
Prince Has Died - acdanger
http://www.theverge.com/2016/4/21/11480332/prince-has-died-tmz-reports
======
llamataboot
Truly one of the all-time greats. Minnesota will go into deep mourning tonight
and tomorrow we'll all wear purple and throw a hell of a party.

When asked what it feels like to be the best guitarist alive, Eric Clapton
said, "I don't know. Ask Prince."

~~~
rconti
I'm sure Clapton is mourning his promotion today. Sad.

------
danso
A nice writeup by the LAT in 1996 about how much Prince strove to have things
his way when it came to publishing:

[http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/la-et-ms-
prince-a...](http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/la-et-ms-prince-
archive-19960714-story.html)

> _Tensions between artist and label first came to a boil in early 1994, when
> he decided to drop the name Prince and asked that people start identifying
> him by an unpronounceable symbol--thus disassociating himself, in a most
> burdensome way, from the guy who recorded some of the most popular and
> acclaimed albums of the '80s._

> _To further express his frustration, he stopped performing Prince-era
> material in concert and began appearing in public with the word "slave"
> written on his cheek. In 1994, he also released "The Most Beautiful Girl in
> the World," a successful single that was distributed not by Warner Bros. but
> by the independent company Bellmark Records._

> _In one breath, he 'll say, "If I knew the things I know now before, I
> wouldn't be in the music industry." In the next, he'll talk about his craft
> with such passion that it's impossible to imagine him working in any other
> field._

I suppose few of his independent ambitions here sound that crazy today...but
this was in 1996, 5 years before the first iPod.

~~~
k-mcgrady
>> "Tensions between artist and label first came to a boil in early 1994, when
he decided to drop the name Prince and asked that people start identifying him
by an unpronounceable symbol--thus disassociating himself, in a most
burdensome way, from the guy who recorded some of the most popular and
acclaimed albums of the '80s."

I might be wrong but my understanding is that it was a way to get around his
contract with his record label (not to disassociate himself from past
material).

~~~
sangnoir
> I might be wrong but my understanding is that it was a way to get around his
> contract with his record label

My understanding is that it was a hack to make life difficult for the label
while fulfilling the letter of the contract in order to prod them to release
from the contract. I think marketing his music became a headache for the
label, and DJs ended up calling him "the artiste formerly known as Prince"

------
danso
I imagine TMZ is blacklisted from normal submissions, but they deserve the
credit for breaking the story while having a nice roundup of highlights in his
life, including this solo at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=214&v=6SFNW5F8K9...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=214&v=6SFNW5F8K9Y)

[http://www.tmz.com/2016/04/21/prince-dead-
at-57/](http://www.tmz.com/2016/04/21/prince-dead-at-57/)

~~~
slantyyz
And while I am sure there will be a lot of "why is this story on HN" comments,
Prince was an occasional news maker in the area of digital music.

He was a bit of a curmudgeon when it came to digital music in that he wasn't a
fan of it or the services that provide it.

Interesting, however, that he was a fan of SoundCloud.

[http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/957510/prince-the-
int...](http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/957510/prince-the-internet-is-
over)

[https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110624/12140014847/princ...](https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110624/12140014847/prince-
digital-music-has-different-impact-your-brain.shtml)

[http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/jul/02/prince-pulls-
mu...](http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/jul/02/prince-pulls-music-from-
all-streaming-services-except-tidal)

~~~
danso
Yeah, I understand that HN isn't supposed to be a replay of mainstream front
pages...but some celebs are transcendent -- especially someone as dominant and
skilled in his work as Prince was. Bowie got a decent amount of discussion
here, seems like Prince should warrant a mention, particularly because of how
young he died.

~~~
jonwot
amen

------
kqr2
Ƭ̵̬̊

[http://parkerhiggins.net/2013/01/writing-the-prince-
symbol-i...](http://parkerhiggins.net/2013/01/writing-the-prince-symbol-in-
unicode/)

~~~
GauntletWizard
Now is the time to lobby the Unicode Consortium. Love Symbol codepoint now!

------
mark-r
This article has at least one inaccuracy - they claim he died in his "Paisley
Park home", making it sound like Paisley Park is a city. It isn't, it's just
the name of the studio he built. I drive past it often.

The statement from the local paper is much more useful:
[http://www.startribune.com/authorities-investigating-
death-a...](http://www.startribune.com/authorities-investigating-death-at-
prince-s-paisley-park/376578441/#1)

------
pmarreck
"Dearly beloved... We are gathered here today to celebrate this consensual
illusion called 'life'..."

------
RedCarnage
I don't want to be that guy but I would like to know if his faith, Jehovah's
Witness, has anything to do with not treating his 'Flu'. If he had a treatable
condition it would be a shame if he died for somebody's idea of God.

~~~
phugoid
Unless it involves blood transfusions in any form, there's no issue.

At the risk of being argumentative, it would be a case of dying for his own
idea of God.

From my point of view, he wasn't a straight-and-narrow JW member because he
kept performing material which didn't fit that view. I doubt that anyone had
the pleasant surprise of Prince knocking on their door one Saturday morning.

~~~
phonon
[http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2008/11/24/soup-with-
princ...](http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2008/11/24/soup-with-prince)

"Prince had his change of faith, he said, after a two-year-long debate with a
musician friend, Larry Graham. “I don’t see it really as a conversion,” he
said. “More, you know, it’s a realization. It’s like Morpheus and Neo in ‘The
Matrix.’ “ He attends meetings at a local Kingdom Hall, and, like his fellow-
witnesses, he leaves his gated community from time to time to knock on doors
and proselytize. “Sometimes people act surprised, but mostly they’re really
cool about it,” he said."

------
jkelsey
I hate you, 2016.

------
6stringmerc
From most reports the guy pretty much lived in the studio. It shows on
something as utterly amazing as "Plectrumelectrum" though some might disagree
with me. Very fitting he was in his creative space when he departed. Will be
very much missed for a variety of music and individualistic reasons.

~~~
maxerickson
He played basketball too.

~~~
6stringmerc
That he did. I saw an interview with his High School coach. Apparently even as
a Freshman on Varsity, he wanted more playing time and was...vocal about it
haha. Quite a dynamic person, no doubt. Sad he's no longer among us but what a
legacy.

------
pnut
Bowie, and now Prince?? Dylan, hang in there...

~~~
pigpaws
so Chyna doesn't even rank? where is your artistic compassion?

~~~
pigpaws
one thing I've learned is that too many people on HN have absolutely NO sense
of humor.

~~~
sparky_z
There's something a little distasteful about making jokes like that about a
person on the day of their death.

~~~
pigpaws
you know what they say about opinions...

------
joshmn
Eric Clapton was asked what it feels like to be the best guitarist alive. He
said, "I don't know. Ask Prince."

Minnesota will be collectively mourning with the rest of the music community.

All of our guitars gently weep.

------
aaron695
Given the current linked article clearly is hinting at something.

It was AIDS complications is what other forums are saying.

If this is considered irrelevant on HN perhaps the article linked shouldn't
mention anything.

------
wickedOne
i do remember that, in the music industry, he was quite an early adopter of
interactive technology when he released "(Prince) interactive" back in 1994
[http://www.mobygames.com/game/prince-
interactive](http://www.mobygames.com/game/prince-interactive)

------
Tomte
I suppose he died doing what he loved. There are worse ways to go. Requiescat
in pacem!

------
mmaunder
RIP you prolific genius. He left us with so much.

------
meeper16
He was truly creative. Much can be learned from him and applied to a variety
of efforts.

------
daveloyall
...was formerly alive.

------
danans
Doves are crying. RIP

------
meeper16
I really admired him.

------
the_economist
He died young. Fame kills.

~~~
morganvachon
> _Fame kills_

The cause of death has not been released yet, but reports say he had the flu.
That has nothing to do with fame.

~~~
elsurudo
There are also rumours that he had AIDS, although I haven't heard this from
any official sources at this point.

~~~
acjohnson55
If it's true, I doubt we'll ever know. The flu can take you down, though. As
hard as Prince was known to work, I have to wonder if his body just couldn't
fight it off. Happened to my uncle in his early fifties.

------
sjs382
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0lLDyknUjw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0lLDyknUjw)

