Unofficial Academy Awards Discussion Board

Prince was a rhythm genius. My Prince encounter: shortly after his first big hit (I Wanna Be Your Lover), I was walking down the street in LA--I think it was Santa Monica Boulevard--and out of a nightclub walks Prince with a gorgeous woman on each arm, each about 8 inches taller than he, looking like he owned the world. And he did. A diminutive guy who was a giant.

@NASA
A purple nebula, in honor of Prince, who passed away today:

https://twitter.com/NASA/status/723233728747724800

I received two texts from a friend in quick succession that said "Prince..." and "NO" and my stomach dropped out at the thought; I quickly headed to a trusted music site and indeed, in stark letters, "Prince Dead at 57". I am just devastated that we could have lost this beacon of independence, strength and restlessness so early, and then so close to Bowie...
A quick scan through the artists offering tribute, such heartfelt messages at turns angry and joyous, speaks to Prince's incalculable impact. The Oatmeal comic's Facebook status read "It's as if George R.R. Martin wrote the script for 2016." Bitterly funny.
This is a really hard loss to face.

It's as if someone decided there had to be a cleanse of the music world -- so many significant, irreplaceable names gone in such a short space of time.

Goodbye, 1970s (Bowie). Goodbye, 1980s (Prince). Someone is fucking with us.

I literally pulled over to the side of the road when I heard the news, and waited to see if I'd get sick. Between the two of them, two of the most momentous figures in rock/pop music - both different, yet in many ways very similar to each other - are gone in a manner of months.

Story.

....and it's only April!