FROM the very outset of his life, Prince Rogers Nelson displayed signs of the unrepentant and fearless genius that he would become in the decades that followed.
Coming from a family in which music was its very lifeblood and kept his parents together until he was ten years old, both he and his sister became as infatuated with music as their parents before them and the young Minneapolis native began writing songs from a very advanced age.
A prodigy that was capable of accomplishing anything he set his mind to, Prince’s career in the industry began in earnest in 1975 and the famously idiosyncratic star never looked back.
Despite being depicted as erratic, pompous and a megalomaniac by detractors, there’s a reason why the old adages that madness and genius are intertwined holds so much weight to this day.
To try and sum up the legacy of Prince in mere words is a near impossibility, with his enduring position in the world’s cultural not a matter of debate but an irrefutable truth.
While early albums such as For You and his eponymous sophomore effort are often discredited aside from iconic material such as ‘I Wanna Be Your Lover’ and ‘Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad?’ the seeds of one of the most prolific and innovative careers outside the realms of classical composers had been sown and all of this early promise would come good on stupendous records such as ‘Dirty Mind’ and Controversy.
By the time that he unleashed the futuristic pop 1999 upon the world, he had transcended the role of musician and became a pillar of the world which surrounded him, amassing a gargantuan fanbase and finding his every move met with acclaim.
Featuring tracks such as the tormented yet seductive love story of ‘Little Red Corvette’, ‘Delirious’ and of course the enduring dancefloor filler which is ‘1999’, the next evolution of Prince would see him enter a zone which few artists can even comprehend.
Arguably his creative zenith, Purple Rain and its accompanying film saw the artist fulfill his vision in an uncompromising and electrifying manner. One of the defining records of the 80’s and one which still stands up to this day despite its use of synths and electronic drums that were very much of the era, to listen to it is to be in the company of genius.
Not content with revolutionising pop as we know it, records such as the heady psychedelia of Around The World In A Day, Sign O’ The Times and Lovesexy demonstrated his disregard for convention and put him on on a whole different plain from his contemporaries.
Continuing to turn in album after album of forward-thinking music for the next twenty five years (not to mention a secret vault which holds untold amounts of music which is likely to never see the light of day), his catalogue is often viewed as impenetrable by the uninformed yet having the will to delve into it is one of the most rewarding experience in the canon of popular music.
Yet the universal appeal of Prince goes far beyond what can be found on his countless records and projects, it resides in his status as a champion of assimilating counter-culture into the mainstream and has guided the way for countless disenfranchised youths.
Similar to the late David Bowie; another artist that was cruelly taken away from us earlier this year, Prince’s otherworldly, almost androgynous image redefined the fashion of the 80’s and taught the outcasts and misunderstood that those who couldn’t understand you were merely scared of those that dared to see the world in an unconventional manner.
Renowned for striding around in heels due to a life-long insecurity regarding his diminutive height, what’s became clear in the hours that have followed his passing is that a man’s worth is not measured in stature but the footprint that they leave on the world.
It seems that there is no phrase to sum up such a man’s life, so it seems more appropriate to conclude with some pertinent words from the man himself.
‘Sometimes it snows in April, Sometimes I feel so bad, so bad. Sometimes I wish life was never ending, and all good things, they say, never last.’
