Prince, the genre-defying music icon who became a towering figure in the 1980s with cult albums such as 1999, Purple Rain and Sign O’ the Times, has died at the age of 57.
The musical genius will be remembered for his virtuoso style, prolific songwriting capabilities, and his willingness to tackle accepted norms of the music industry. As President Barack Obama succinctly put it after learning the news of Prince’s demise, “the world had lost a creative icon.”
Tributes from all the over the world poured in as music aficionados, artists, buildings, newspapers, and websites all paid their homage to Prince in their own ways. A common thread in a number of those tributes, as BBC wrote, was that they changed to the color purple in his honor, a mark of respect and in remembrance of Prince’s most-famous song and movie, Purple Rain.
Singer and actress Jennifer Hudson, recounting her own experience with Prince, paid tribute to the rock legend after a Broadway performance of The Color Purple , belting out a cover of the singer’s most indelible song in a powerful performance that would probably move you to tears.
In Prince’s native Minneapolis, the Minnesota Twins baseball team turned their stadium purple in honor of the singer, as did the Lowry Avenue and I-35 bridges. Such has been Prince’s influence on the Minnesota Twins team’s rituals that, when Target Field first opened in 2010, the ballpark started blasting Prince’s “Let’s Go Crazy” after every home run.
Fitting that it’s raining in Minneapolis today. pic.twitter.com/s5KFurDhHi
— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) April 21, 2016
Lowry Ave. Bridge will be lit purple tonight as we mourn w/ the world the loss of a true artist & a beloved MN son. pic.twitter.com/y7MWelv1Hd
— Hennepin County (@Hennepin) April 21, 2016
#RIPPrince The I-35W Bridge will reign purple tonight. pic.twitter.com/FDjwRZnEQA
— Minnesota Department of Transportation (@MnDOT) April 21, 2016
But purple-colored tributes were not only common in Minnesota. According to The Huffington Post, the 400-foot tall Orlando Eye in Florida and the Empire State Building in Cleveland also lit up in purple in tribute to Prince and his music.
In honor of legendary music icon Prince, The Orlando Eye will be lit in purple this evening. pic.twitter.com/yMpG3bXabv
— ICON Park (@iconparkorlando) April 21, 2016
The San Francisco City Hall and Chicago’s skyline also turned to purple in memory of Prince.
Chicago skyline lights up in purple tonight to honor the memory of Prince. pic.twitter.com/Xc8lPlXSfW
— WGN TV News (@WGNNews) April 22, 2016
In memory of the great musician, not only bridges, buildings, and stadiums turned their colors to purple, but major news publications around the world — mostly in the United States and United Kingdom — also changed their colors to purple. In remembrance of Prince, newspaper front pages of The New Yorker, The Sun, and the headquarters of BuzzFeed and CBS Minnesota affiliate WCCO all turned purple.
In honor of Prince, an early look at next week’s cover, “Purple Rain”: https://t.co/lF0Nwyd7q8 pic.twitter.com/myN15OxsCO
— The New Yorker (@NewYorker) April 21, 2016
The lights in the hallways on every floor at @BuzzFeed HQ have been turned to purple in honor of Prince. pic.twitter.com/Pwab0DNYmI
— Saeed Jones (@theferocity) April 21, 2016
We are all purple today. pic.twitter.com/dqSvdemryI
— Jason DeRusha (@DeRushaJ) April 21, 2016
Even the cosmos, it appears, wanted to pay a tribute to Prince after his untimely death. NASA uploaded a picture of a purple nebula in honor of Prince on its Twitter account.
A purple nebula, in honor of Prince, who passed away today. https://t.co/7buFWWExMw pic.twitter.com/ONQDwSQwVa
— NASA (@NASA) April 21, 2016
Prince will always be remembered as one of music and America’s greatest-ever icons, and the way newspapers, buildings, bridges, and public landmarks changed their color to purple in a fitting tribute to the legend is proof that he will never be forgotten.
[Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images]
