RIP Prince: Rock Legend and PURPLE RAIN Star Reportedly Dead at Age 57
TMZ broke some sad news this morning: legendary rock star Prince (real name: Prince Rogers Nelson) has passed away at the age of 57. His body was reportedly discovered early this morning at his Paisley Park compound in Minnesota. He had apparently been having some health problems recently and was fighting a bad case of the flu.
Prince was a giant in the world of music, selling over 100 million albums and winning seven Grammys during his long career, but he had some success on the big screen as well. He appeared in the films Purple Rain, Under The Cherry Moon, Sign 'o The Times, and Graffiti Bridge, and won an Oscar for Best Original Song Score for Purple Rain. He also memorably created the soundtrack for Tim Burton's 1989 Batman film.
I'm sad that I never took the time to really get into his music, because I remember being pretty blown away with his live performance at the Super Bowl halftime show a few years ago.
Sadly, most of my knowledge of Prince is limited to the fact that he once changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol and went by "The Artist Formerly Known as Prince," and of course, the classic Chappelle Show sketch in which a story is recounted about a game of basketball he played against Eddie Murphy's brother Charlie.
Rest in peace, Prince. You will be missed.