Everything
In every sense of the word ‘popstar’, ’80s musician and virtuoso Prince was a popular culture icon during his life and through his untimely death. His devastating passing in 2016 was blamed on mis-prescribed painkillers and even as he stares down from his throne in the sky, he is still ruling as the industry’s tastemaker. Just months before his death, Prince joined forces with The Paris Review editor Dan Piepenbring to cowrite a memoir, fitting to the ‘Purple Rain’ legacy.
For a 20-something-year-old, my memories of Prince were that of my mother driving and singing ‘Purple Rain’ from the old car radio – so old, it only took cassettes. And when I had begun jazz classes, leaping and bounding across the dance floor to his high-pitched bop, ‘Kiss’. For many people, his music has so effortlessly lingered in the background of fond memories. And perhaps a few drunken nights. Now, included in the sentiment fans can find photos, hand drawings and even a few sneaky remarks at today’s music generation. Albeit harsh, we wouldn’t expect anything less from the late artist.
“We need to tell them that they keep trying to ram Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran down our throats,” Prince wrote in the memoir, titled The Beautiful Ones. “And we don’t like it no matter how many times they play it.”
Um, wow.
According to Piepenbring, the writer told The Guardian, the book may have never been finished as Prince left this world without a will or any future plans for his life work. Now that it’s come to permanence, check it out for yourself here.
