He either did have or was supposed to have both hips replaced. I think he might not have done it because of the Witness blood thing. But he could easily have been on meds for chronic pain, without abusing meds. Though he died in an elevator and that just doesn't jive with a death from OD... Like you fall asleep and stop breathing. Just doesn't seem likely that he would take a bunch of drugs and then get up to get in an elevator and then drop dead.

You also don't make an emergency landing <1hr away from your home over the flu. Looks like he refused to stay at the hospital because he couldn't get a private room.

Yeah not saying the plane landing wasn't for an overdose.
But I also don't think he died today because of an overdose. ****, if he was dying from AIDS he could have had hospice perscriptions for fentanyl and morphine. We might not ever know.

Also people with the flu can go down hill very very fast, and I can totally buy them landing because he lost consciousness. That said, if he was that sick with the flu, he wouldn't have left in 3 hours and been up and around and about later.

You see this quote all over the internet attributed to different people. The first time I personally saw it it was Hendrix being asked and telling them to ask Rory Gallagher. It's bull****.

Was a huge shock to me he died. Was one of my favorite artists and beyond that I respected him and his talent more than any other artist. I remember as a dj 13 years ago thinking I was a hot shot because I would drop erotic city into a variety of house songs and people would go nuts. So many of his songs still sound fresh after 30 years which is a true test. If you have any experience with any type of production I don't think it's possible to not respect him.

rip chyna

It's like in Birdman when Michael Keaton points out that Farrah Fawcett died the same day as Michael Jackson.

I mixed that...lol.

Knew something was up when on the way home the 50+ year old bus driver was blasting obscure Prince songs and the bus had a flat tire.

On a more serious point, I came out of exile to tell esads that he made the dumbest post of all time.

RIP to a true legend.

Raspberry Beret is the ****.

I like a lot of his older, poppier stuff. I Would Die 4 U is maybe my favorite. A shame he was such a psycho with his music that we now can't put up many links.

Also, I'm waiting for the influx of unreleased material that's sure to be coming out of Paisley Park for the next 20 years. He and Tupac should make a posthumous record together.

This is crazy. Still today my Facebook feed is almost entirely Prince tributes, memories, and reflections. Growing up in Minneapolis in the 80s, it was the perfect blend of our youthful impressionism and his talent and accessibility that made him more than just another big music star to me and my friends. He was from here and he lived here and he was everywhere, even until the end. Showing up at small clubs, unannounced or with minimal notice - how many superstars do that? Playing open gigs at his Paisley Park studio at 2 in the morning and they were open to the public? That's awesome.

We felt like he was more than a musical icon. We felt like we knew him and that he regarded us as family. Sure he'd go off on some world tour and play in front of thousands of people, but he'd still come back and give us something special, something only for us. Kids my age would have had siblings or relatives who went to school with him. One of my high school teachers taught Prince when he was in high school and still got Christmas cards from him. I remember leaving school early to go watch Sign o' the Times the day it was released.

He was eccentric, and he was private, and he was immensely talented (esad, you need to step up your troll game; this was super weaksauce), and he was ours and we loved him.

He was simply...The Best

...go on

I'm going to go out on a limb and say he was in a booth doing his job.


pudley,

I never followed him that closely, so it was kind of a surprise to me that he was from Minnesota. That made me wonder if he was so purpled out because maybe he grew up a Vikings fan or something and that's why he adopted the color.

Much more likely explanation is that purple is the color of royalty... and rain

Unique guy, talented, great musician. GOAT? maybe for 80's music.... And can people stop talking about him and Bowie like they're equals. Bowie was a a genre unto himself..... little red corvette, 1999? please....

and let's not get into how much of a dbag he was to other people...

way to show your lolradio knowledge.

Bowie always seemed much more to me a student of pop music, learning and enveloping himself in different genres over time. Because of this, he was also much more engaged in the music community, an avid teacher of what he had learned, and this he might leave a greater legacy on subsequent artists.

But Prince's talent was much more immediate and innate. And honestly, this is on almost every level of musicianship. His vocal and instrumental virtuosity were obvious, but it also seemed like he could at any time write and arrange a brilliant song within minutes of thinking of the idea.

The two songs you side are tracks 1 and 2 of a single Prince album out of an almost 40 year career. Purple Rain alone has at least 7 songs that are at least as strong as those.

Prince was indeed a freak and a very weird dude. Bowie on the other hand only played this part (very effectively) when it suited him and was by all accounts a total gentleman in his private life. Prince always seemed to want to hold back part of his talent from the public, while Bowie wanted to spread it around in a generous spirit. But that doesn't make Prince any less of a talent at his core.

I saw him live in like 2011, and hoooooooleeeeeeeeeeeee crap. Dude was legitimately the greatest live act imaginable. Like, I saw Springsteen perform an epic set live, and it was incredible (obviously)... and Prince was just on another level. RIP.

I love opening my FB and seeing people who I've known for 40+yrs posting those same type of links etc..some of whom I can remember looking at me like I had 3 eyes when I used to talk about how awesome Prince was when we were younger...Been around the drugs n music scene for a long time and don't know but one other person that's legit OD'ed 2x in one week--and he ain't no rock star lol. Crazy. Something's off there.

Audio of Prince's final concert in Atlanta:

http://www.stereogum.com/1873138/str...-concert/mp3s/

Try ****ing to Bowie's music. Now try ****ing to Prince's music.

lol SNL. bunch of ****ing idiots. that was the worst tribute show ever

Yeah, the multiple Prince Show sketches was weird. I understand that SNL pokes fun at celebrities all the time, but that didn't seem appropriate for a tribute show.

Loved the after-party video, though. I remember when Fallon told that story on his show originally. It was much more fun when he was happy about telling it.