Music superstar Prince, beloved by millions as one of the most electrifying performers of his generation with hits including “Little Red Corvette,” ”Purple Rain” and “Kiss,” was found dead at his home today in Minneapolis, according to his publicist. He was 57. The cause of death has not yet been determined.
Below, many notable fans take to social media to express their sadness, shock, anger, and memories:
PRESIDENT OBAMA:
“‘A strong spirit transcends rules,’ Prince once said—and nobody’s spirit was stronger, bolder, or more creative.” —President Obama
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) April 21, 2016
ELLEN DEGENERES:
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Prince was brilliant and larger than life. What a sad day.
— Ellen DeGeneres (@TheEllenShow) April 21, 2016
TIM COOK:
Prince was a true innovator and a singular artist. His music and influence will live on for generations. Rest in peace.
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) April 21, 2016
LANCE BASS:
Doves are most certainly crying today. #RIPPrince pic.twitter.com/hi6gUsipWn
— Lance Bass (@LanceBass) April 21, 2016
ANDY COHEN:
THIS CAN NOT BE POSSIBLE!!!!!!! NO NO NO NO NO
— Andy Cohen (@Andy) April 21, 2016
ADAM LAMBERT:
So sad about @prince ….. You will be so missed.
— ADAM LAMBERT (@adamlambert) April 21, 2016
STEVE GRAND:
Saddened and stunned. Another legend gone far too young. #RIP #Prince
— Steve Grand (@SteveGrandMusic) April 21, 2016
LAVERNE COX:
I am really not right over this. RIP #Prince this is devastating.
— Laverne Cox (@Lavernecox) April 21, 2016
SANDRA BERNARD:
“Never meant to cause you any sorrow never meant to cause you any pain I only wanted one time to see you laughing I… https://t.co/Rr0rhFm9af
— Sandra Bernhard (@SandraBernhard) April 21, 2016
MICHAEL MUSTO:
JUSTIN VIVIAN BOND:
So sad about Prince. #RIPPrince
— Mx Viv (@mxjustinVbond) April 21, 2016
MARC ALMOND:
Weird times. So Young. #Prince.
— Marc Almond (@MarcAlmond) April 21, 2016
CELINE DION:
Terribly saddened by the devastating news… He truly is a legend and a hero of mine. RIP #prince
— Celine Dion (@celinedion) April 21, 2016
BOY GEORGE:
Today is the worst day ever. Prince R.I.P I am crying!
— Boy George (@BoyGeorge) April 21, 2016
MADONNA:
He Changed The World!! A True Visionary. What a loss. I’m Devastated. This is Not A Love Song. pic.twitter.com/x4JaSxRraC
— Madonna (@Madonna) April 21, 2016
JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE:
Prince, NOTHING COMPARES… #RIPPrince… https://t.co/KAserIRfgD pic.twitter.com/6qyF7VqNtV
— Justin Timberlake (@jtimberlake) April 21, 2016
PRINCE OF SNARKNESS aka DIVKID
Frank Ocean’s Tumblr tribute deserves to be included here:
’M NOT EVEN GONNA SAY REST IN PEACE BECAUSE IT’S BIGGER THAN DEATH. I NEVER MET THE MAN (I WAS TOO NERVOUS THE ONE TIME I SAW HIM) AND I NEVER SAW HIM PLAY LIVE, REGRETTABLY. I ONLY KNOW THE LEGENDS I’VE HEARD FROM FOLKS AND WHAT I’VE HEARD AND SEEN FROM HIS DEEP CATALOG OF PROPELLANT, FEARLESS, VIRTUOSIC WORK. MY ASSESSMENT IS THAT HE LEARNED EARLY ON HOW LITTLE VALUE TO ASSIGN TO SOMEONE ELSE’S OPINION OF YOU.. AN INFECTIOUS SENTIMENT THAT SEEMED SOAKED INTO HIS CLOTHES, HIS HAIR, HIS WALK, HIS GUITAR AND HIS PRIMAL SCREAM. HE WROTE MY FAVORITE SONG OF ALL TIME, ‘WHEN YOU WERE MINE’. IT’S A SIMPLE SONG WITH A SIMPLE MELODY THAT MAKES YOU WISH YOU THOUGHT OF IT FIRST, EVEN THOUGH YOU NEVER WOULD HAVE – A FLIRTATIOUS BRAND OF GENIUS THAT FEELS APPROACHABLE. HE WAS A STRAIGHT BLACK MAN WHO PLAYED HIS FIRST TELEVISED SET IN BIKINI BOTTOMS AND KNEE HIGH HEELED BOOTS, EPIC. HE MADE ME FEEL MORE COMFORTABLE WITH HOW I IDENTIFY SEXUALLY SIMPLY BY HIS DISPLAY OF FREEDOM FROM AND IRREVERENCE FOR OBVIOUSLY ARCHAIC IDEAS LIKE GENDER CONFORMITY ETC. HE MOVED ME TO BE MORE DARING AND INTUITIVE WITH MY OWN WORK BY HIS DEMONSTRATION – HIS DENIAL OF THE PREVAILING MODEL…HIS FIGHT FOR HIS INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY – ‘SLAVE’ WRITTEN ACROSS THE FOREHEAD, NAME CHANGED TO A SYMBOL… AN ALL OUT REBELLION AGAINST EXPLOITATION. A VANGUARD AND GENIUS BY EVERY METRIC I KNOW OF WHO AFFECTED MANY IN A WAY THAT WILL OUTRUN OBLIVION FOR A LONG WHILE. I’M PROUD TO BE A PRINCE FAN(STAN) FOR LIFE.
PRINCE OF SNARKNESS aka DIVKID
http://frankocean.tumblr.com
It’s allowed him to come out a little bit more himself too
Kangol
RIP Prince. Your soundtrack of hits will play on!
Bryguyf69
Despite his gender bending sexual ambiguity, he was reportedly Conservative and somewhat homophobic after his conversion to Jehovah’s Witness.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2016/04/21/raunchy-prince-was-actually-a-conservative-christian-who-reportedly-opposed-gay-marriage
joeyty
@Bryguyf69: It was disappointing. Even Queerty reported his apparent homophobic leanings back then.
Bryguyf69
Plus, Obama’s tribute notwithstanding, Prince apparently didn’t vote for Obama. But it may now to do with Jehovah’s witnesses not being to vote than political views. See Washington Post article I linked above.
Bryguyf69
@joeyty: Yeah, that’s religion for you. Even gay icons Donna Summers and Gloria Gaynor were victims although they apparently regained their senses later. But Jehovah’s witnesses are a special breed. I mean, they’d rather die than accept a blood transfusion. That’s child abuse in my book if the transfusion is denied to a child. Regardless, Prince apparently refused a hip replacement unless it was “bloodless. “
Poncho Sanchez
I don’t know whose Prince’s contemporaries would be considered today (Jay-Z? Usher?), but I can say that those two have about 1/8 of the talent that Prince had. No questions.
Poncho Sanchez
@Bryguyf69: Prince’s religious facade was probably just a ruse to cover up his down-low activity, much like Tim Tebow.
Bryguyf69
@Poncho Sanchez: I won’t trash the latter two, but you’re right, Prince was a musical genius that is hard to compare. Not only was he a multi-instrumentalist, but he was able to span genres better than many “artists” can handle just one. And he was surprisingly intelligent and eloquent, as evidenced in the Larry King interview CNN is constantly excerpting.
Bryguyf69
@Poncho Sanchez: Well, that would explain his apparent hyper-heterosexuality. Classic overcompensation?
Brian
@Bryguyf69: You make a good point about overcompensation.
Bob LaBlah
@Poncho Sanchez: Prince said years ago in an interview that his role models were Jimi Hendrix, Little Richard and James Brown. You can see all three in his performances……Little Richard in his appearance, Jimmie Hendrix in his dress and James Brown when he danced. No one can compare to him today.
Prince was not handsome and always looked on the fem side no matter what. He, like Michael Jackson found fame/superstardom at an early age and because of that never had a real relationship. There are some cute pictures of him as a kid on the basketball team at his high school and he looks like a typical early 1970’s gay kid to me. I know because I too was one at the same time he was. His death hits home very hard to me. Damn near every body I knew back then are now gone or scattered so far into the four winds no google search can find any of whom I think are left. Last night was a long and lonely night for me thinking back about those days.
Bob LaBlah
@Bob LaBlah: Once upon a time we were all fifteen years old. I think he looks cute in this pic with his other cute little teammates. RIP Prince.
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/prince-wasn-happy-playing-time-hs-photos-article-1.2136946
joeyty
@Bob LaBlah: Don’t fret too much. You’re probably a nicer person than Prince was. And not such a homophobe.
Bob LaBlah
@joeyty: “Don’t fret too much.”
So nice to hear some one on here sounding normal. LOL That one made my day. I actually cheered up. Thanks.
joeyty
@Bob LaBlah: Though, again, I do think he was extremely talented. I remember one critic called him the Sly Stone of the ’80’s, which seemed really accurate.
Bob LaBlah
@joeyty: Speaking of ol’ Sly Stone check out this one called Sex Machine. This was the days of acid and it fit in well for this song. Of course I did no such things……and don’t forget that babies come from heaven and if you kiss a girl she will get pregnant and if……
From the introduction you know it is building up to a climactic end. Hope you like it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZv2ey0yVL4
Chevelter
I’ll have to take others’ word for his musical genius because I didn’t care for his music. The artist formerly known as alive might still be alive if not for his nutty religion, which discouraged seeing doctors. It also made him speak out against same sex marriage. He was a tempramental, self-centered, unpleasant individual to encounter.
A few days ago he passed out on his private plane from a drug overdose and his crew made an emergency landing in Moline, IL to take him to a hospital. Doctors gave him a shot to counteract the effect of the overdose and told him he needed to stay overnight, but he left immediately. Yesterday found dead in an elevator in his home, as can happen to anyone.
Matt Achine
@Bob LaBlah: Prince was not handsome??? Are the brainwaves under your Raspberry Beret working right?!
onthemark
@Chevelter: Ha. Thank you for that!
I DID like Prince’s music, but I’ve been a little mystified at Queerty’s entirely worshipful and unquestioning tone on all this.
Prince = musical genius… but also: religious psycho, self-hating homophobic (or biphobic) dou che bag, Republican a-hole, etc etc etc. (I’m actually going to give him a pass on being a drug addict. Don’t know how much physical pain he was in.)
Queerty has freaked out at a lot of celebrities for much, much less! Here they don’t even mention it.
Realityis
I love the reference Madonna mad to This is not a Love Song…. What an amazing duet from the 2 of them.
Bob LaBlah
@Chevelter: ” He was a tempramental, self-centered, unpleasant individual to encounter.”
Not only that but if you look at some of the pictures of him as a kid that have surfaced in the last twenty-four hours or so he isn’t smiling in just about all of them. As a kid (in the pictures) he looks like the lonely, shy self centered gay man that he grew up to be. He doesn’t look like the type who would have showered with his teammates and I bet they were happy. There was some thing about him that just made see or expect any more than GOOD music from him, which he did deliver on.
@Matt Achine: He was a classic example of “having the cake but can’t eat it too” in my book. Good music but no sexual fantasies from my end in other words. To each his own but sexually, I always thought of him as a turnoff despite those cute buns in some of those earlier outfits he used to wear.