Prince Passed Away At Age 57
- Thread starter Admiral Ackbar
- Start date
MufasaChoppa
The Rise & Fall Of Mufasa Choppa
the vault is real brehs
Cat piss martini
Veteran
RammerJammer
#RollTide #TSC #RiseUp #BullsNation #RIPKobe
I've been having chills/goosebumps ever since the news broke 
Sithlord Piff
Superstar
Prince's performance on this, #BlackExcellence to the highest degree.
Prince, MJ, Whitney and Aretha are my musical Mount Rushmore. If somebody had told me 25 years ago that Aretha would outlive the other 3, I would've looked at that person all kind of funny and probably been ready to lay hands on him. This almost as spooky as losing Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison over the course of a year. Waiting on that Roland Martin special tonight.
PortCityProphet
Follow me to the truth
Man I the other day I was thinking of making a who had a better perm MJ or prince thread.
This shyt sucks man.
This shyt sucks man.
Ol’Otis
The Picasso of the Ghetto
Prince got to the gates like
Heard the news at work, immediately started feeling physically ill and I never get sick. Back home now reminiscing. We losing too many of our legends man.
Every other week now? 
where's the breh @stomachlines
Every other week now? where's the breh @stomachlines
Bunchy Carter
I'll Take The Money Over The Honey
White people ain't shyt
. There already throwing dirt on the brother.
Inside Prince's bizarre life at Paisley Park: This is what happened when we visited the music icon
Prince gave me a rare insight into his private world of Paisley Park, where,he was found dead today, and it was the most bizarre interview I've ever had with a celebrity.
The rock legend had invited me to his home town of Minneapolis for his first British newspaper interview for 10 years because the Daily Mirror was exclusively releasing his album 20TEN as a free CD for every reader.
I was truly privileged to meet the reclusive star at his beloved HQ.
Our interview, in July 2010, had been on and off for weeks.
Then I was suddenly phoned one afternoon by his manager in London and told he would see me as long as I could get to his fun factory, in Minnesota... by the following morning.
The manager then added firmly: "DON'T bring a camera, mobile phone or tape recorder - or it's all off. "
After a transatlantic dash to the city, I was met by one of his backing singers, Shelby Johnson, waiting to drive me down the road to Paisley Park - an address that was as synonymous with Prince as Neverland was with Michael Jackson.
Entering Paisley Park
I had envisaged a lavish purple palace at the end of a winding lane, but it turned out to be a huge white 70,000 square foot building, more like an industrial complex, on a busy main road.
Prince's mansion looked VERY different on the inside
Shelby showed me into a room which looked like a 50s diner and, before I had chance to sit down, Prince strode in, beaming, with hand outstretched.
I was amazed. Where was the superstar entourage - burly security, manic PRs and personal assistants? There was no-one else around.
"Hi," he said, "I'm so glad you could come." His voice was deeper than I expected, he was certainly small (5ft 2in at most), looked almost half his then age (52), and was dressed immaculately, if oddly, in white silk trousers, flouncy green silk shirt, an ivory tunic and white pumps (which, I suspect, were stacked).
"You must come and listen to the album," he said. "I hope you like it. It's great that it will be free to readers of your newspaper. I really believe in finding new ways to distribute my music."
He explained that he decided the album would be released in CD format only in the Mirror. There would be no downloads anywhere in the world because of his battles against internet abuses.
"The internet's completely over"
Unlike most other rock stars, he had banned YouTube and iTunes from using any of his music and had even closed down his own official website.
He said: "The internet's completely over. I don't see why I should give my new music to iTunes or anyone else. They won't pay me an advance for it and then they get angry when they can't get it.
"The internet's like MTV. At one time MTV was hip and suddenly it became outdated. Anyway, all these computers and digital gadgets are no good.
"They just fill your head with numbers and that can't be good for you."
Then he led me to his recording studio in the complex and invited me to sit in his leather swivel chair at the enormous mixing desk.
Prince's recording studio, as pictured in 2014
Wow! I had finally arrived at the epicentre of Prince's world - the scene of fabled all-night-long sessions in which he apparently played up to 27 instruments.
This is where the genius behind classics such as Purple Rain, When Doves Cry, 1999 and Let's Go Crazy created his music. The walls were a vibrant reddish purple, flickering candles lined every ledge and the smell of incense filled the air.
Prince jabbed a few buttons and hidden speakers burst into life with my preview. He looked at me for a reaction and I told him it was brilliant, as indeed it was.
He was a devout Jehovah's Witness and even had an area set aside which he had labelled The Knowledge Room. It featured a library of religious books.
Prince talked about his beliefs with missionary zeal, but when I asked him anything remotely personal, he was extremely brusque. Questions about his childhood were met with: "I don't talk about the past."
On his relationship with his then girlfriend Bria Valente, he said: "Self interest is on the back-burner now."
And on late friend/foe Michael Jackson, he simply replied: "Next question."
Time for another surprise. "Come," he said, and like an excitable Willy Wonka, he led me down corridors lined with glinting platinum discs to a lounge where his three talented backing singers, Shelby Johnson, Olivia Warfield and Elisa Fiorilla, were waiting by an ebony futuristic grand piano.
Prince's singers in Paris: Olivia Warfield, Elisa Fiorillo and Shelby Johnson.
Prince pointed to a seat in the middle of the room and I took my place as he started playing a rousing track Act of God.... especially for me.
Surreal wasn't the word. I thanked them profusely, Prince smiled and sent me off for dinner. But as it was "only" 10pm he suggested we regrouped back there in an hour "to party".
As he had a reputation as the Prince of Darkness for not starting gigs until 2am and not leaving clubs until dawn, my expectations ran high. When I returned later to Prince's weird HQ, he welcomed me warmly into what appeared to be his own private nightclub.
Partying with Prince
It was lavishly kitted out with velvet circular sofas, a dancefloor and there was a chrome stairway up to a balcony.
On two huge screens, at least 20ft high, there were videos of him performing.
But where were the guests? And where was the bar? I was suddenly reminded that he was a strict teetotal vegan as one of those backing singers wandered in... and offered me a glass of still water.
She was closely followed by the other two singers, carrying trays of sliced melon and raw vegetables, which they placed on a long table beside a large Bible. "Help yourself," said one.
Prince arrived with girlfriend Bria, dressed as if she had come to the Oscars, in a shimmering full-length evening gown.
Getty
Prince and Bria Valenta, pictured in Paris in 2009, made a glamorous couple
Twice married and divorced, he had been with the singer, who was almost half his age, for three years at that stage.
He produced her first solo album Elixer the previous year and she joined the Jehovah's Witnesses. He introduced her, she looked around at the empty nightclub and said: "Sorry, I think I'm a little overdressed!"
They popped out for a minute and returned, with her proudly holding a food blender filled with a banana smoothie which they poured into glasses for themselves.
Just when it couldn't get any more bizarre, Prince clambered behind a stack of video equipment under the stairs and started screening 1970s clips from the US TV show Soul Train of his music heroes such as Marvin Gaye and Barry White.
He urged his guests - all five of us - to dance and the spirited backing singers began moving around the dancefloor like they were having the time of their lives.
Prince emerged occasionally to study the screens a bit closer. But when I tried to chat to him he darted back under the stairs, shouting: "Too many questions."
From his agility, it was clear rumours he needed a double hip op after too much dancing on high heels were unfounded. But, after an hour or so, he had had enough of his party and asked me to follow him, down more corridors of platinum discs, past iconic guitars and that famous bike from Purple Rain.
And now I'm playing the drums for Prince...
He had decided to take me to his private concert hall, which, with a capacity for more than 1,000 people, was awesome.
Pride of place was a huge Love Symbol #2 - the name of the symbol he had changed his name to when he fell out with his old record company Warners.
He said: "It's what I always dreamed of when I was a young musician, playing in the basement. Music is my life. It's my trade. If I can't get it out of my head I can't function. Someone told me they saw me at my peak, but how do they know when my peak is? I think I'm improving all the time. When I listen to my old records I'm ashamed of how I played then."
He added earnestly: "Playing electric guitar your whole life does something to you. I'm convinced all that electricity racing through my body made me keep my hair."
Getty
Prince thought playing the guitar had kept him youthful
Then he shouted: "Get yourself an instrument." And next minute, he was arranging an impromptu jamming session... with him at his famous purple grand piano, flanked by his backing singers and me on the drums.
It didn't take long for him to realise I had no rhythm.
Just two minutes into the Beatles classic Come Together, when I thought I was really getting into my stride, I become aware that Prince is staring across at me and wincing.
"Stop! Stop! Stop!" he shouted and slammed his hand down on his piano. "Have you ever seen The Apprentice on TV? Cos You're fired!"
I protested. Let's take it from the top again, I suggested. But it was too late. I'd blown it.
Still, there can't have be many people who've been hired and fired by Prince, all in the space of two minutes.
As Prince said farewell, having nothing to lose, I cheekily pulled out a camera and asked for a picture.
He shook his head. "It's much better in the memory bank," he said. Then he turned to a backing singer and said. "The picture will make your eyes look red and they will use it really big."
Prince didn't need an army of PRs to advise him on his image. For all the time I spent with him he still managed to retain an air of mystery and fascination which had surrounded him all his life.
'Meeting Prince at Paisley Park was truly bizarre - this is what happened'
. There already throwing dirt on the brother.Inside Prince's bizarre life at Paisley Park: This is what happened when we visited the music icon
- 19:21, 21 APR 2016
- UPDATED 20:59, 21 APR 2016
- BY PETER WILLIS
Prince gave me a rare insight into his private world of Paisley Park, where,he was found dead today, and it was the most bizarre interview I've ever had with a celebrity.
The rock legend had invited me to his home town of Minneapolis for his first British newspaper interview for 10 years because the Daily Mirror was exclusively releasing his album 20TEN as a free CD for every reader.
I was truly privileged to meet the reclusive star at his beloved HQ.
Our interview, in July 2010, had been on and off for weeks.
Then I was suddenly phoned one afternoon by his manager in London and told he would see me as long as I could get to his fun factory, in Minnesota... by the following morning.
The manager then added firmly: "DON'T bring a camera, mobile phone or tape recorder - or it's all off. "
After a transatlantic dash to the city, I was met by one of his backing singers, Shelby Johnson, waiting to drive me down the road to Paisley Park - an address that was as synonymous with Prince as Neverland was with Michael Jackson.
Entering Paisley Park
I had envisaged a lavish purple palace at the end of a winding lane, but it turned out to be a huge white 70,000 square foot building, more like an industrial complex, on a busy main road.
Prince's mansion looked VERY different on the inside
Shelby showed me into a room which looked like a 50s diner and, before I had chance to sit down, Prince strode in, beaming, with hand outstretched.
I was amazed. Where was the superstar entourage - burly security, manic PRs and personal assistants? There was no-one else around.
"Hi," he said, "I'm so glad you could come." His voice was deeper than I expected, he was certainly small (5ft 2in at most), looked almost half his then age (52), and was dressed immaculately, if oddly, in white silk trousers, flouncy green silk shirt, an ivory tunic and white pumps (which, I suspect, were stacked).
"You must come and listen to the album," he said. "I hope you like it. It's great that it will be free to readers of your newspaper. I really believe in finding new ways to distribute my music."
He explained that he decided the album would be released in CD format only in the Mirror. There would be no downloads anywhere in the world because of his battles against internet abuses.
"The internet's completely over"
Unlike most other rock stars, he had banned YouTube and iTunes from using any of his music and had even closed down his own official website.
He said: "The internet's completely over. I don't see why I should give my new music to iTunes or anyone else. They won't pay me an advance for it and then they get angry when they can't get it.
"The internet's like MTV. At one time MTV was hip and suddenly it became outdated. Anyway, all these computers and digital gadgets are no good.
"They just fill your head with numbers and that can't be good for you."
Then he led me to his recording studio in the complex and invited me to sit in his leather swivel chair at the enormous mixing desk.
Prince's recording studio, as pictured in 2014
Wow! I had finally arrived at the epicentre of Prince's world - the scene of fabled all-night-long sessions in which he apparently played up to 27 instruments.
This is where the genius behind classics such as Purple Rain, When Doves Cry, 1999 and Let's Go Crazy created his music. The walls were a vibrant reddish purple, flickering candles lined every ledge and the smell of incense filled the air.
Prince jabbed a few buttons and hidden speakers burst into life with my preview. He looked at me for a reaction and I told him it was brilliant, as indeed it was.
He was a devout Jehovah's Witness and even had an area set aside which he had labelled The Knowledge Room. It featured a library of religious books.
Prince talked about his beliefs with missionary zeal, but when I asked him anything remotely personal, he was extremely brusque. Questions about his childhood were met with: "I don't talk about the past."
On his relationship with his then girlfriend Bria Valente, he said: "Self interest is on the back-burner now."
And on late friend/foe Michael Jackson, he simply replied: "Next question."
Time for another surprise. "Come," he said, and like an excitable Willy Wonka, he led me down corridors lined with glinting platinum discs to a lounge where his three talented backing singers, Shelby Johnson, Olivia Warfield and Elisa Fiorilla, were waiting by an ebony futuristic grand piano.
Prince's singers in Paris: Olivia Warfield, Elisa Fiorillo and Shelby Johnson.
Prince pointed to a seat in the middle of the room and I took my place as he started playing a rousing track Act of God.... especially for me.
Surreal wasn't the word. I thanked them profusely, Prince smiled and sent me off for dinner. But as it was "only" 10pm he suggested we regrouped back there in an hour "to party".
As he had a reputation as the Prince of Darkness for not starting gigs until 2am and not leaving clubs until dawn, my expectations ran high. When I returned later to Prince's weird HQ, he welcomed me warmly into what appeared to be his own private nightclub.
Partying with Prince
It was lavishly kitted out with velvet circular sofas, a dancefloor and there was a chrome stairway up to a balcony.
On two huge screens, at least 20ft high, there were videos of him performing.
But where were the guests? And where was the bar? I was suddenly reminded that he was a strict teetotal vegan as one of those backing singers wandered in... and offered me a glass of still water.
She was closely followed by the other two singers, carrying trays of sliced melon and raw vegetables, which they placed on a long table beside a large Bible. "Help yourself," said one.
Prince arrived with girlfriend Bria, dressed as if she had come to the Oscars, in a shimmering full-length evening gown.
Getty
Prince and Bria Valenta, pictured in Paris in 2009, made a glamorous couple
Twice married and divorced, he had been with the singer, who was almost half his age, for three years at that stage.
He produced her first solo album Elixer the previous year and she joined the Jehovah's Witnesses. He introduced her, she looked around at the empty nightclub and said: "Sorry, I think I'm a little overdressed!"
They popped out for a minute and returned, with her proudly holding a food blender filled with a banana smoothie which they poured into glasses for themselves.
Just when it couldn't get any more bizarre, Prince clambered behind a stack of video equipment under the stairs and started screening 1970s clips from the US TV show Soul Train of his music heroes such as Marvin Gaye and Barry White.
He urged his guests - all five of us - to dance and the spirited backing singers began moving around the dancefloor like they were having the time of their lives.
Prince emerged occasionally to study the screens a bit closer. But when I tried to chat to him he darted back under the stairs, shouting: "Too many questions."
From his agility, it was clear rumours he needed a double hip op after too much dancing on high heels were unfounded. But, after an hour or so, he had had enough of his party and asked me to follow him, down more corridors of platinum discs, past iconic guitars and that famous bike from Purple Rain.
And now I'm playing the drums for Prince...
He had decided to take me to his private concert hall, which, with a capacity for more than 1,000 people, was awesome.
Pride of place was a huge Love Symbol #2 - the name of the symbol he had changed his name to when he fell out with his old record company Warners.
He said: "It's what I always dreamed of when I was a young musician, playing in the basement. Music is my life. It's my trade. If I can't get it out of my head I can't function. Someone told me they saw me at my peak, but how do they know when my peak is? I think I'm improving all the time. When I listen to my old records I'm ashamed of how I played then."
He added earnestly: "Playing electric guitar your whole life does something to you. I'm convinced all that electricity racing through my body made me keep my hair."
Getty
Prince thought playing the guitar had kept him youthful
Then he shouted: "Get yourself an instrument." And next minute, he was arranging an impromptu jamming session... with him at his famous purple grand piano, flanked by his backing singers and me on the drums.
It didn't take long for him to realise I had no rhythm.
Just two minutes into the Beatles classic Come Together, when I thought I was really getting into my stride, I become aware that Prince is staring across at me and wincing.
"Stop! Stop! Stop!" he shouted and slammed his hand down on his piano. "Have you ever seen The Apprentice on TV? Cos You're fired!"
I protested. Let's take it from the top again, I suggested. But it was too late. I'd blown it.
Still, there can't have be many people who've been hired and fired by Prince, all in the space of two minutes.
As Prince said farewell, having nothing to lose, I cheekily pulled out a camera and asked for a picture.
He shook his head. "It's much better in the memory bank," he said. Then he turned to a backing singer and said. "The picture will make your eyes look red and they will use it really big."
Prince didn't need an army of PRs to advise him on his image. For all the time I spent with him he still managed to retain an air of mystery and fascination which had surrounded him all his life.
'Meeting Prince at Paisley Park was truly bizarre - this is what happened'
I love Latina women
Veteran
Heard the news at work, immediately started feeling physically ill and I never get sick. Back home now reminiscing. We losing too many of our legends man.
where's the breh @stomachlines
i'm here, i'm here
