Prince wasn't my favorite artist, as I'm mainly a hip hop head. However, I grew up on his stuff in the 80's and he was one of the rare artists to get play on both black and white media outlets (Mike, Janet, & Whitney were the others). Some artists are so major that you don't have to hardcore follow them, for them to have made an impact on you. Prince literally has at least 50-60 singles that got play in the media over years, then another 30-40 that he wrote/produced for others. People know and love a lot those songs regardless of whether they ever bought a Prince album.
I will say this, if you are 30+ but never saw him live, then you know you fu**ed up. That doesn't mean you aren't a true fan, but it just means that you kinda disrespected him and yourself. He did so many shows over the years, and toured throughout the country. He gave almost everybody in the US a chance to see him and remained a great performer for the duration of his career. I regret not going to a show until 2012, but when I did it was one of the best entertainment experiences of my life.