SUPER Star

On February 4, 2007, in Super Bowl XLI in Miami, Florida, Peyton Manning led the AFC Champion Indianapolis Colts to victory over the NFC Champion Chicago Bears by a score of 29 to 17. Although the game was fought between a whole bunch of mammoth football players standing somewhere around 6’5″ and weighing over 300 lbs., it was the performance of a slightly built man, who weighed somewhere around a buck twenty, and who stood about 5’2″ off the ground that people are talking about today.

The diminutive man who pretty much upstaged that year’s Super Bowl, was not a kicker of course, he was the legendary musical performer Prince, who died this past Thursday on April 21, 2016, and that halftime Super Bowl performance is turning out to be that “greatest, showcase moment of his career” that people are able to latch onto to see (a sample of his musical skills for the unfamiliar person, or a re-confirmation of his talents for the diehard fan) just what it was that made this person’s music so great.

And in that Super Bowl halftime performance, Prince did the equivalent of throwing four touchdown passes and winning the MVP trophy. He put together one of the three best halftime shows ever (one would have to still include Michael Jackson’s show in 1993, that single handedly turned the Super Bowl halftime show into a national event, and the U2 show in 2002 that emotionally captured the nation’s heart strings after the events of 9-11-2001) and Prince did his while it was raining.

This is a sports column, but we talk today about the life and career and untimely passing of the artist who once was, then was formerly known as, then became known again as, and now will be forever remembered as… Prince.

And mark my words, this is a man who truly was… an artist. I am not, and was not, necessarily an album-buying fan of Prince. But I have always been an admirer of talent, creativity and originality. I am always there to acknowledge greatness, even when it comes in a musical genre that isn’t right up my wheelhouse.

An artist is someone who sees the world, interprets that world, and creates something that comes uniquely from their own skills and artistic perspective that ends up being THEIR art. There was a world of music that existed before Prince, and then he came along. And he created his own version of popular music that was so uniquely and creatively fashioned in his own image that HIS music became its own genre. The entire music world, and fans throughout the world, always knew that something they were hearing was simply “something by Prince.”

And then, or course, there was his style. Prince fashioned himself as a man of mystery throughout his career. He would dress up in ways that left your jaw dropping. On stage, he could wear eye makeup, lipstick, women’s clothing,
outlandishly, colorful costumes, and would perform shows that exuded sexuality and then he’d say nothing about any of it, leaving only the professionalism of his “Prince music,” and the mystery surrounding all of the stage show that people had just seen to speak for itself. He was Prince. His style became the brand known as Prince. He wasn’t just a star. He was a SUPER star.

Although Prince had said that he was mostly influenced musically by Stevie Wonder, I think that he was an amalgamation of several other talented and pretty eclectic people who preceded him.

Miles Davis – Prince was like Miles Davis because he owned his own musical style AND persona, and was so damn COOL as he did everything that he couldn’t help but be thought of as the coolest person to enter any room he so desired.

James Brown – Although Prince looked a bit like Little Richard, he acted on stage with the command and the presence of music powerhouse James Brown. Both James Brown and Prince seemed to play their asses off every time they got on stage to perform, and both never had an audience member ever think they were mailing in any performance

Jimi Hendrix – Prince, using his guitar, his singing voice, and his musical style, created a genre breaking style that was all his own, and driven by a form of musical dexterity that allowed him to create and invent things as he went along that no one else could do, except for him, and Hendrix. They both could play their combination of rhythm and lead guitar like a pair of virtuoso GENIUSES.

Sly Stone – I believe the FUNK of the early Prince sound was strongly influenced by the funky music that came from the creative force that was Sly Stone. Besides having a true belief in what he was doing musically, Stone also had a “family” of musicians the way Prince had his fellow musical family (Prince’s family was usually comprised of some of “his women”).

David Bowie – Bowie preceded Prince with his androgynous make-up, his exploration of the feminine side onstage, his multiple re-inventions of himself as different looks and characters, and his musical style that was constantly changing and evolving. To say Prince was “part Bowie” is to say NO ONE could ever pin him down and say he was just one kind of genre. Bowie was Bowie. Prince was Prince. And they were both unique talents that couldn’t be categorized.

Michael Jackson – Both Jackson and Prince were pretty much THE mega-stars of the 1980’s. What they had in common was their amazing physical movements they could create on stage. Jackson was unmatched as a dancer on stage. Prince moved and gyrated in perfect tempo to his songs. Both seemed like their movements were perfect for what they were singing.  Jackson’s dancing was exciting. Prince’s on stage movement was pure, cool swagger.

Carlos Santana – Prince was like Carlos Santana in that they both played a form of lead guitar that emanated from their soul and the music that came out was just an extension of what was going on inside them spiritually. They both could close their eyes and not even think about what they were playing, but the music would come out from THEM. And it would be good.

Prince dying young was such a tragedy, though. Unlike a lot of musicians that got old and lived off their past laurels, he was always trying to create new music, always trying to evolve as a person as well as a musician. He was still vital as a creator and player of music. He always seemed young, as if he had captured the legendary, mystical fountain of youth. One didn’t think a guy like him would ever die young.

As a performer, he always seemed to be this magical, mystical figure that was entertaining to hear and exciting to see. When you think about it, Prince is one of the few people EVER who have had a funky little symbol completely associated with their name and image. (The artist formerly known as… ) But now, the human being who used to be Prince is gone.

Other great musicians of the past have also died recently, but there is a reason that Prince’s death has hit so many people so hard. Other people may have been really good musicians and creative forces in some really good groups, but Prince was Prince. He was a one of a kind, once in a generation type of talent and persona. People will mourn for him now because they loved what he did with his life and his music that he created. (How many people have an actual color, as in purple, associated with them?) But, at some point, they will have to move on with life.

The music is still there to be listened to on vinyl (his preferred method of recording), CD’s, etc. and to be listened to/watched on YouTube. If you liked Prince, you can and should go to YouTube and see him play at the halftime of that Super Bowl in 2007. You can actually see and hear him singing “Purple Rain” in Miami in that driving rain, in front of an emotional audience with a hundred million people on TV watching.

And you can create an indelible image in your mind of him, alive and singing that song that will always be there whenever you see it raining somewhere or whenever you hear that song being played. And in a way, he will live on. Prince’s body may have died, but, thanks to technology, the idea of Prince and his music will be allowed to continue for as long as people can keep the flame alive.