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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsPrince and David Bowie showed us another way to live
http://ftw.usatoday.com/2016/04/prince-death-dead-david-bowie-music-originality-artDavid Bowie and Prince are dead.
If feels unreal. The feeling of denial abounded on Thursday, after the death of Prince was confirmed: No. This cant be real. This is all a bad dream.
I felt it as strongly as anyone. It couldnt be real because both Prince and Bowie never really felt real. People that talented, that beautiful, that unique they couldnt be of this earth, and thus, they couldnt die. They were otherworldly. As I wrote of Bowie when he died in January, he never felt like a person who was born he simply appeared, materialized from the ether, a magical embodiment of everything creative and cool in the universe.
It also felt unreal because of what the two artists meant to so many people. For anyone who ever felt strange, or like a misfit, Bowie and Prince were more than people. They were gods. They were two musicians who meant more than their music; they were meaningful because of who they were.
They showed us that there was another way to live.
Many of us believe we are special flowers. We are not. Very few people on earth can resist the urge to latch onto a movement, whatever that movement may be. We define ourselves by the people we admire, by the things we like, but we define ourselves by others. There is nothing wrong with this. We all do it. We do this because its easy, and we do it because we are all very desperate to not be alone.
Prince and Bowie didnt do that. They had no interest in it, really. They did their own thing. Prince wore purple blouses and changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol and rode around in light-up roller skates because he thought it was beautiful and interesting and it all made him happy. David Bowie dyed his hair pink and bleached his skin and imagined himself an alien sent from outer space. They checked no boxes. They adhered to no existing ideas about identity, or masculinity. They created it as they went.
There is bravery in the way Prince and Bowie lived, and foolishness, but for people who grew up feeling like they didnt fit in, it was liberating. When I first saw Prince wailing away on that paisley Telecaster, or saw Bowie, snowy white, singing Starman, it blew my mind. They were cool. They were the coolest. I knew that inherently, even as a kid. And yet they were unlike anyone I knew who was cool. How was that possible?
The loss of these two artists feels especially tragic because of the year in which we lose them. We like to curse 2016 for taking these two men, as if a year can be responsible, but at a time when political movements are built on anger and the ostracizing of others, when laws are being passed out of fear of those that are different, we need more people like Prince and Bowie. People who can show us its OK. Its OK to define yourself however you want to.
---------
This pretty much summed up my feelings on losing two of my favorites in such a short time.
In an era where artists stay in their little niche and dare not go against the tide.
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Prince and David Bowie showed us another way to live (Original Post)
FLPanhandle
Apr 2016
OP
LA Times: Prince, Michael Jackson, and James Brown on stage together was a gift we didn't deserve
proverbialwisdom
Apr 2016
#2
How Prince’s lyrics angered Tipper Gore and led to the Parental Advisory Label
proverbialwisdom
Apr 2016
#4
2naSalit
(86,775 posts)1. K&R
Good piece, and so true.
proverbialwisdom
(4,959 posts)2. LA Times: Prince, Michael Jackson, and James Brown on stage together was a gift we didn't deserve
http://static.latimes.com/prince-michael-jackson-james-brown/
Prince, Michael Jackson, and James Brown on stage together was a gift we didn't deserve
By Dexter Thomas
April 21, 2016, 2:08 p.m.
<>
My favorite Prince memory actually came in college, when I found a grainy video of a 1983 James Brown concert where the Godfather of Soul invited Michael Jackson on stage, who then invited Prince. What results is a brief flash of black divinity, even if the people in the room didnt realize it at the time.
James Brown clearly respected Michael Jackson as a musician, and took no small amount of pride in being his musical mentor. So when Michael goes up and whispers in James Browns ear, James trusts him. He addresses the crowd: give him a round of applause, because he just insisted that I bring up Prince!
Prince, Michael Jackson, and James Brown on stage together was a gift we didn't deserve
By Dexter Thomas
April 21, 2016, 2:08 p.m.
<>
My favorite Prince memory actually came in college, when I found a grainy video of a 1983 James Brown concert where the Godfather of Soul invited Michael Jackson on stage, who then invited Prince. What results is a brief flash of black divinity, even if the people in the room didnt realize it at the time.
James Brown clearly respected Michael Jackson as a musician, and took no small amount of pride in being his musical mentor. So when Michael goes up and whispers in James Browns ear, James trusts him. He addresses the crowd: give him a round of applause, because he just insisted that I bring up Prince!
FLPanhandle
(7,107 posts)3. People had no idea at the time
I hope they appreciated it though. It would have been cool to see.
proverbialwisdom
(4,959 posts)4. How Prince’s lyrics angered Tipper Gore and led to the Parental Advisory Label
http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music/prince-lyrics-led-parental-advisory-label-article-1.2610382
Darling Nikki: How Princes lyrics angered Tipper Gore and led to the Parental Advisory Label
BY Tobias Salinger
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Thursday, April 21, 2016, 5:33 PM
Prince created parental discretion in music, one could argue.
The legendary musicians death Thursday at his Minnesota estate prompted discussions of his cultural impact, including the role of Purple Rain in the creation of the music industrys 30-year-old Parental Advisory Label.
Tipper Gore, then the wife of senator and future Vice President Al Gore, famously decided to lead a crusade against explicit lyrics in music after buying her preteen daughter the soundtrack to Princes sexy R-rated film, Newsweek reported in September.
<>
Darling Nikki: How Princes lyrics angered Tipper Gore and led to the Parental Advisory Label
BY Tobias Salinger
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Thursday, April 21, 2016, 5:33 PM
Prince created parental discretion in music, one could argue.
The legendary musicians death Thursday at his Minnesota estate prompted discussions of his cultural impact, including the role of Purple Rain in the creation of the music industrys 30-year-old Parental Advisory Label.
Tipper Gore, then the wife of senator and future Vice President Al Gore, famously decided to lead a crusade against explicit lyrics in music after buying her preteen daughter the soundtrack to Princes sexy R-rated film, Newsweek reported in September.
<>
MORE: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/prince-androgynous-style-lives-broadway-hamilton-article-1.2610300
proverbialwisdom
(4,959 posts)5. TMZ: Giant Rainbow Over Paisley Park Home
http://www.tmz.com/2016/04/21/prince-rainbow-paisley-park/
Giant Rainbow Over Paisley Park Home
43 minutes ago BY TMZ STAFF
A vibrant rainbow graced the skies above Prince's home Thursday ... hours after he died.
Mourners were paying their respects outside Paisley Park when the rain stopped, the skies opened and the rainbow appeared.
<>
Giant Rainbow Over Paisley Park Home
43 minutes ago BY TMZ STAFF
A vibrant rainbow graced the skies above Prince's home Thursday ... hours after he died.
Mourners were paying their respects outside Paisley Park when the rain stopped, the skies opened and the rainbow appeared.
<>
Equinox Moon
(6,344 posts)8. Beautiful! and Perfect!
He died on a beautiful spring day during an auspicious rain.
Martin Eden
(12,875 posts)6. They had awesome talent. But they also had ...
... the determination and the courage to get where they had to be to share it with the rest of us.
FLPanhandle
(7,107 posts)10. Both produced a large catalog of music we can still enjoy.
So many in the music industry today will be long forgotten but these two will be played for a long time.
silvershadow
(10,336 posts)7. That they did. nt
proverbialwisdom
(4,959 posts)9. Link from Twitter.
http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music-arts/prince-reveals-battled-epilepsy-child-rare-interview-angel-told-article-1.365280
Prince reveals he battled epilepsy as a child in rare interview...
DAILY NEWS WEST COAST BUREAU CHIEF
Tuesday, April 28, 2009, 2:09 PM
LOS ANGELES - He's got the look - and a medical secret that helped shape his legendary music career.
Pop icon Prince revealed a childhood struggle with epilepsy during a rare, soul-bearing interview.
Prince, 50, said the illness helped shape his over-the-top persona.
A Jehovah's Witness who weaves spiritual themes through his songs, Prince said his faith also helped him cope.
<>
Prince reveals he battled epilepsy as a child in rare interview...
DAILY NEWS WEST COAST BUREAU CHIEF
Tuesday, April 28, 2009, 2:09 PM
LOS ANGELES - He's got the look - and a medical secret that helped shape his legendary music career.
Pop icon Prince revealed a childhood struggle with epilepsy during a rare, soul-bearing interview.
"I've never spoken about this before, but I was born epileptic," the Grammy winning singer said on the PBS show Tavis Smiley. "I used to have seizures when I was young. And my mother and father didn't know what to do or how to handle it but they did the best they could with what little they had."
Prince, 50, said the illness helped shape his over-the-top persona.
"From that point on, I've been having to deal with a lot of things, getting teased a lot in school," the Purple Rain singer said Monday night, wearing a high-collared white satin shirt and high-heeled black and white spats. "You know, early in my career I tried to compensate for that by being as flashy as I could and as noisy as I could."
A Jehovah's Witness who weaves spiritual themes through his songs, Prince said his faith also helped him cope.
<>
MORE: https://patients.aan.com/go/prince