RIP Prince, A Legendary Musician With A Complicated Internet History (networkworld.com)

alphadogg writes: Reflecting on the popular musician's uneasy relationship with the Internet and social media upon the 57-year-old surprising death. In 2010, Prince "famously shuttered his LotusFlow3r.com website," proclaiming that "The Internet is completely over... All these computers and digital gadgets are no good. They just fill your head with numbers and that can't be good for you." In 2014, The Guardian ran a story titled "Prince quits the Internet," after the singer deleted his social media accounts. He filed a lawsuit against his fans, which was later dropped, for sharing bootlegged copies of his music online. He even banned fans from taking smartphone photos at his concerts in 2013. Prince did seem to open up to the Internet to some degree in the past couple years. Prince's HTNRUN album was posted on Jay Z's Tidal music site last year. In Silicon Valley, Prince is being remembered as a social innovator and a passionate advocate for Black youth," inspiring YesWeCode, Van Jones' initiative to teach 100,000 low-income kids to write code, and hackathons across the country to expose kids in underserved communities to computer science. Bob Brown from Networkworld writes, "News of Prince's death Thursday briefly crashed the TMZ news site. From there, fans flocked to the Internet and social media to mourn this music star who did his darnedest to stay off the grid." RIP Prince.

Comments

Good night, sweet Prince.

[Anonymous Coward]

Seriously, I could never get into the guy. He seemed completely full of himself, and I thought his music was overrated. Can't deny he was talented, though, and lots of people liked him.

Re:Good night, sweet Prince.

[Anonymous Coward]

You're confusing sex with masturbation.

Re: Good night, sweet Prince.

[Anonymous Coward]

He died in poverty because of copyright infringers.

Re: Good night, sweet Prince.

[Type44Q]

Even better than having a pillow to bite, eh?

Re:Good night, sweet Prince.

[Anonymous Coward]

Talented? Everything he ever did was generic pop crap that pretty much sounded the same. Lots of people liked him in the same way that lots of people like Britney Spears and Justin Bieber.

Other than that, I agree. He was completely fully of himself and his pretence was off the charts.

Re:Good night, sweet Prince.

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, I'd like to see Bieber or Spears riff improvisations on several instruments during one live show, and produce her own albums.

I don't like much of what he put out on record -- there's some lovely ballads -- but in terms of musical talent your're rather wrong.

Re:Good night, sweet Prince.

[Anonymous Coward]

Great. That doesn't mean he knew how to compose for shit.

His musical ability was nothing more than rote memorization of the exact simplistic tunes he was playing. If you were to ask him to sit down and play Chopin, he'd be lost.

Re:Good night, sweet Prince.

[Anonymous Coward]

Clearly you haven't seen him live. Feel free to dislike the man, and/or his music -- But "simplistic" objectively doesn't apply.

Re: Good night, sweet Prince.

[Jawnn]

He died in poverty because of copyright infringers.

You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

Re:Good night, sweet Prince.

[Anonymous Coward]

Still loving to have sex listening to his records.

For teenage boys, the most frequent fantasy during sex is having a partner.

Re:Good night, sweet Prince.

[Anonymous Coward]

you realize he penned a lot of top hits for other singers? Sinead O'Connor "nothing compares to you" is one of many. Ithink you're a homophobe and that's why you think the way you do.
capcha circus

Re:Good night, sweet Prince.

[Anonymous Coward]

What does an opposite sex clone version of myself counts as?

Re:Good night, sweet Prince.

[Pseudonymous Powers]

What does an opposite sex clone version of myself counts as?

Depends. Are either of you even slightly attracted to the other?

Re:Good night, sweet Prince.

[Anonymous Coward]

If you don't think it's simplistic, then you haven't heard much music. He made pop and R&B tunes, there was no complexity or talent there.

Re:Good night, sweet Prince.

[Anonymous Coward]

you realize he penned a lot of top hits for other pop singers?

FTFY.

Sinead O'Connor "nothing compares to you" is one of many.

Nope. She did a cover of it, he didn't specifically make it for her. By the way, where is Sinead O'Connor now? According to you, she must be such a massive superstar that is so omnipresent that nobody even know she still exists.

And I'm not sure where you get random homophobia from. I could just as easily and baselessly say that you disagree with me because you're a racist, but that would be dishonest because the only thing I know for certain is that you are a hate-card playing moron and liar.

Re:Good night, sweet Prince.

[rochrist]

Other than admiring what a truly monumental ignorance of music you've just displayed, and noting that you clearly haven't spent more than 5 minutes listening to his work over the past 25 years, there's not a lot to say about this comment. Idiot.

Re:Good night, sweet Prince.

[rochrist]

You know nothing. Less than nothing.

Re:Good night, sweet Prince.

[orgelspieler]

I'm no fan of his; I generally dislike music composed in the last 80 years or so. But his improvisational skills and the breadth of his virtuosity are quite impressive. And we should remember that a lot of his douchebaggery offstage was more of an FU to the corporate overlords. His fans just ended up in the crossfire a lot.

Re:Good night, sweet Prince.

[Anonymous Coward]

No, you're just a musical layman. Go back to listening to your 4/4 crap that uses that same progression and four chords over and over.

Re:Good night, sweet Prince.

[Anonymous Coward]

Prince was fucking garbage, both as a musician and as a human being. Much like you.

Re:Good night, sweet Prince.

[doccus]

I don't know why I'm replying to an AC, but hey, I didn't like anything he did.. It just never turned MY crank. But as a guitar player, just can't knock what he could do. He was (is) excellent. Way more than "play by the numbers". As a guitarist myself, I was accurately copping Alvin Lee andthe whole Hendric/Page/Beck thing that were the current influences when I was young, but I never got past the whole Van Halen/ Stevie Vai style thing when it came around.. yet Prince was my age and he did, mixing both the new styles and the old, very well. I just hated what he did with it... shlock.. inho..

Re:Good night, sweet Prince.

[Anonymous Coward]

Prince was the beginning of the trend in music that prized form over substance. I was not a fan...

Re: Good night, sweet Prince.

[Zero__Kelvin]

*WHOOOSH*

The Joke
-------------
Your Head

Re:Good night, sweet Prince.

[Brad1138]

Spoken like someone who has no idea what he is talking about.

Good night, sweet Prince.

[Anonymous Coward]

Still loving to have sex listening to his records.

Tribute from Bloom County

[TigerPlish]

Tribute from Bloom County

Chyna also died

[future assassin]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

Re:Chyna also died

[amicusNYCL]

Yeah I guess Prince really took her death hard.

Re:Chyna also died

[110010001000]

She didn't die from drugs either. Perfectly normal.

Re:Chyna also died

[Anonymous Coward]

Who?

Sorry, I was busy mourning people with actual talent...

Re: Chyna also died

[Anonymous Coward]

Like whom? Aaron "look mama I'm hanging from the ceiling" Swartz? LOL.

Re:Chyna also died

[cyberzephyr]

Can't anyone just be chill!

We Lost Doris Roberts, Prince and Chyna.

i lost someone too this week. We are all going to croak so get over it!

I will be sad for a bit.

Re:Chyna also died

[Anonymous Coward]

Doris Roberts was 90 and died of natural causes in her sleep. She lived a full life. That is hardly a loss.

Prince's death was also not much of a loss, but mostly because he was a conceited douchebag.

Cameras

[amicusNYCL]

Sounds like I missed a great opportunity to troll Prince by showing up to one of his concerts carrying one of those tripod cameras with the curtain you pull over yourself while holding up a giant exploding bulb.

so let me get this straight

[rubycodez]

The artist formerly known as the artist formerly known as Prince is now "formerly alive"?

Re:so let me get this straight

[Anonymous Coward]

Goodnight, sweet prince?

Re:so let me get this straight

[Darinbob]

The former artist formerly known as Prince but then later known as Prince.

Re:so let me get this straight

[Anonymous Coward]

If you straighten the symbol it becomes a line in a tombstone: Here lies the artist known as Prince, formerly known as Symbol, formerly known as Prince, formerly known as Prince Roger Nelson. May he rest in the space-time curvature of his own choosing.

Re:so let me get this straight

[dbIII]

It only just hit me today why he did the symbol thing and why it actually makes sense.
It was a stupid trademark fight with his record company fucking him over every time he wanted to use his stage name and the symbol plus "formerly known" was his way of telling them to go fuck themselves.
At the time it just seemed stupid. In hindsight after hearing more about the record industry it actually sounds like it was a good thing to do.

Re:so let me get this straight

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, I don't understand. Could you explain what you mean?

Re:so let me get this straight

[dbIII]

The record company put restrictions on when and where he could use his stage name of "Prince".
He sidestepped that with the "formerly known as" label.

Re:so let me get this straight

[Xtifr]

From what I've heard (not that I follow this sort of thing closely), you're exactly right on all points. It really was a kind of genius move.

Re:so let me get this straight

[DNS-and-BIND]

Prince was not his "stage name". Prince was his REAL NAME. His mother named him that and it was on his birth certificate. He went by that name his entire life. That's why it was such bullshit that his record company tried to claim copyright. It wasn't some silly made-up stage name like Madonna or Jon Stewart. It was his real name.

Re:so let me get this straight

[cyberzephyr]

Yes, you are correct! :-)

Re:so let me get this straight

[Anonymous Coward]

I only remember him as "that guy who did 1999", since that is the only song he made that ever gets played and only on New Year's as a sort of joke.

Re:so let me get this straight

[Anonymous Coward]

Uhh, you do know that "Madonna" is Madonna's real first name, right? She was born "Madonna Louise Ciccone".

As for Jon Stewart, well I think it was a smart change. Jon Leibowitz just doesn't roll off the tongue in the same way.

Re:so let me get this straight

[phayes]

He trademarked his "love symbol", refused to be addressed by anything else and thus forced the vampiric over controlling record label to pay him royalties for using it on his albums. The man was brilliant and in my opinion just as much if not more of a cultural influence (through his producing & songwriting) than Michael Jackson was.

Never had the opportunity to see him live. Adding him to the list of lifelong regrets alongside Queen, the Eagles, Amy Winehouse and others

Re:so let me get this straight

[Anonymous Coward]

Prince was not his "stage name". Prince was his REAL NAME. His mother named him that and it was on his birth certificate. He went by that name his entire life. That's why it was such bullshit that his record company tried to claim copyright. It wasn't some silly made-up stage name like Madonna or Jon Stewart. It was his real name.

Are you retarded? His name was Rogers Nelson, you twat.

Re:so let me get this straight

[Anonymous Coward]

Neckbeard faggot doesn't know Prince's name. Boring motherfucking nerds don't surprise yet again.

Re:so let me get this straight

[Anonymous Coward]

Madonna is a REAL NAME as well - Madonna Louise Ciccone is her real name.

Re:so let me get this straight

[Anonymous Coward]

The artist currently known as Prince.

Re:so let me get this straight

[Anonymous Coward]

You have really shitty taste in music.

Re:so let me get this straight

[vux984]

"Are you retarded? His name was Rogers Nelson, you twat."

According to all sources I can find his name was:

Prince Rogers Nelson

Re:so let me get this straight

[Anonymous Coward]

No, he sidestepped it with the symbol.

The public didn't know how to pronounce it, so they started referring to him as "The Artist Formerly Known as Prince".

Re:so let me get this straight

[vux984]

It wasn't some silly made-up stage name like Madonna or Jon Stewart. It was his real name.

Prince --> Prince Rogers Nelson
Madonna --> Madonna Louise Ciccone
Jon Stewart --> Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz

There's a bit of fiddling with Jon's name; but its hardly a "silly made up name"

Re:so let me get this straight

[Aighearach]

The record company put restrictions on when and where he could use his stage name of "Prince".
He sidestepped that with the "formerly known as" label.

Close, but what he did is change his name to force the studio into using that instead of his popular name. The point was, they disagreed over the contract, but the studio had the fine print on their side, so he spent about 7 years working against his own marketing, losing money to keep them from earning it off of him, while still complying with the terms so he could eventually pass out the other side and move on.

Some stores weren't able to print the symbol for a few years; they didn't have the font. His music was not even available in many places for a significant time period, or was kept in the back of the store and only available on request.

Some of his early music was very influential, but what he did in fighting for his artistic self-determination is more impressive to me. Although, signing the contract you wanted is also important. The importance for artists is: no, the record company would never sign a "Jefferson Airplane contract" ever again in history. But the artist should also refuse to sign a "Prince contract" that gives them too much control.

Re:so let me get this straight

[rochrist]

Prince Rogers Nelson.

Re:so let me get this straight

[phayes]

I'll leave you Kanye / Bieber, coward. Enjoy, you coprophage.

Re:so let me get this straight

[Anonymous Coward]

That fact that the only "musicians" you are familiar with are Prince, Queen, The Eagles, Amy Winehouse, Kanye West and Justin Bieber speaks volumes. I stand by my original statement that your taste is shit with the further statement that the scope of your musical knowledge is also shit.

TMZ crash

[ItsJustAPseudonym]

"News of Prince's death Thursday briefly crashed the TMZ news site."

Every dark cloud has a silver lining.

Re: TMZ crash

[chill]

In other tragic news, Kanye West had been found alive in his apartment.

Re: TMZ crash

[suupaabaka]

Now I'm sitting here waiting for Kanye's (undoubtedly controversial) opinion on Prince plastered across every site on the internet.

Re: TMZ crash

[MightyMartian]

Doubtless, that no-talent hack will go on at length about how he's ten times more talented than Prince.

I can't say I liked everything Prince did, though I was of an age when Purple Rain was one of the seminal records of my generation, but one thing I'll say about him, that I would say about David Bowie as well, is that he didn't really give a damn about genres or musical forms, and even if some of his experiments were failures, you know it was a damned daring person who refused to be typecast and shoved into a box.

Re: TMZ crash

[roman_mir]

you know it was a damned daring person who refused to be typecast and shoved into a box.

- but the box always wins at the end. Too soon?

Re: TMZ crash

[Anonymous Coward]

The Box is pretty awesome.

Re:TMZ crash

[gijoel]

So some good came out of his death.

Re: TMZ crash

[serviscope_minor]

but the box always wins at the end. Too soon?

Not sure if joke or dark reflection of the ultimate futility of life.

Re: TMZ crash

[OakDragon]

The Box is pretty awesome.

But The Box was not well received.

Re: TMZ crash

[OakDragon]

And you're already modded way up, but that was funny, and sad, and profound.

Re: TMZ crash

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh my, literal LOL to that, thank you.

The world's got a bomb

[thinkwaitfast]

We could all die any day.

Growing up in the 70's and 80's....

Re:The world's got a bomb

[hguorbray]

It's time for a new direction, It's time for jazz to die, Fourth day of November, We need a purple high

Don't give up, I'll still love you

What ya lookin' at, punk?
Look out all you hippies, you ain't as sharp as me
It ain't about the trippin', but the sexuality, turn it up

You can dance if you want to

All the critics love you in New York
All the critics love you in New York
(Yes, we're certain of it, he's definitely masturbating)

All the critics love you in New York
Take a bath, hippies

Read more: Prince - All The Critics Love U In New York Lyrics | MetroLyrics

News for nerds PLEASE!

[Anonymous Coward]

Dear Slashdot,

A story about the death of Prince is not remotely on topic for what slashdot used to be about. No, it doesn't matter that he was musician number 105 to dislike the Internet. The word Internet does NOT make a topic relevant for slashdot in 2016. Maybe in 1995 it was news if something happened with regard to the Internet, but not today.

Could you please try to post stories about science or technology again. And real stories, not something at such a low level that tabloid magazines might post the same story.

Thanks in advance!

Re:News for nerds PLEASE!

[xevioso]

Dear idiot,

It is very difficult to find songs on Youtube to listen to to remember Prince's works by, at the moment, because Prince himself made it difficult. He was not just any musician who had problems with how the internet affected his music, but perhaps the primary one. This site is a site for news for nerds, and Princes death is relevant to those of us who use the internet for music.

Re:News for nerds PLEASE!

[whipslash]

Cool story AC. Scroll on by.

Re:News for nerds PLEASE!

[Ol Olsoc]

Dear Slashdot,

A story about the death of Prince is not remotely on topic for what slashdot used to be about. No, it doesn't matter that he was musician number 105 to dislike the Internet. The word Internet does NOT make a topic relevant for slashdot in 2016. Maybe in 1995 it was news if something happened with regard to the Internet, but not today.

Could you please try to post stories about science or technology again. And real stories, not something at such a low level that tabloid magazines might post the same story.

Thanks in advance!

And yet le allow you anonymous Cowards to post good morning from the golden girls, ATK your mother and your homoerotic fantasies.

So as a tradeoff, I'll take Prince news any day, and a whole lot less ouf your crybabying about what should or should not be on Slashdot.

Which in my opinion is you. You're irrelevant.

Re:News for nerds PLEASE!

[MightyMartian]

Indeed. His war on the Internet makes him the peculiar counterpoint to a man who died a few months ago; David Bowie. Both incredibly talented men, genre-busting artists, but one recognized the Internet for what it was and embraced it, and the other only saw it as a den of thieves and waged war against it.

Re:News for nerds PLEASE!

[drinkypoo]

And both end up in the same state, and take just as much of their profits with them to the grave.

Re:News for nerds PLEASE!

[Anonymous Coward]

When a performer passes away I always seem to end up on YouTube listening to a few of their songs. I didn't even bother trying today because I knew it was unlikely I'd find anything.

Re:News for nerds PLEASE!

[Imrik]

I'd say they both recognized the Internet for what it is.

Re: News for nerds PLEASE!

[pope1]

If I had mod points... very well said!

Re:News for nerds PLEASE!

[Anonymous Coward]

I'd never thought much about Prince and wouldn't you know while stumbling around YouTube I found a very impressive all-star performance of 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps'. His solo starts around 3:30...

Re:News for nerds PLEASE!

[Stinky Cheese Man]

++1.0E+6

4-21

[Anonymous Coward]

RIP Prince. Phenomenally original were you

Drugs

[110010001000]

But don't worry kids: drugs are cool. Its just a matter of personal choice right? You can quit anytime, right? Don't need no gubmint telling ME what to do!

Re:Drugs

[Anonymous Coward]

Drugs killed him? Going to need a citation on that one. He had been a devout Jehovah's Witness since the early 2000's.

Re:Drugs

[110010001000]

LOL. You are kidding right? Yeah right, Prince didn't use drugs. WTF.

Re:Drugs

[Anonymous Coward]

I guess he'd been sick for quite awhile according to recent obits. Had to give up playing the guitar because of weakness. So I guessing either cancer or aids.

Re:Drugs

[MightyMartian]

The rumors floating around was that it must have had something to do with the flu he was suffering for the last week or two. He was pretty religious (a Jehovah's Witness, as ironic and odd as that may seem), so I have my doubts that he died of drugs. I'm wagering either a misdiagnosis of a more severe ailment, or a flu that went out of control (this can happen, and influenza still is a major killer).

Re:Drugs

[Anonymous Coward]

You don't spend "a week or two" suffering from the flu unless your immune system is junk. He probably had gay AIDS.

Re:Drugs

[amicusNYCL]

The guy had been sick for at least 2 weeks before he died. Drugs probably could have helped save him, actually.

Oh wait, you're not talking about those drugs though, right? You're talking about the things that the government says are bad for you, like weed. Not drugs like caffeine, aspirin, alcohol, penicillin, lipitor, nexium, plavix, abilify, prilosec, amoxicillin, viagra, zoloft, ambien, hydrocodone, oxycontin, you know the completely harmless non-addictive drugs. You're talking about things like plants and mushrooms, right?

I forget, are Bayer's Heroin and Merck's Morphine on the good or bad list these days? Whatever the government says, right?

Re:Drugs

[Anonymous Coward]

So you're saying you don't have a citation, then. Just randomly accusing a person who passed away of being a drug addict -- despite his being a devout member of a religion that takes a pretty dim view of drug use for the past 15 years -- to push your political agenda. Nice.

Re: Drugs

[Type44Q]

He was pretty religious (a Jehovah's Witness

Sounds like he had mad cow.

Re:Drugs

[Captain Splendid]

The man had far too high an opinion of himself to dilute himself like that. His main appetites were music and sex. I don't think he even drank.

Re:Drugs

[MightyMartian]

Is "gay AIDS" different than other kinds of AIDS?

Other things besides AIDS can kill the immune system, like leukemia, and with his JW beliefs, the whole blood transfusion angle could have taken him out.

Re:Drugs

[thinkwaitfast]

A college roommate's girlfriend died of the flu. She was a normal, healthy 20 year old until that point.

Re:Drugs

[Anonymous Coward]

Here ya go:

http://www.tmz.com/2016/04/21/prince-treated-drug-overdose-dead/

Re:Drugs

[Anonymous Coward]

http://www.tmz.com/2016/04/21/prince-treated-drug-overdose-dead/

Re:Drugs

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

I recently battled the flu for six weeks. I don't have AIDS, in fact I have a healthy immune system. Maybe you don't catch anything because your mother cleans the basement regularly.

Re:Drugs

[Anonymous Coward]

So you're saying you don't have a citation, then. Just randomly accusing a person who passed away of being a drug addict -- despite his being a devout member of a religion that takes a pretty dim view of drug use for the past 15 years -- to push your political agenda. Nice.

Moron. If you argued that the poster had no facts to base their opinion on... but wait, you argue (badly) that your opinion, for which you have no facts, is the truth. i.e. I believe Prince was a member of the Moron Church, therefore he wouldn't use "drugs". Bullshit!

• A. You don't know for a fact he died a practising Moron.
• B. You are a fool if you believe membership of any religion means you don't use drugs (legal or not).
• C. That you see a political agenda to any view that counters your own says little of the opinion you refute and speaks volumes of you.

Re:Drugs

[MightyMartian]

With some forms of influenza, a healthy immune system can backfire, as the infection can generate a cytokine storm. It is one of the leading theories of why pandemics so often kill off teenagers and young adults, the people you would think were most likely to fight off an infection.

Re:Drugs

[rochrist]

Moron.

Re:Drugs

[Anonymous Coward]

I certainly don't know that he died a practicing Jehovah's Witness, but I do know that he made an apparently serious conversion to Jehovah's Witnessism and made an equally serious overhaul of his life and habits at the time. Is it possible that he was secretly doing drugs the whole time? Sure, I guess. But why bother hiding it? It's not like anyone gives a shit if a rock star does drugs. Likewise, I realize that his being a Jehovah's Witness does not magically guarantee that he doesn't do drugs, but it would be a rather perplexing decision for a rock star in the midst of his career to suddenly join a very strict religion with no intent of taking it seriously. It's hardly a decision that made him more popular or benefited him in any obvious way.

Regarding the political agenda comment, I would invite you to take a close read of the OP's original remark:

But don't worry kids: drugs are cool. Its just a matter of personal choice right? You can quit anytime, right? Don't need no gubmint telling ME what to do!

Do you see it now? Here, let me make it extra clear:

Don't need no gubmint telling ME what to do!

The OP directly framed his post as an attack on drug legalization; that is why I accuse him of pushing a political agenda. Next time, instead of assuming the worst of a comment you read, perhaps you could try reading the entire quote tree to understand what is actually being discussed. Then perhaps you wouldn't embarrass yourself quite so badly.

Purple rain did him in

[Tablizer]

I warned him purple rain was not good for his health, but he ignored my advice.

Great, great artist

[amightywind]

Listening to Sign 'O the Times right now.

And still ...

[PPH]

... there is no hope of Slashdot ever handling the glyph for TAFKAP.

Re:And still ...

[spatley]

actually... there is a standard way of typing the glyph on a typewriter or in ASCII

O(+>

Horrible Music

[Quzak]

He was nothing but a talentless hack with a major identity crisis.

Re:Horrible Music

[PopeRatzo]

He was nothing but a talentless hack with a major identity crisis.

Eric Clapton was once asked how it felt to be the world's greatest guitarist. His response: "I don't know. Ask Prince."

If anything, Prince was the opposite of someone with a "major identity crisis". He knew exactly who he was and did not give one single fuck if you didn't like it. Watch his solo on While My Guitar Gently Weeps from his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and tell me if you think he looks like someone who has an identity crisis.

https://youtu.be/6SFNW5F8K9Y

He strolls onstage in the middle of the song, at about 3:25 in the video. And all the other rock stars on stage just give him room and watch with their mouths open. He ends his Citizen Kane of guitar solos by doing the guitar equivalent of a mic drop, except instead of dropping the guitar he sort of just flips it up to air and pimp-walks off the stage like he owns the motherfucker. My guess is the guitar ascended directly into heaven, because it knew it could never top that moment.

That my friends, is how a rock star makes an entrance and an exit.

Prince was the ultimate musical nerd. He not only could play every instrument on his records, but could do all of it better than most people who play those instruments. He was five foot goddamn four inches tall and still managed to be the Jesus of scoring hot babes.

Re: Horrible Music

[Type44Q]

...like he owns the motherfucker.

Right. Not at all like he had issues. ;)

Re:Horrible Music

[SpankiMonki]

Thanks for the link to that video. Never really got into Prince that much, and certainly did not recognize his talent with a guitar. Until now. That performance gave me chills.

Re: Horrible Music

[Bing Tsher E]

It's easy to chip away at the marble with your rubber chisel when you're posting anonymously on the Internet.

Re:Horrible Music

[SpankiMonki]

https://youtu.be/6SFNW5F8K9Y

Thanks for the link to that video. I never really got into Prince that much, and I certainly did not appreciate his talent with a guitar. Until now. That performance gave me chills.

Re:Horrible Music

[PopeRatzo]

Thanks for the link to that video. Never really got into Prince that much, and certainly did not recognize his talent with a guitar. Until now. That performance gave me chills.

You might also want to look at his live performance at the 2007 Super Bowl. That was the last one, by the way, that did not use any pre-recorded tracks.

As Prince like to say, "When I go on stage, my mike is ON. I'm live, not memorex."

Re:Horrible Music

[djlowe]

You can say many things about Prince, but "talentless hack" isn't among them.

I think that his fame came more from singing and songwriting, but Prince was greatly underappreciated as a guitarist.

Proof: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SFNW5F8K9Y

His solo starts at about 3:26. I recommend watching it from the beginning, because it's a wonderful tribute.

His solo is exquisite, in my opinion, at times at the forefront, extending, expanding upon the lyrics and melody while never overwhelming either, and at times also complementing them, moving back and forth until the end.

No showboating, I think, but verve, gusto, pure enjoyment and musicianship. He was asked there to play, and to solo, and he did both masterfully.

Watch/listen it in its entirety, once. Then just listen to it.

As you watch it, note that Prince is not only soloing GREAT, playing well, he's also engaged with the other musicians. He knows the song, knows that he's playing with some of the best musicians in the rock world and is aware of all of that as he plays.

And you can TELL that he's having a blast being there. He's playing his best, and I think that the others in the band recognize it.

As you just listen, note how well what he plays fits, both solo and together with the rest of the band. Clean, complex, precise, not a missed note, nor a note played that doesn't fit the song overall in some way.

At one point he just vanishes, merges back into the song with the band and then emerges again.

Wonderful!

All that being said, I was never a huge Prince fan over the years, but that video gave me a new appreciation of him, when I first watched it, years ago.

As to whether or not his death deserves to be of note on Slashdot? The most relevant justification would be Prince's stance on digital copyright, and I don't care to discuss that.

I made the mistake of doing that in general here, years ago, and I shan't revisit that here ever again.

All that being said: Say what you will of Prince, but don't ever say he was a "talentless hack".

Regards,

dj

Re:Horrible Music

[Anonymous Coward]

Eric Clapton was once asked how it felt to be the world's greatest guitarist. His response: "I don't know. Ask Prince."

Lol! Sure.

[Citation very badly needed]

Re: Horrible Music

[Type44Q]

Who're you calling anonymous?

Re:Horrible Music

[PopeRatzo]

[Citation very badly needed]

http://www.newser.com/story/22...

http://whnt.com/2016/04/21/cel...

http://www.slate.com/blogs/bro...

Re:Horrible Music

[Anonymous Coward]

Do you know what a citation is, dipshit? It names the source, it doesn't just repeat hearsay.

Re:Horrible Music

[spoot]

Well I'll tag in. I never much cared for his records/songs, but the guy was a talented player. The alleged Clapton quote is interesting. The link to the youtube vid with "While My Guitar" is pretty cool. He knew his way around the fretboard. It's pretty damn good. But he does fall into flash a bit much, running through hyper fast scales and that Eddy Van Halen tapping crap. I know they are dead, but "best guitarist in the world" title would have to fall to Rory Buchanan (in the modern rock style), Charlie Christian, Wes Montgomery, Doc Watson... Prince, don't think so. If Clapton said that, me thinks he was just being a snarky twit to the interviewer.

Re:Horrible Music

[Anonymous Coward]

He actually did miss a few notes, probably because he was too concerned with what he was seen mucking with his guitar compared to playing it. In other respects he isn't too different from other electric guitar players I've heard, a bit flat perhaps and nothing special. There are also one or two moments where he shows that he has made the mistake of thinking that notes / second and technical perfection equals art, a mistake many professional musicians make. On the whole, that solo was nothing special.

Re:Horrible Music

[zmooc]

I find the when my guitar gently weeps video quite awkward. Prince is on stage the whole time but he isn't in the shot until all of the sudden, he steps forward and the spotlight is pointed at him. Also, the contrast between the guitarist soloing in the first half of the song and Prince was too extreme, to the point of being embarrassing. Also, I think, apart from his own awesome work that isn't available on social media, his cover of Radiohead's Creep show of his skills much better:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

Re:Horrible Music

[Ash-Fox]

Note: I am not the grand parent.

Prince was the opposite of someone with a "major identity crisis".

For someone to come out as "The Artist Formerly Known as Prince", I'd say they had an identity crisis and I don't even know the man. Whether or not the identity crisis is self inflicted or not is irrelevant.

Watch his solo on While My Guitar Gently Weeps from his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and tell me if you think he looks like someone who has an identity crisis.

Looks like his video is blocked in my country, looks like he's got a licensing crisis too? Not that I can grasp how a performance could show someone doesn't have an identity crisis.

Prince was the ultimate musical nerd. He not only could play every instrument on his records, but could do all of it better than most people who play those instruments.

I've never heard any of his music, so I wouldn't even know if he was any good at it.

He was five foot goddamn four inches tall and still managed to be the Jesus of scoring hot babes.

I've never had a scoring problem before with "hot babes" or "hot guys" before, is that just an issue for rock stars?

Re:Horrible Music

[PopeRatzo]

Rory Buchanan (in the modern rock style), Charlie Christian, Wes Montgomery, Doc Watson

Those guys were dead at the time of the alleged quote. And of course, if you want to go across styles, you could list Jim Hall, Bill Frisell, John Abercrombie, and a few dozen young players like Julian Lage.

The "While My Guitar" performance was clearly meant to be a shredding display because of the iconic meaning the song has taken on (and because of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame venue). Also, it was a tribute to George Harrison.

While there are lots and lots of rock guitarists who can play as well or better than Prince, very few can manage to look as cool while doing it.

Re:Horrible Music

[Ogive17]

These statements always amaze me. Was it your only purpose to click on the article and leave a disparaging comment to a recently deceased entertainer?

Different strokes for different folks. Don't like his music? Scroll to the next story. I probably click on less than 1/4 of stories on /. because the rest do not interest me.

Re:Horrible Music

[PopeRatzo]

I've never heard any of his music, so I wouldn't even know if he was any good at it.

I'm curious, Is offering an opinion on things you don't know about something you often do?

"How do you like spaghetti?"

"I've never eaten it, but it sucks."

Re:Horrible Music

[phayes]

Thank you for that YouTube link, greatness indeed.

Prince was bored with being a pop star and was determined to push his and our boundaries. It didn't always make for the most popular songs and I find much of it not to my taste but when he wanted to be a pop star, boy oh boy, could he.

Re:Horrible Music

[Ash-Fox]

I've never heard any of his music, so I wouldn't even know if he was any good at it.

I'm curious, Is offering an opinion on things you don't know about something you often do?

I'm not sure what you mean?

I looked at the rest of the comment and saw established knowledge like:

The Artist Formerly Known as Prince

Outside of that, the rest of my comment were questions that you failed to answer and instead ask a personal question, changing this thread into what seems to be an ad hominem attack. But, let's review the questions:

looks like he's got a licensing crisis too?

I've never had a scoring problem before with "hot babes" or "hot guys" before, is that just an issue for rock stars?

I guess they could be construed as opinions, but asking the question of licensing crisis regarding not being able to view one of his videos doesn't seem like it's unfounded. Then the next one referring to my personal experience with having fun with people that have nice bodies shows my opinion is based on personal experiences on the matter.

I would also add that since these were asked as part of open questions, it's quite clear I haven't simply decided to claim these opinions as very solid ones either.

Sorry, but I just don't really see what you're referring to. Perhaps you could clarify the opinion you're seeing I expressed on something that I had no knowledge about?

Re:Horrible Music

[sacrilicious]

I so wish the link you supplied lead to Rick Astley.

Re:Horrible Music

[Stinky Cheese Man]

> Watch his solo on While My Guitar Gently Weeps

Wow! I had never seen that before. Thanks for the link.

Re:Horrible Music

[Anonymous Coward]

Not to dish Prince for his work on that stage, but there where too many guitars on stage all competing for the same frequency band.
Most of what Price actually did you couldn't even hear because of that mess, not because he wanted to be in the background.

Re:Horrible Music

[rochrist]

Unlike yourself, who wouldn't recognize real music if it up and bit him on the ass.

Re:Horrible Music

[rochrist]

The name business was entirely due to a long running (years long) dispute with his record label and not due to any sort of identity crisis.

Re:Horrible Music

[rochrist]

Aren't you the tragic hipster?

Re:Horrible Music

[Ash-Fox]

The name business was entirely due to a long running (years long) dispute with his record label and not due to any sort of identity crisis.

crisis: a time of intense difficulty or danger.

I consider the impending threat of life changing legal issues and difficulties created by preventing him from using his own name in official capacities to be a crisis. Regardless if it's self inflicted or not. If you don't, I guess we have a difference on opinion on what a crisis is.

Re:Horrible Music

[Anonymous Coward]

There's no difference of opinion over the word "crisis" that I can see. It's just that you don't understand that the term identity crisis has a definition already.

Re:Horrible Music

[rochrist]

It may be a crisis, but it had nothing to do with his self-identity. It had everything to do with being screwed over by a record label. But, a troll is a troll i guess, so piss off.

Re:Horrible Music

[Talderas]

They called him before the performance and told him it was raining and if he was okay with that. He responded, "Can you make it rain harder?"

Re:Horrible Music

[Ash-Fox]

I never once brought up psychology, sorry.

Re:Horrible Music

[sjames]

I also appreciated that bit of humor where he had someone holding him and then pushing him back to the standing position when he leaned back.

Re:Horrible Music

[Anonymous Coward]

Yet you felt comfortable opining that "for someone to come out as 'The Artist Formerly Known as Prince', I'd say they had an identity crisis and I don't even know the man" without knowing what the term means?

Re:Horrible Music

[Ash-Fox]

identity: the fact of being who or what a person or thing is.
crisis: a time of intense difficulty or danger.

Re:Horrible Music

[Lotus456]

Reductionism doesn't work on technical jargon.

You might also want to look up the definition of "idiom." You can't assume you know what the phrase means, just because you know what the individual words mean.

Re:Horrible Music

[Ash-Fox]

The guy asked the question how I was confident in responding to that, I gave him my understanding of the words. Which really should have been sufficient to understand.

But, since you can't even understand that, I give up.

Re:Horrible Music

[Eloking]

Hello PopeRatzo,

Just a quick message to congrats you for this awesome tribute of Prince. This have to be one the my "Top10 Best /. comment of all time".

Never cared much about the guy since this very moment. This comment mixed with the video gave me the chills.

Re:Horrible Music

[PopeRatzo]

An update: I might have been mistaken. That video wasn't from Prince's induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It was actually during George Harrison's posthumous induction, I think. That's means they got together with Harrison's son Dhani and Harrison's bandmates in the Traveling Wilburys and put together a tribute to George Harrison, using one of the best songs for a rock guitarist to solo over, While My Guitar Gently Weeps (the chord progression and the turnaround are perfect for dramatic soloing).

When it was time to decide who to get to do the big solo part, these guys came up with Prince. That in itself is a hell of a tribute to him.

Re:Horrible Music

[Lotus456]

Does that mean you're done talking out of your ass? I highly doubt that. Being uninformed has never seemed an impediment to you expressing an opinion.

Re:Horrible Music

[Ash-Fox]

I apologize.

Crap

[rdelsambuco]

First celebrity death that made me shed a tear since Johnny Cash.

Re:Crap

[rdelsambuco]

No, I forgot about Bowie: it's like he's not dead.

Re:Crap

[PopeRatzo]

No, I forgot about Bowie: it's like he's not dead.

I know what you mean.

Re:Crap

[Anonymous Coward]

No, I forgot about Bowie: it's like he's not dead.

Sorry, Netcraft confirms: Bowie is dead.

Re:Crap

[Ash-Fox]

First celebrity death that made me shed a tear since Johnny Cash.

Why is that?

Numbers are bad?

[jdavidb]

Thanks, Prince, for helping to remind youth that being smart at math isn't cool.

Re:Numbers are bad?

[Bing Tsher E]

Uh... music is a form of applied mathematics.

If you didn't know that, get a clue.

Legendary

[Dunbal]

LEGENDARY? Vivaldi was legendary. Bach, Mozart were legendary. In 100 years no one will remember "Prince", but everyone will still remember the legends. Over-hyped and over-rated does not mean legendary.

Re:Legendary

[Anonymous Coward]

LEGENDARY? Barney Stinson was legendary. And only fags listen to Mozart. Bach is ok.

Re:Legendary

[Dunbal]

Barney Stinson

Who? QED

Re:Legendary

[Anonymous Coward]

QED? Only fags speak Latin and listen to Mozart. Bach is ok.

Re:Legendary

[rochrist]

I'll take that bet idiot.

Good riddance.

[Anonymous Coward]

Hopefully his estate will be comprised of people who aren't quite as unflagging luddites as he was. Quite frankly, the world needs fewer people who insist that they're an "ar-TISTE" and thus feel that they're so much beyond issuing their work via common digital distribution platforms for all of the poor, downtrodden proletariat.

I hate to say it, but I'm kind of glad he's dead, because now I might actually have a chance to listen to his works without having to literally drive down to the fucking record store (if there was one in my town) in order to buy a physical fucking copy.

Re:Good riddance.

[rochrist]

Fuck you, Coward. Sideways with a rusty chainsaw.

Kevin Smith

[Major Blud]

Check on Kevin Smith talking about his experience of working with Prince. Weird guy, but definitely left his mark.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

Re:Kevin Smith

[pz]

At one point in that awesome commentary, Kevin Smith talks about Prince's habitual making of songs and full-on videos that are not released but "put in the vault," as Smith describes what Prince's assistant told him. While Smith makes light of that odd behavior, it makes sense as a long-term strategy to make hay while the sun shines as the colloquial saying goes, assuming Prince was saving these gems for later release as his talent and abilities faded, as an insurance policy to pay for his extravagant lifestyle in his later years.

So, will we now see those compositions released? Did Prince leave instructions in his will?

Re:Kevin Smith

[Anonymous Coward]

I hope they will get released on rocksmith some day. I would love to learn to play his songs.

he was...and more....

[OutOnARock]

James Brown and Jimi Hendrix all rolled into one

Saw him live many times and it was always a kick ass show

Compared to the shit today, he truly was a musical genius

Re: he was...and more....

[Type44Q]

Compared to the shit today, he truly was a musical genius

Wow, that's high praise indeed. ;)

Re:he was...and more....

[Anonymous Coward]

"Compared to the shit today, [...]"

You're essentially calling all recent music shit, which makes me value your opinion less than if you hadn't written that.
So, first I read it was "always a kick ass show", and I believed you.
Then you called all modern music shit, and I started doubting that this shows were always kick ass.
Do you know what I mean?
Not all modern music is shit, there's so much out there and some of it is great, there are gems, including awesome artists.
Back in the day when you saw those shows, then too there was a lot of shit.
You're comparing one thing ("he was"; his kick ass shows) with a lot of stuff ("the shit today"; very general).
That's not a proper comparison.
It's like writing that a specific artist's show nowadays is much better than all the shit back in the day.
Same problem.

Re:he was...and more....

[Anonymous Coward]

No way. Prince wasn't fit to hand Hendrix his guitar. I wouldn't get up out of a warm puddle of Jimi's puke to listen to Prince.

re: need to know star rm pic

[steak]

now we'll never know.

RIP

[Khyber]

The artist formerly known as the artist formerly known as Prince is now known as "formerly alive."

Re:RIP

[cyberzephyr]

Totally messed up and disrespectful. :-9

Re:RIP

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh, you're new here.

Re:RIP

[U2xhc2hkb3QgU3Vja3M]

Do you mean he's new to Slashdot, or new to the Internet in general?

So over

[Anonymous Coward]

Prince is completely over

And now...

[l0n3s0m3phr34k]

Prince is in Rock 'n Roll Heaven, making pancakes for Rick James.

pressure

[Smiddi]

The record industry needs to take some of the responsibility for and how they treat and exploit artists (including Prince and so many other artists) who almost ALL eventually turn to drugs to deal with the pressure.

Re:pressure

[MightyMartian]

Indeed. It's sadly ironic to see how the music industry pretends to be the defender of artists, when its history is filled with usurious contracts, duplicity and out and out theft of royalties.

he looked well fed.

[Anonymous Coward]

An gursh he had such a perty mouf too. Plenty o' fans would bring him somtib to pacify his durple delight.

bloom cunty?

[Anonymous Coward]

It is a blatent doonsburry ripoff and bloom county apes miko and opusfrom beavis nbutthead terribry.

He had other complicated histories as well

[damn_registrars]

As far as I know he is the only artist who turned down Weird Al multiple times on requests to make parodies.

Whooaaa hold the fuck up cracker!

[Anonymous Coward]

As a card carrying member of the liberal media elite, I have to call bullshit. Before we get our panties all wet about what a great guy he was, let us first lay out some facts:

1) He DID NOT fully embrace the power and culture of hippy hop.
2) He pandered to the white crowd and played cracker pop music.
3) He lived in the crackertopia of Minnesota. This alone leaves me to suspect that perhaps he has some cracker blood in him. Hell he probably even knows how to swim.
4) A Real Nigger, is only allowed to engage in the activities of hustling, pimping, and creating rap music for the hippy hop culture. This guy did not fit into the role we in the liberal media have generously created for African Americans. This is unacceptable.
5) He was slightly built and not proportioned like a bull nigger. Again, I refer to point 3, and emphasize that he is probably not a true African American.

based on these facts, I feel we should spit on his grave, paint a big W on his forehead. Instead we should applaud the true disadvantaged african americans of the world (such a JayZ) instead of pandering to this hidden cracker.

Don't agree with me, you are a racist and probably an oreo.

Why this is news for nerds

[TarPitt]

http://www.latimes.com/enterta...

Quote:

"After the Trayvon Martin verdict I was talking to Prince and he said, 'You know, every time people see a young black man wearing a hoodie, they think, he's a thug. But if they see a young white guy wearing a hoodie they think, oh that might be Mark Zuckerberg. That might be a dot-com billionaire.'"

"I said, 'Well, yeah, Prince that's true but that's because of racism.' And he said, 'No, it's because we have not produced enough black Mark Zuckerbergs. That's on us. That's on us. To deal with what we're not doing to get our young people prepared to be a part of this new information economy.'"

Re:Why this is news for nerds

[Ash-Fox]

"After the Trayvon Martin verdict I was talking to Prince and he said, 'You know, every time people see a young black man wearing a hoodie, they think, he's a thug. But if they see a young white guy wearing a hoodie they think, oh that might be Mark Zuckerberg. That might be a dot-com billionaire.'"

When I see people in hoodies, I think 'chav'. Doesn't matter what skin color.

Re:Why this is news for nerds

[shutdown -p now]

When I see people in hoodies, I think "smart guy, dresses for the weather".

Then again, I live in Western Washington.

What about his name?

[antifoidulus]

Dude never even bothered to get his new "name" registered as a unicode symbol. Could have been the only musician with one :P

Can you hear the lazers?

[Anonymous Coward]

Let's dance like it's 1999!

Re:Can you hear the lazers?

[U2xhc2hkb3QgU3Vja3M]

Oh shit, we better warn people on Moonbase Alpha!

Reminds me of an old German ballad

[Opportunist]

Just like the king in that ballad who killed his troubadour and was cursed for it by being forgotten since no singer would sing his praise and remind later generations of his deeds, fearing that he will suffer the same fate as the hapless one who the king's wife laid eyes on, Prince will probably suffer the same fate for disallowing video pages on the internet to use his music.

Ask anyone younger than 25 who Prince is. Prince? Who, Prince William? Oh, Prince Albert. Yeah, I got one of those.

But music? What's Prince got to do with music? Never seen any of his videos.

Re:Reminds me of an old German ballad

[Ash-Fox]

I'm 31 and all I really know about the guy is that he continued doing music after getting out of a label deal and pretty much the online stuff mentioned in the article. I have never heard his music; but maybe that's because most of my life I didn't watch TV (or own one) or listen to broadcast radio. A lot of people seem to remember him fondly on the Internet for reasons unknown to me.

Re:Reminds me of an old German ballad

[Anonymous Coward]

Consider this:
    Nowadays the number of media contributors is millions of people- a day. PLENTY of amateur distractions posting cat videos, complaining about their life, or trying to do cool things- songs or magic tricks, whatever.

Prior to social media - youtube, etc. there were only a few media outlets: movies, TV, Newspapers/magazines/comics, and music that was professionally recorded & released. Prince came onto the scene THEN. So it's understandable that now folks are drawn away from quality performances to things like the kardashians, vine videos, and home-grown music & movies. As a purple singing, glamour dressed, basketball playing, drug taking, creative rockstar.... he would not stand out but rather just fit in. So it's sad to hear he could fade from memory but it almost makes sense. No one remembers things we take for granted now.

Re:Reminds me of an old German ballad

[Ash-Fox]

So it's understandable that now folks are drawn away from quality performances to things like the kardashians, vine videos, and home-grown music & movies.

I wouldn't put myself in that category of people that digest low quality content. I have magazine subscriptions online, I have Netflix, Sky Go, Amazon Prime Video, Qobuz etc. which pretty much seem to feature only professional content. I think it's more likely he didn't make music along the type of music I frequently listen to. Electronic, chip tune (particularly from demoscene work), classical, metal, heavy rock, OST type works by people like Bear McCreary or Hans Zimmer etc.

As a purple singing, glamour dressed, basketball playing, drug taking, creative rockstar.... he would not stand out but rather just fit in.

Maybe, but I don't really listen to any artists for anything but their music. I really can't think of an musician that sticks out in my head for other reasons, but it might be because I don't really investigate much about people I listen to.

However, I did hear of him through news articles, I just never heard his music. It's entirely possible that is his fault since I can't even find it for streaming on Qobuz and it seems the videos on youtube are low quality camera recordings which to me suggests that he or his publisher worked very hard to not have an online presence. That could be the reason why I haven't heard his music and maybe the reason many others haven't.

May he rest in peace. :-(

[cyberzephyr]

http://www.rollingstone.com/

http://www.rollingstone.com/mu...

http://www.rollingstone.com/mu...

This sucks

[mlwmohawk]

I'll have to listen to talk radio for a week or two until they stop playing Prince songs constantly. Prince is OK, but if I hear "Purple Rain" one more time I'll lose it.

Re:This sucks

[The-Ixian]

I tend to agree with you.

I never really got the appeal of Prince's music. I certainly appreciate his talent and there are some real devotees, especially here in Minneapolis, but his music was never my cup of tea.

Rest in peace sweet Prince.

Sad news, Stephen King dead at 70

[Anonymous Coward]

I just heard some sad news on talk radio - horror/fiction writer Stephen King was found dead in his Maine home this morning. There weren't any more details yet. I'm sure we'll all miss him, even if you weren't a fan of his work there's no denying his contribution to popular culture. Truly an American icon.