8th anniversary of death
Four memorable moments in Prince’s career
Prince played during halftime of the Super Bowl in 2007.
© REUTERS/Mike Blake
Eight years ago, the great music artist Prince died. On this occasion, we remember four moments that have gone down in music history.
It was one of the saddest days in the music world: Prince passed away on April 21, 2016. We remember four of his greatest moments.
The last song
On April 14, 2016, Prince performed two concerts at the Fox Theater in Atlanta. At the time, no one suspected that the musician, who was so cheerful that day, would be dead a week later. Journalists and concert-goers could not detect any signs of weakness or illness. But on April 21, the singer was found at his Paisley Park estate near Minneapolis. The second show in Atlanta was to be his last appearance.
At the end – it was the third encore of the second concert – he performed his most famous song “Purple Rain” (1:23:30) – and the whole audience sang along. Shortly afterwards he was completely silent. (The full concert can be found here)
Meeting of the giants
James Brown is the undisputed Godfather of Soul, and there were actually only two musicians who could be considered legitimate successors: Michael Jackson and Prince. Both were born in 1958, and in the 80s both fought an artistically breathtaking duel to see who was the biggest star on the planet. It goes without saying that the relationship between the two of them was always tense. But James Brown managed to unite the two competitors in one concert in 1983. After he had brought Jackson on stage, Jackson pointed out that Prince was also in the audience – and insisted that Brown bring him on stage too:
A solo for eternity
Prince was not only a highly talented composer, dancer and singer – he was also a brilliant guitarist. In 2007, the musician performed at the Super Bowl halftime show – in front of 100,000 fans in the stadium and a billion viewers around the world on television. He also played his 1984 classic “Let’s Go Crazy” and delivered a breathtaking guitar solo.
Concert with Lenny Kravitz
In July 1999, Prince and Lenny Kravitz performed the hit “American Woman” together at the New York Palladium. A song that various artists have covered, but Prince made it his own with his guitar.