57 minutes in, this is clips from the last show in much higher quality, there was a large debate when folks saw the old footage of this show how bad he looked, with the clearer version, what are all your thoughts now on his appearnce? Personally I think he looks fantastic.

https://youtu.be/no5SnVUBTKI

Musically, he is spectacular. Truely great. His variations of his songs are genius. Its funny but that version of Sometimes It Snows in April brought it to a different and more profound level. He variates it so much, its nearly a different song.

Physically, he's looked better in the past. He doesnt look old (Prince never really looked old). He looks frail and fragile. He looks like he did in 2009 but with an afro.

leadline said:

57 minutes in, this is clips from the last show in much higher quality, there was a large debate when folks saw the old footage of this show how bad he looked, with the clearer version, what are all your thoughts now on his appearnce? Personally I think he looks fantastic.

https://youtu.be/no5SnVUBTKI

[Edited 5/28/17 11:05am]

He was very, very thin, more than I've ever seen him. He was also really pale. His eyes weren't as sparkly in photos that we're used to seeing otherwise. He was struggling with those fucking pills, for sure.

It's hard for me to listen to these Atlanta shows. It's the last one and the finality of that is a bit too much for even me. But the moments I have listened to had me surprised as just how clear and crisp his voice was in the show. He never slurred words.

People hooked on a drug that has to perform or be up and ready (like a celebrity or public figure) know how to manipulate the drug (ie: abuse it by using it other than how it's prescribed) in order to function while not necessarily appearing to be high from it. (And by high I mean altered by a drug in their system, not eyes rolling around or tweaking or acting crazy.) Prince knew, having been on them for a minute, how to use the drug in order to function and operate as 'normal' as he could. It's probably why no one ever saw anything else. The dude was good at it, as are a lot of people who suffer from an addiction. Opioids and other narcotics are addictive by nature. He's no different when taking them. But again, he knew how to take just enough to work, and put on a good show.

Frankly I was also surprised at how great Prince's voice stayed over the years. People's voices tend to lower with age, and artists will even perform songs in a lower key in concerts. They'll sometimes do that to save their voice from singing higher notes night after night. Prince never did that, to my knowledge. He was so spot on with his falsetto, etc.

But as far as his appearance, he moved okay, but his body was definitely showing the effects of addiction, and not eating as well.

Painful to watch, but he looked okay to me. Some in the comment section stated that this was not someone who was a dope head or junkie to them, and I would have to agree with that.

TrivialPursuit said:

He was very, very thin, more than I've ever seen him. He was also really pale. His eyes weren't as sparkly in photos that we're used to seeing otherwise. He was struggling with those fucking pills, for sure.

It's hard for me to listen to these Atlanta shows. It's the last one and the finality of that is a bit too much for even me. But the moments I have listened to had me surprised as just how clear and crisp his voice was in the show. He never slurred words.

People hooked on a drug that has to perform or be up and ready (like a celebrity or public figure) know how to manipulate the drug (ie: abuse it by using it other than how it's prescribed) in order to function while not necessarily appearing to be high from it. (And by high I mean altered by a drug in their system, not eyes rolling around or tweaking or acting crazy.) Prince knew, having been on them for a minute, how to use the drug in order to function and operate as 'normal' as he could. It's probably why no one ever saw anything else. The dude was good at it, as are a lot of people who suffer from an addiction. Opioids and other narcotics are addictive by nature. He's no different when taking them. But again, he knew how to take just enough to work, and put on a good show.

Frankly I was also surprised at how great Prince's voice stayed over the years. People's voices tend to lower with age, and artists will even perform songs in a lower key in concerts. They'll sometimes do that to save their voice from singing higher notes night after night. Prince never did that, to my knowledge. He was so spot on with his falsetto, etc.

But as far as his appearance, he moved okay, but his body was definitely showing the effects of addiction, and not eating as well.

how so?

OH MY FUCKING DAYS HIS VOCALS ON THE FIRST CLIP!!!

Utter perfection, damn.

purplerabbithole said:

Musically, he is spectacular. Truely great. His variations of his songs are genius. Its funny but that version of Sometimes It Snows in April brought it to a different and more profound level. He variates it so much, its nearly a different song.

Physically, he's looked better in the past. He doesnt look old (Prince never really looked old). He looks frail and fragile. He looks like he did in 2009 but with an afro.

leadline said:

57 minutes in, this is clips from the last show in much higher quality, there was a large debate when folks saw the old footage of this show how bad he looked, with the clearer version, what are all your thoughts now on his appearnce? Personally I think he looks fantastic.

https://youtu.be/no5SnVUBTKI

[Edited 5/28/17 11:05am]

Totally agree. That was the greatness of this tour. The songs were reinterpreted every night. I don't think he played any of the songs exactly same way more than once, and sometimes he changed the songs completely. Listen to the show he played the night he learned about Vanity's death. Every song was reimagined through the lens of sadness and loss.

Do you guys think the thinness could be due to the size of his afro? I mean anything that big on your head would make you seem smaller.

[Edited 5/29/17 7:20am]

He played and sang beautifully but he was just so thin. He looked physically sick to me and I'm not talking about taking too many painkillers, I mean he just looked sick. It's so sad. He did give his whole heart to that show though.

leadline said:

57 minutes in, this is clips from the last show in much higher quality, there was a large debate when folks saw the old footage of this show how bad he looked, with the clearer version, what are all your thoughts now on his appearnce? Personally I think he looks fantastic.

https://youtu.be/no5SnVUBTKI

What struck me most about watching that video was how fantastic he sounded musically. During the performances, he is full of life, his voice is impeccable, he is engaging, and he plays the piano with gusto.

.

As far as his looks, he looks alright, a little thin. I can't see anything glaring that would indicate serious health issues, but he was such a master at presenting himself well. He never allowed himself to look a mess while in public. I'm not a fan of the afro on him and I'm not really digging his style in the P&M shows either. I think he looked better with the hairstyle and clothing he had in 2011-2012. Also, is he wearing platform tennis shoes in some of those performances? The shoes he's wearing look different than the heels he wore for 20+ years.

Another thing people seem to forget. We compare how he looked years ago. Most of have watched him for 30 plus years. He just was getting old. Another thing that people never mention. I'm sure there were times that Prince fasted for weeks days or even a month. I know a few religous people that do that and look bad during those times. I believe that may have been a reason his weight went up and down at times.

paulludvig said:

The man weighed 112 lbs. That is about what he weighed in his younger days - maybe 6 lbs lighter. I think he had lost a lot of muscle mass. He definitely was not as muscular as he had been. There are some pictures of his face that I found very alarming, but then in others, he looked as beautiful as he always does. In the end, Prince was an enigma, just as he has been his whole life.

justalongtimefan said:

leadline said:

Why do you think he went back to the afro?

Pgeishirt said:

Thank you for the you tube link. I think he looked thin, frail, ill. Does anyone know the song where he sings, " I could drink a case of you and still be standing."

"A Case of You" by his beloved Joni Mitchell. He literally performed throughout his career.

Bodhitheblackdog said:

TrivialPursuit said:

He was very, very thin, more than I've ever seen him. He was also really pale. His eyes weren't as sparkly in photos that we're used to seeing otherwise. He was struggling with those fucking pills, for sure.

It's hard for me to listen to these Atlanta shows. It's the last one and the finality of that is a bit too much for even me. But the moments I have listened to had me surprised as just how clear and crisp his voice was in the show. He never slurred words.

People hooked on a drug that has to perform or be up and ready (like a celebrity or public figure) know how to manipulate the drug (ie: abuse it by using it other than how it's prescribed) in order to function while not necessarily appearing to be high from it. (And by high I mean altered by a drug in their system, not eyes rolling around or tweaking or acting crazy.) Prince knew, having been on them for a minute, how to use the drug in order to function and operate as 'normal' as he could. It's probably why no one ever saw anything else. The dude was good at it, as are a lot of people who suffer from an addiction. Opioids and other narcotics are addictive by nature. He's no different when taking them. But again, he knew how to take just enough to work, and put on a good show.

Frankly I was also surprised at how great Prince's voice stayed over the years. People's voices tend to lower with age, and artists will even perform songs in a lower key in concerts. They'll sometimes do that to save their voice from singing higher notes night after night. Prince never did that, to my knowledge. He was so spot on with his falsetto, etc.

But as far as his appearance, he moved okay, but his body was definitely showing the effects of addiction, and not eating as well.

What is the basis of your conclusion that P was an addict? There is an active homicide investigation still going on. The Toxicology report shows levels of toxicity that are intended to kill any human. It is irresponsible to be making the kinds of statements that you have made above. People on Prince.org feel they are entitled to comment any way they want to about P without regard to his rights and respect for his legacy. It needs to end. P has a right to his good name. You did not know him personally so you have no basis for the conclusions you have drawn that he was an addict. You would not want anyone to tarnish your good name or that of your family or friends, so why do it to someone you never knew personally?

bibrose said:

What is the basis of your conclusion that P was an addict?

Oh for fuck's sake. Read a book. If he wasn't addicted to something, why would he have a pill to begin with???? Why would the doctor be coming in to help him detox and get off the stuff he was on?! He wasn't taking a pill thinking it was a TicTac and someone switched out Fentanyl. He died from a drug overdose. Why were there so many pills found around Paisley Park, why was he picking up prescriptions at Walgreens for years? What were they prescriptions for? An analgesic for a rash?!

laytonian said:

. MTV published an interesting article last year about Prince and time. "No matter what his actual age, Prince always looked 33 years old." . http://www.mtv.com/news/2...-phillips/ .

Thank you for posting that link. I just read the article. It really does encaspsulate that wonderful other world-ness that Prince inhabited. He was here on the earth with us, but then again he wasn't. Hard to describe this man and how he did what he did. The author did a fine job of capturing some of that.

purplerabbithole said:

bibrose said:

rogifan said:

So anyone who is thin it's because they're on drugs?

I did not type anything of the sort. For you to assume it's what I typed... Are you a teenager?

Yeah. He looked sick around the last days. I can tell that his heart wanted to get up and jump around like he used to but his body just couldn't do it. To be honest. I felt something was not right with Prince a few years ago. When he first sarted performing sitting down. My inner alarms went off.

TrivialPursuit said:

TrivialPursuit said: