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...
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.
I was about to mention this. Interestingly enough, I found this out the hard way, as I was struck by a sudden urge to listen to Sign o' the Times late one night in college.
Upon signing into YouTube, I was surprised not only to not find any of his songs uploaded, but to also find several articles about his extreme distaste for digital music after Googling the topic. I ended up going to the record shop and buying a used copy.
And as far as the topic of whether this story should on HN, I tend to treat this news in a similar manner as the death of Bowie. Both artists were really creative, and were fiercely passionate and intelligent (at least from what I've seen and heard), not to mention they were masters at marketing themselves. These are attributes anyone who values innovative technology and startups might be interested in — at least in my opinion.
Regardless of whether it is on- or off-topic, the world lost a great musician who blended genres and broke rules, and that is a shame.
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.
I'm waiting to see if we hear more about the cause of death because there's some evidence to point to this being a similar thing to what happened to Jobs. Not fame, but stupidity.
> 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.
That article makes it sound like is name change was more of an artistic choice, but what I've read more recently was that it was all about getting out of his contract with Warner Brothers. Trying to find a concise article -- this one is currently top of my list:
>> "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).
> 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"
I've seen many of his interviews (e.g. with Arsenio Hall, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYK4o6o1YFo), in real life he seems like the opposite of his stage personality: humble and dedicated to his art.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
"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."
I just heard a story from a listener of The Current about exactly that: Prince pulled up in a van at her friend's house with a couple other people and spread the word.
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[ 3.1 ms ] story [ 114 ms ] threadWhen asked what it feels like to be the best guitarist alive, Eric Clapton said, "I don't know. Ask Prince."
A great musician nonetheless.
http://www.tmz.com/2016/04/21/prince-dead-at-57/
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...
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110624/12140014847/princ...
http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/jul/02/prince-pulls-mu...
Upon signing into YouTube, I was surprised not only to not find any of his songs uploaded, but to also find several articles about his extreme distaste for digital music after Googling the topic. I ended up going to the record shop and buying a used copy.
And as far as the topic of whether this story should on HN, I tend to treat this news in a similar manner as the death of Bowie. Both artists were really creative, and were fiercely passionate and intelligent (at least from what I've seen and heard), not to mention they were masters at marketing themselves. These are attributes anyone who values innovative technology and startups might be interested in — at least in my opinion.
Regardless of whether it is on- or off-topic, the world lost a great musician who blended genres and broke rules, and that is a shame.
http://bigstory.ap.org/b9e3df0421a04344835cd4fac7680c24
http://parkerhiggins.net/2013/01/writing-the-prince-symbol-i...
The cause of death has not been released yet, but reports say he had the flu. That has nothing to do with fame.
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/la-et-ms-prince-a...
> 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.
https://storify.com/joesteinbcpop/conflicts-between-record-l...
edit: This one is a bit more thorough - http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2011/10/prince-bio-201110
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).
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"
The statement from the local paper is much more useful: http://www.startribune.com/authorities-investigating-death-a...
Minnesota will be collectively mourning with the rest of the music community.
All of our guitars gently weep.
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.
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.
"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."