I've created a facebook page (The 1 Song Collective) with the aim of gathering all fans who are interested and willing to put some work into discussing and finalising a white paper I've written and posted on change.org as a petition, with the aim of asking the Prince Estate to form a Prince Legacy Trust with some more knowledgable fans who could function as an advisory board for the Estate in the future.
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Please join the facebook page at
https://www.facebook.com/...6043763479
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and read the (work-in-progress!) white paper I've posted to change.org at
https://c.org/F29fxgzFBK

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A few initial thoughts (but you can read the entire white paper on change.org):


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Prince’s true legacy deserves to be shared with the world – ask his Estate to form a Prince Legacy Trust!

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Prince Rogers Nelson was one of the greatest musical artists in history. A true genius, uniquely talented in many different creative fields (leaving behind an unbelievably vast archive of unpublished works) – he was also a highly intelligent thinker, a spiritual person dedicated to his faith, who spent his life giving, not only through his constant flow of music, but through his multi-layered, deeply spiritual lyrics and his steadfast commitment to philanthropy.

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Prince’s life mission was to spread the word of God: to preach love and compassion, to help others and touch as many hearts as possible – and this is his true legacy. The music was only his vessel, his modus operandi. He breathed and functioned in music, but there was always a purpose behind his constant flow of creativity, and anyone working on preserving his legacy should never treat his body of work as mere entertainment.

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* This petition is a call for action from the Prince Estate to listen to us longtime fans, collectors, Prince scholars, form a Prince Legacy Trust and allow input from us, consider our suggestions for managing the legacy and sharing it with the world. *

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The following white paper is a work-in-progress.

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I humbly ask everyone who agrees that compassion, education, love for one another are positive values worth promoting, to sign and share this petition, regardless if you’re already a fan of Prince’s music, or yet to discover his genius. Your action will contribute to allowing this uniquely prolific artist to inspire future generations to create a better world and live their dreams.

[Edited 2/8/26 18:32pm]

Thanks for this initiative.

Good initiative, but i'm affraid most won't even bother.

Vannormal said:

Good initiative, but i'm affraid most won't even bother.

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The general indifference I feel is baffling, indeed, to say the least, but still, I just have to try.

Great initiative, too bad Prince's fans don't care tho or he dpoesn't have enough fans left who care about things like Prince's legacy and his work.

JorisE73 said:

Great initiative, too bad Prince's fans don't care tho or he dpoesn't have enough fans left who care about things like Prince's legacy and his work.

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What I find really hard to understand is that after I posted the above in 3-4 Prince forums, approximately a thousand people (supposedly ALL of them Prince fans!) read my post to some degree, and out of those 1000 P-fans only 10 signed the petition, and not one initiated a conversation about any of the ideas contained in the white paper. Is this a true indication of the level of interest amongst Prince fans? Of course I don't expect everyone to agree with my ideas and sign the petition, but I do expect at least a conversation.

ShellyMcG said:

I was with you until all the religious stuff. I do think that the fans should have some sort of say in how Prince's legacy is handled but not if it involves "spreading the word of God" or any of that nonsense. He was a popstar, not a priest.

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I'm okay with that. I mean I fully expected the religious aspect to be controversial and that it would put off some fans, I get it. Still, I appreciate your comment as it is actually the first one that shows interest. This is the kind of conversation I would like to have – hence labelling my proposal a work-in-progress. I'm happy to adjust/change things should we be able to form a real community and have meaningful discussions.

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My opinion is that while P obviously wasn't a priest, we cannot ignore his deeply religious/spiritual take on life as it is embedded into his work – and if we're talking about preserving his legacy, we cannot cherry-pick parts from his legacy, in my view, that would be disrespectful towards him.

You posted this yesterday. Give it time. Even people who are interested in what you're doing haven't necessarily had time to read what you wrote, let alone form an opinion about it.

olb99 said:

You posted this yesterday. Give it time. Even people who are interested in what you're doing haven't necessarily had time to read what you wrote, let alone form an opinion about it.

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That's true. Thanks.

Kares said:

JorisE73 said:

Great initiative, too bad Prince's fans don't care tho or he dpoesn't have enough fans left who care about things like Prince's legacy and his work.

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What I find really hard to understand is that after I posted the above in 3-4 Prince forums, approximately a thousand people (supposedly ALL of them Prince fans!) read my post to some degree, and out of those 1000 P-fans only 10 signed the petition, and not one initiated a conversation about any of the ideas contained in the white paper. Is this a true indication of the level of interest amongst Prince fans? Of course I don't expect everyone to agree with my ideas and sign the petition, but I do expect at least a conversation.

Since Prince died I've heard from tyhe jsame old same old people how fans are uninterested and aren't willing to do 'the work', with me always going against that because I simply didn't believe that and I've never understood that claim, but lately it's been dawning on me that the fans really aren't ionterested into doing anythoing other for PRince or his legacy then complain about the things they want but are not getting. I guess those same old same old people were right if they can't even engage in a fan initiative to help Prince's legacy. I guess we really are the junkies were are made out to be.

ShellyMcG said:

I was with you until all the religious stuff. I do think that the fans should have some sort of say in how Prince's legacy is handled but not if it involves "spreading the word of God" or any of that nonsense. He was a popstar, not a priest.

I'm also not religious and think all that stuff is laughable, but thgis isnt about us, it's about Prince and his legacy.

Kares said:

I'm an atheist, but even I can sense his spiritual "enthusiasm" (for lack of a better word) in his most spiritual songs and albums. Maybe not being a native English speaker helped in this regard. Anyway, yes, God/religion/spirituality was a significant part of Prince's work, for better or worse. This needs to be acknowledged in some way.

olb99 said:

ShellyMcG said:

olb99 said:

I'm an atheist, but even I can sense his spiritual "enthusiasm" (for lack of a better word) in his most spiritual songs and albums. Maybe not being a native English speaker helped in this regard. Anyway, yes, God/religion/spirituality was a significant part of Prince's work, for better or worse. This needs to be acknowledged in some way.

Acknowledged, yes. But not to the degree that it becomes the main event.

Agreed. I think Prince's life mission was to share his life with us through his music and teach us about his view on life in general, religion included.

ShellyMcG said:

Kares said:

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I'm okay with that. I mean I fully expected the religious aspect to be controversial and that it would put off some fans, I get it. Still, I appreciate your comment as it is actually the first one that shows interest. This is the kind of conversation I would like to have – hence labelling my proposal a work-in-progress. I'm happy to adjust/change things should we be able to form a real community and have meaningful discussions.

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My opinion is that while P obviously wasn't a priest, we cannot ignore his deeply religious/spiritual take on life as it is embedded into his work – and if we're talking about preserving his legacy, we cannot cherry-pick parts from his legacy, in my view, that would be disrespectful towards him.

I wasn't trying to be disrespectful to you or Prince or anyone else. I was just pointing out the part of it that turned me off in the hope that it might shine a light on why so many people have seen this petition but have not signed it. Religion can be a touchy subject for many and I know that some of Prince's religious beliefs are what turned off some fans and they never came back to him even as, in later life, he seemed to be moving away from talking about that stuff in his music. But I know what you're saying about not wanting to cherry pick parts of his legacy so obviously that side of his work needs to be represented. What I think puts people off signing this petition, what puts me off signing it, is the line "Prince's life mission was to spread the word of God". I disagree completely with that statement. My feeling is that his life mission was to create great music that can be enjoyed by millions for years after he's gone. Which he achieved. That being said, even though I'm not signing this particular petition, I wish you the best of luck with it.

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I didn't mean that you were disrespectful, you weren't! I do appreciate you contributing to the discussion.
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I do believe, however, that P's life mission was to spread the word of God. I didn't know him in person, but that is what I gathered from many of his lyrics and from the stories told by his friends. I think that is what he truly felt. I also don't consider him a pop musician – I consider him an artist, who found his biggest audience in popular music, but who just as easily could've been a gospel musician or a jazz musician or a comedian or an athlete. He went into pop music to reach the largest possible crowd, and though he wasn't a priest, he actually did preach to that crowd regularily. He preached his beliefs and he mostly acted on his own beliefs by showing compassion and helping others.
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My aim wasn't to put religion into the focus of the white paper, but his practice of compassion and "love 4 one another" – which (in my view) should be something atheists could embrace.
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BTW, the white paper only mentions 'God' and 'faith' in the introduction, but that's it. Nowhere else religion is even mentioned, so I fail to see how this could be taken as it's "the main event".

[Edited 2/9/26 16:25pm]

A question though (and I don't mean to be disrespectful either) to you atheists:
if you're put off by "too much religion" in the above proposal, then how come you weren't put off by Prince from following him / listening to him throughout his career?

Kares said:

ShellyMcG said:

Kares said:

A question though (and I don't mean to be disrespectful either) to you atheists:
if you're put off by "too much religion" in the above proposal, then how come you weren't put off by Prince from following him / listening to him throughout his career?

I can't speak for anyone else but generally speaking, if a song sounds good to me I will listen to it whether I agree with he message behind it or not. Think of it like this. I'm a huge fan of Mel Gibson movies. I even named my son after one of the characters he played. I have a similar relationship with Mel Gibson as I have with Prince. Both of them were deep into a religion I don't agree with. Both of them held beliefs I do not share. Both of them have said some very problematic things during their careers. But both of them are brilliant at what they do. And I don't allow their personal lives or opinions or beliefs to interfere with my enjoyment of their work. I'll listen to songs like Anna Stesia or The Cross and I can enjoy them for what they are. How they sound. The story they tell. The exact same way I can watch a Mel Gibson movie about Jesus and enjoy it for the story it tells. I don't believe the events of that movie to be historical fact. But that doesn't hinder my enjoyment of the finished product. I hope that goes some way to explaining it. My head is fucking bursting at the moment with the worst headache I've ever had so if what I've written above doesn't make sense then that's probably why . If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

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Thanks, and get well!

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So if I understand you right, you simply tolerated P's preaching and almost constant messages about God in exchange for the funk. Which is fine.
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Could you perhaps show just a fraction of that same tolerance towards this petition then? After all, if you get past the Introduction, the text doesn't even mention religion or God or the Bible or anything.
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It is about philathropy, a music education program, and the fate of Prince's vault. I promise.

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[Edited 2/9/26 17:07pm]

Kares said:

JorisE73 said:

Great initiative, too bad Prince's fans don't care tho or he dpoesn't have enough fans left who care about things like Prince's legacy and his work.

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What I find really hard to understand is that after I posted the above in 3-4 Prince forums, approximately a thousand people (supposedly ALL of them Prince fans!) read my post to some degree, and out of those 1000 P-fans only 10 signed the petition, and not one initiated a conversation about any of the ideas contained in the white paper. Is this a true indication of the level of interest amongst Prince fans? Of course I don't expect everyone to agree with my ideas and sign the petition, but I do expect at least a conversation.

I think it's a sound initiative and I will of course support it, but as a matter of principle it's good to read what one signs before signing (even if, coming from you, I doubt there's anything I would strongly disagree with), and, quickly looking at the petition, I was like, "oh wow, OK, long read, I'll come back and check that out when I have a moment". I don't mind long reads, for me it's just a matter of taking the time to read it carefully, but in this day and age, given people's short span attention and how everyone's busy with whatever, I think it's a little optimist to expect hundreds of people to read such a dense text and sign it. I suspect many people will be like "nope, too long, too elaboraterd, too complicated", will close the page and never come back.

Nowadays, most online articles have a bulletpoint or short text that summarize the main points. A sad practice if you ask me, but there's a reason for it.

Also, someone I won't name advised us to take the matter personally to the people in charge at the next Celebration and discuss it face to face (granted that one of us goes there at all), so IDK if the Estate would be receptive to an online petition (which may look like pressure more than starting a converstion).

All in all those comment aren't meant to criticize or discourage. Just a few observations that may help explain the apparant lack of enthusiasm.

databank said:

Kares said:

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What I find really hard to understand is that after I posted the above in 3-4 Prince forums, approximately a thousand people (supposedly ALL of them Prince fans!) read my post to some degree, and out of those 1000 P-fans only 10 signed the petition, and not one initiated a conversation about any of the ideas contained in the white paper. Is this a true indication of the level of interest amongst Prince fans? Of course I don't expect everyone to agree with my ideas and sign the petition, but I do expect at least a conversation.

I think it's a sound initiative and I will of course support it, but as a matter of principle it's good to read what one signs before signing (even if, coming from you, I doubt there's anything I would strongly disagree with), and, quickly looking at the petition, I was like, "oh wow, OK, long read, I'll come back and check that out when I have a moment". I don't mind long reads, for me it's just a matter of taking the time to read it carefully, but in this day and age, given people's short span attention and how everyone's busy with whatever, I think it's a little optimist to expect hundreds of people to read such a dense text and sign it. I suspect many people will be like "nope, too long, too elaboraterd, too complicated", will close the page and never come back.

Nowadays, most online articles have a bulletpoint or short text that summarize the main points. A sad practice if you ask me, but there's a reason for it.

Also, someone I won't name advised us to take the matter personally to the people in charge at the next Celebration and discuss it face to face (granted that one of us goes there at all), so IDK if the Estate would be receptive to an online petition (which may look like pressure more than starting a converstion).

All in all those comment aren't meant to criticize or discourage. Just a few observations that may help explain the apparant lack of enthusiasm.

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Thank you, bro, and feel free to criticise too, any civil discussion is welcome!
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Yes, you're right it's a long read, but my thinking behind the decision to write such a long doc is that I want it to be taken seriously and not tossed aside just as a "usual list of wants from a fan".
I have also sent it to McMillan directly, btw, but it was my strategy (right or wrong, we'll see) to publish it too, simultaneously.

Kares said:

databank said:

I think it's a sound initiative and I will of course support it, but as a matter of principle it's good to read what one signs before signing (even if, coming from you, I doubt there's anything I would strongly disagree with), and, quickly looking at the petition, I was like, "oh wow, OK, long read, I'll come back and check that out when I have a moment". I don't mind long reads, for me it's just a matter of taking the time to read it carefully, but in this day and age, given people's short span attention and how everyone's busy with whatever, I think it's a little optimist to expect hundreds of people to read such a dense text and sign it. I suspect many people will be like "nope, too long, too elaboraterd, too complicated", will close the page and never come back.

Nowadays, most online articles have a bulletpoint or short text that summarize the main points. A sad practice if you ask me, but there's a reason for it.

Also, someone I won't name advised us to take the matter personally to the people in charge at the next Celebration and discuss it face to face (granted that one of us goes there at all), so IDK if the Estate would be receptive to an online petition (which may look like pressure more than starting a converstion).

All in all those comment aren't meant to criticize or discourage. Just a few observations that may help explain the apparant lack of enthusiasm.

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Thank you, bro, and feel free to criticise too, any civil discussion is welcome!
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Yes, you're right it's a long read, but my thinking behind the decision to write such a long doc is that I want it to be taken seriously and not tossed aside just as a "usual list of wants from a fan".
I have also sent it to McMillan directly, btw, but it was my strategy (right or wrong, we'll see) to publish it too, simultaneously.

I see your point. I hope he has the time and the attention span to read it

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I saw this article the other day and what it says about people's attention span (or, at least, how Netflix perceives it) is rather terrifying: https://nypost.com/2026/0...ir-phones/

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And sure, of course I would let you know if I read anything I strongly disagree with. You and I have always had civil discussions

Kares said:

ShellyMcG said:

Kares said:

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Thanks, and get well!

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So if I understand you right, you simply tolerated P's preaching and almost constant messages about God in exchange for the funk. Which is fine.
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Could you perhaps show just a fraction of that same tolerance towards this petition then? After all, if you get past the Introduction, the text doesn't even mention religion or God or the Bible or anything.
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It is about philathropy, a music education program, and the fate of Prince's vault. I promise.

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[Edited 2/9/26 17:07pm]

I went on to sign the petition but it asks for my email address to confirm. If I supply my email address, it won't be made public right? Like, nobody will be able to see it? I'm kind of wary about sharing contact information with strangers. I'm funny like that

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No worries, your concerns are understandable!
If you check the petition's page, you'll see that only the names are listed, no email addresses. In fact, I don't see the email addresses either.
Thank you!

happyshopper said:

I’m afraid I only got through the first 5 pages and gave up. I think you need to be a bit more “to the point”. . Interestingly though, apparently Mayte and Kirk Johnson seem to have “inherited” the Love 4 One Another charity. Which is doing some of the things you want, just without the Estate, seemingly. And I’d assume they could be doing a lot more with Prince’s money. Bit odd that situation, IMO. . What I’d also like to see from the estate is some sort of charity related to how he died. There’s an epidemic of addiction to medication for pain relief, and Prince is a high profile victim. Why not try to help people with that!?

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There's a contents page in the beginning, so if you're only interested in the vault-related ideas, for example, you can read just that.
But I appreciate your opinion, I know it could be shorter and I'll might try condensing it.
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The idea of helping pain medication addicts is a good one, thanks!

Kares said:

Kares said:

A question though (and I don't mean to be disrespectful either) to you atheists:
if you're put off by "too much religion" in the above proposal, then how come you weren't put off by Prince from following him / listening to him throughout his career?

Because it wasn't as overtly pushed on us like how people make it seem. He was religious, I was spiritual, the message was pretty much the same, I just don't believe or care dfor a 'god' figure.

JorisE73 said:

Kares said:

A question though (and I don't mean to be disrespectful either) to you atheists:
if you're put off by "too much religion" in the above proposal, then how come you weren't put off by Prince from following him / listening to him throughout his career?

Because it wasn't as overtly pushed on us like how people make it seem. He was religious, I was spiritual, the message was pretty much the same, I just don't believe or care dfor a 'god' figure.

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Well, I know for a fact that a lot of fans felt that he was pushing his religion onto them during several of his eras. I never felt so, but he was certainly just as open about his faith as any priest I've ever seen, and he was just as open about it in his lyrics.
Besides, several of his friends tell stories of how P was often far more enthusiastic about having private conversations about Jesus and/or the Bible than about music or anything else.

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Anyway, as I said above, my petition doesn't even mention God or religion past the Introduction.