I called my 80-year-old Republican mother yesterday and to tell her Prince had died. She gasped, “Oh no. Why? Why him?” To say that Prince’s appeal spanned across a wide cross-section of music lovers would be an understatement.

Prince was born in Minneapolis to jazz musician parents. He was largely self-taught, mastering many instruments including piano, drums and, of course, the guitar. He came to the music industry young, signing with Warner Bros at the age of 18. As a testament to his talent, he was one of three artists Miles Davis anointed as the future of music, saying, “Prince is from the school of James Brown … but Prince got some Marvin Gaye and Jimi Hendrix and Sly in him, also, even Little Richard. He’s a mixture of all those guys and Duke Ellington. He reminds me, in a way, of Charlie Chaplin, he and Michael Jackson … I think Prince’s music is pointing toward the future.”

Prince was only 57 years old. Trying to process this will come in waves over time. Like so many of you, I have some deeply personal feelings about Prince, one of which I will share with you upon closing.

Over the course of nearly four decades, Prince became an icon of artistry and individuality. Few artists defined and redefined pop, rock, R&B, funk, soul and nearly every musical genre imaginable like Prince, who issued his debut album in 1978.

He embraced controversy, presenting himself as an androgynous sex fiend in his album art and lyrics, and challenged conservative music ideals in his first decade on albums like 1999, Purple Rain and Sign ‘O’ the Times.

A singular force, he famously performed, produced and wrote nearly all of his own songs at the beginning of his career and would go on to build a music empire out of his home near Minneapolis as he expanded his musical vocabulary. Four of his albums topped the Billboard 200, and the RIAA awarded 20 of his LPs with gold, platinum and multiplatinum plaques.

At the peak of his career in the early Eighties, Prince embraced acting. He starred in the 1984 blockbuster Purple Rain and would go on to appear in 1986’s Under the Cherry Moon and 1990’s Graffiti Bridge, the latter two of which he also directed. He also wrote the screenplay for Graffiti Bridge.

He was also an iconoclast. He went against the grain of the music industry, renaming himself as an unpronounceable symbol at a time when he was protesting his record contract and refusing to bow to emerging formats like online music streaming. He distributed albums to concertgoers along with their tickets when that was a novel concept, and he planned other tours at the spur of the moment, dubbing them “hit and run” shows.

Prince won several awards for his music in his lifetime.

[Edited From Rolling Stone]

Iconoclast fits Prince perfectly. He frequently took society’s rigid structure and turned it into triumph. In 1981 he opened for The Rolling Stones at the LA Coliseum. He took to the stage in his (at that time) trademark bikini and played for thousands of RS fans who angrily booed him off. Not only did Prince come back the next night to open again, it is largely rumored that the recording of those boos serves as the background noise to his hit Pop Life.

Although influenced by many types of music, one of the biggest was the fashionable and psychedelic LA band scene that was known as the Paisley Underground. He named a song, his label and his studio Paisley Park in homage.

He mentored (and dated) many young female artists. Among them Apollonia,Sheena Easton and ex-fiancée Shelia E. When Vanity, another of his protégé’s, passed away this February, Prince paid her a lovely tribute during his Melbourne concert. In addition, Prince wrote many award-winning songs for other artists. Among them Manic Monday for the Bangles, Nothing Compares to You for Sinead and Chaka Khan’s I Feel For You. Stevie Nicks said when she asked for help with Stand Back, he came over that night. His keyboard is all over that song.

I am not going to pretend Prince was a saint. He had complicated relationships with his wives. He courted controversy, much of which surrounded his intense policing of his music and work. Though largely mocked at the time, the reason behind Prince changing his name to a symbol was in answer to his contentious battle with Warner Brothers over Prince wanting his own masters. He knew sadness too, like his battle with epilepsy and losing his son only days after his birth.

He also had a good sense of humor about himself. Dave Chapelle has a famous skit of a Charlie Murphy story about playing basketball with Prince known commonly as “Blouses,” which inspired this fantastic meme on Reddit. When Prince recorded the song Breakfast Can Wait, he used a picture of Chapelle as him for the single’s cover.

Because it fell on a Saturday that year, my husband and I choose to marry on Prince’s birthday as if he was somehow blessing us. Come June, we will set an empty champagne flute on the table for him. Here’s to you, Prince.

It’s 1983 video quality, but here is a clip of James Brown’s birthday celebration in which he calls Michael Jackson to the stage who, in turn, calls Prince to the stage.

I know I have posted this before but it is one of my all time favorites, Prince and others memorializing George Harrison posthumously into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

My friend is gone…This is what it sounds like, when doves cry. He was my
dove…Stevie Nicks

— Stevie Nicks (@StevieNicks) April 21, 2016

I LOVED him, the world LOVED him. Now he's at peace with his Father. Rest in power, @prince, my brother. pic.twitter.com/ZN6cc3WWuF

— Chaka Khan (@ChakaKhan) April 21, 2016

IN HONOR OF THE BEAUTIFUL ONE • #PRINCE • NOTHING COMPARES 2 U • 1958-2016 pic.twitter.com/utJvwpbryN

— Apollo Theater (@ApolloTheater) April 21, 2016

Photo credit: WENN, Fame/Flynet, Getty Images and Twitter