On April 21, the world turned purple with the news that Minnesota native, Prince Rogers Nelson had died. At the young age of 57, Prince passed way too soon. The cause of his death is still unknown.
On Thursday night, First Ave held an impromptu free concert to honor and celebrate the life of Prince. First Ave filled immediately. Fans who waited two plus hours didn’t get close to the door. First Ave went crazy, just as Prince would have wanted. The dynamic of people who turned out to party like it’s 1999 was incredible. From the 60+ year olds out reminiscing their youth to the kids of today all out to honor their iconic Prince.
Paisley Park, home to Prince’s multiple impromptu concerts, had a huge turn out to celebrate the life of the man that give it life. According the the Daily News, Paisley Park will not be turned into a museum to honor the late singer/songwriter.
Minneapolis was not the only place to turn purple. The world lit up purple on the night of his death and throughout the weekend, from the Niagara Falls to Eiffel Tower.
“I’m not a woman, I’m not a man, I am something that you’ll never understand.” Prince was an icon for more than just music industry. He was a trailblazer for the gender rights and racial equality. Prince also made huge strides for the music industry, like when he painted “slave” on his forehead to raise awareness for musicians rights.
Those close to prince have fond memories of him. “He was a very quiet guy and very soft spoken. When I knew him, he had his band that he was working on and would occasionally stop by to play his guitar with this other group that had a band. These were guys that went to school with each other and guys that were from around the neighborhood that loved music and everyone back then wanted to have a band. The funny thing is that we never heard him sing, but only play his guitar (which was amazing all in itself). We really didn’t know he had it in him (singing that is). One day, we were hanging out with this group of friends listening to them play and Prince was there as well. The cat was having kittens. We started naming the kittens as they were being born, and he wanted to name one of the kittens, which happened to be the runt of the litter, “Prince.” We all laughed and thought it was weird to name a kitten after yourself. He said that when he became famous someday that that was all he wanted to be called: “Prince,” and that this kitten would be the most awesome looking cat of the group,” said Gina Ittel.