By On Thursday, April 21, 2016, singer, prolific songwriter, entertainer, and all around mega-star Prince, died at the age of 57 at his home in Minnesota. Social media users and the world at large read the confirmation of his untimely death in disbelief, with tributes to the legendary performer rolling in instantaneously.
“He was magical. He was funny. He was so black. He put slave on his face to challenge the entire music industry at a time when they were getting everybody’s everything. He walked through this world like he believed he was free, like a free artist, a free man.” – Michaela Angela Davis (writer, entertainer, and stylist)
Prince was a Generation X icon whose music brought the funky “This is what I’m feeling” sexual revolutionary nature out of his listeners, who always eagerly awaited for each new single and album to makes its debut. Some of his more popular songs include “When Doves Cry“, “Let’s Go Crazy,” Kiss (from the famous Pretty Woman soundtrack), “Little Red Corvette,” “The Most Beautiful Girl in the World,” and “Purple Rain.”
He was also a staunch anti-war advocate.
In 1991, during his Purple Rain Tour, while in Brazil, he denounced the war in Iraq.
“There’s a war going on, I don’t know what’s up, but I think we’d all be better off living for love.”
For many Gen X’ers–and Muslims–it was the first time someone of Prince’s stature spoke out about something so controversial.
While some will remember Prince for his flamboyant dress, provocative lyrics, and boundless creativity–which was evident not just in the songs he wrote for himself, but the ones he wrote for other entertainers, like Sinead O’Connor’s “Nothing Compares to You”–we at Muslim Girl will also remember how he utilized his platform as an artist to reach out to the world about war, peace, and love. That alone makes him more than an artist; he is a legend.
If there’s only one thing that you remember about Prince’s legacy and legend, perhaps it should be this: He was right. We’d all be better off living for love.