How Prince Made The World A More Colorful Place

It’s been almost 10 months since legendary rocker Prince passed away. He was a musical pioneer, a boundary-pusher, a rule-breaker and meant a lot of things to a lot of people. Some admired his unapologetic style, artistic vision and talent while others worshipped his dance moves. Prince also got under people’s skin with his flamboyant personality which became almost as famous as his 1984 hit Purple Rain. But Prince never left people indifferent and that’s what made him unique.

Here are 6 reasons Prince made the world a more colorful place.

1- Haters gonna hate

If there’s one thing Prince couldn’t give a crap about it’s haters. He just didn’t care. He reveled in everything that made him different and weird. He refused to conform to society’s dictums and constantly pushed sexual boundaries through his music. Prince followed his very own purple brick road to stardom.

2- He shared his gift for music  

Prince was a prolific composer and songwriter, producing hits for other artists (often for women he was infatuated with) such as Sinead O’Connor, The Bangles and Stevie Nicks.

3- Prince owned the Super Bowl before Beyonce did

In 2007 Prince gave one of the most memorable Super Bowl performances ever (Michael Jackson being the other). His performance of Purple Rain in an actual rainstorm went down in Super Bowl history.

4- Come as you are

Anybody could be a Prince fan: young, gay, straight, old, black, white, rock lovers or funk fanatics. The concert crowd was generally as eclectic as Prince’s tastes and proved that his music had the power of bringing people from all different walks of life together in search of a common love for his music.

5- Prince influenced a new generation of artists

Prince’s influence can be felt in most pop music: The Weeknd, Frank Ocean, Pharrell, Justin Timberlake and Katy Perry have all turned to Prince for inspiration.

6- Prince began cultural enlightenment in pop music

It was difficult to categorize Prince and this initially subjected him to tidal waves of scorn. Much like Bowie in the early 70s, Prince’s dress sense challenged the contemporary masculine stereotype and became an emblem against bigots and conservative mindsets, paving the way for generations of artists (Lady Gaga to name but one) to come.

Listen to Prince’s music on Deezer.