alive (argh, feels odd just writing that). Even now, I still want to visit and see all the places where he grew up etc. Loved your post by the way.

Me too , you got me thinking and i do regret that. Add wish i had got the chance to see the Parade show at wembley.

[Edited 6/15/16 14:19pm]

Ah yes, so many shows, so little time... At least you got to see him a few times and in different eras. I really hope the fans will still have a possibility to visit Paisley Park in future.

Bunsterdk said:

PeteSilas said:

people always bring up isolation when they talk of superstars but in that way, i just never feel for them in that one particular area. Not because I don't understand that being a star has it's own set of problems but because, in this world, with so many people, millions are alone, dejected, hurt and no one cares. Elvis had millions who would have loved to spend time with him, Prince had millions who would have loved to been around him. I never feel pity for that aspect, I know if no one else loved the guy I did.

Yes, but most have ulterior motives though. Wanting to hook up, wanting money. Or they would be afraid to speak their mind, treating them like a star. I'd definitely be starstruck at first, but just give me enough time to freak out first. LOL I know it's silly, but I just wish he had known. And that's probably more about me than him since he couldn't really use the info as he couldn't know that it was genuine. It sucks. I do believe in the same as him and do expect to meet him someday. In the flesh, not on some cloud somewhere. So I'm trying to focus on that. He's not in any type of pain now and will be happy forever. But even knowing/believing that I never did handle death very well. It's the ultimate abandonment, I guess.

everyone has ulterior motives in this society, or rather, a lot of people. However, there are plenty of good, wonderful people out there. And, (gasp) there are millions of people who didn't even really know who prince was. Not everyone would be starstruck. As a musician, I guess I'd have loved some hookups but I would never have been underhanded and honestly, I wouldn't expect anything because, ever since the Time, he really hasn't taken to working with or for men, which I can kinda understand. Maybe the worst, most self-defeating thing that stardom does is it makes these men incapable of not having everything their way. Well, reality doesn't care if you are a superstar, it doesn't make you immune from the laws of physiology and biology. Maybe they just think that they can't die, who knows, but it's pretty common and I think it's more than the old cliche that artists are tortured souls. Lots of people live tortured lives and they live and live and live.

PeteSilas said:

So much. I regret not going to the last show he had here in the Bay Area. I was trying to be "rational and responsible" and save for a trip I'm planning. Of course now in retrospect I could've slapped the tickets on my credit card and called it a day. That's the biggest regret, that fact eats away at me every single day. I regret not paying more attention to his music in the past few years. I didn't purchase the Hitnrun albums or AOA until now. I regret not being active here on the org. I've been a member for 5 years but never indulged in conversation until now. I've had the best experience and I wish I could've had the joy of talking to you all while he was still here. I'm sure it was a completely different dynamic. I regret not visiting Paisley Park like I always said I wanted to do. I also regret not tweeting him as well, I had no idea he actually paid attention. Just to know that he possibly could have read something I sent him would have been incredible. God I wish we weren't talking about this. Still so surreal