The Editors of TIME - TIME Prince: An Artist’s Life, 1958–2016

TIME

Prince

An Artists Life
19582016

Tributes

Prince inspired all, but musicians grasped his true breadth

Sheila E. was a precocious percussionist when she met Prince (here in 1986). He hired her for his band, produced her Glamorous Life album and once asked her to marry him onstage. (She said yes, but they never followed through.)

Until We Meet Again

By Sheila E.

LIFE IS SO MIRACULOUS IN ITS way of meandering and weaving through the shadows of light and darkness. As we drift along the waves of time, hoping to remain safe and secure, inevitably we will find there are times such as these that cause us to question that which we had rested our certainty on.

These past days, which will soon be weeks, months and years, will be full of what-ifs, whys and what-could-have-beens. In days of weakness or sorrow, I know I will find myself drifting, hoping to land upon a reasoning of something I once knew and was certain of.

I met Prince when I was a girl who had dreams of the impossible, when he was a boy who was bold, brash and incredible. We became friends, and more than we knew we would ever be, to each other and to the world. We drifted together, apart and forever in a sea of sound and energy that I had never known existed until discovered through the boldness and brashness of the music and a man I came to love, admire and respect.

We, all of us who worked, played and created with this Prince, often experienced a certainty that, for a moment or forever, together, we had achieved the impossible and landed upon a foundation that would be everlastingif not in reality, definitely in our memories.

And I guess thats where I will drift for some time, in and out of memories, good and bad, bold and brash. Memories of what we, all of us, once were and forever will be, to the world and each other.

Rest well, my friend, until we meet again.

Sheila E.

He Broke Down All Barriers

By Lenny Kravitz

WHEN I FIRST TRIED TO get a record deal as a teenager, I was told, You cant do this. Youre not black enough. Youre not white enough. You cant play rock and rollblack people play R&B.

Prince changed all that. He broke down all the barriers of what a black artist was supposed to be. The music was revolutionary. Just by being himselfthrough his music, his fashion, his attitude, his unique soundhe showed me where I could go. It expanded my vision. It opened the field for me.

My first memory of Princes music was the song I Wanna Be Your Lover. I dug the songI loved the way it soundedbut I didnt know who he was yet. But a year later, there was this song called Head. I dont know how much it was on the radio at the time, but at house parties, all the kids in the hood would be dancingit was a huge, huge hit in the streets. I went and got the album, Dirty Mind , and it was revolutionary to me. The next record, Controversy , blew my mind too. It was more synth-oriented than Dirty Mind , which was this slim, punky record. And then, of course, there was 1999 , which was such an adventure. Then Purple Rain . That run was so important.

Over the years, we forged a friendship, playing music together and traveling together. He would come to my shows and stand at the side of the stage unannounced, and then he would come on and do an encore with me. I would do the same thing at his shows. Sometimes I sang background on his records that was never credited. We did it just for fun. I think he also liked being mysterious, of course.

I always looked forward to going to Paisley Park when I played Minneapolis, especiallyknowing he would show up to the gig and then Id go back to Paisley Park and jam. It was a release from the everyday grind of being on tour. It was a place you knew youd be accepted, where musicians would gather together as brothers and sisters, and it was always an artistic occasion.

I remember everything I did with Prince. No memory outshadows any other. But one of our more intimate moments was a night he took me down to his garage, where he had just gotten this purple Chrysler Prowler specially made for him that he wanted to show me. I thought we were going for a ride. But we ended up just sitting there for an hour and a halftalking about God, talking about religion, talking about philosophy. There was nobody else aroundjust the two of us in an empty garage, sitting still. And I knew he was speaking to me because he cared.

Princes legacy is that of a true creative geniusof a person who poured out more creativity than maybe anybody else. He was a vesselan instrument himself. I think thats something we all strive for, for our God-given gift to be used in the most fulfilling and pure way. He kept his integrity until the end. He did what he wanted, how he wanted, whether the fans went with him or didnt. Even if it was challenging, even if he went out and didnt play the hits. Whatever he did, he did it because he felt itbecause he believed in it. Hes right there with Mozart, Miles Davis, Jimi Hendrix. Hes right there with the best that ever lived.

His Immaculate Rhythm

By Seal

I CAN RECALL SO CLEARLY THE night I met Prince. I was at a studio in Los Angeles, and he was recording there too, and I saw him walking down the corridor. He had gone out without his bodyguardI guess he knew I would follow him. He was a master at manipulating a situation.

So I ran down after him, and it was just Prince and I, standing out on the street, and I told him how much of a fan I was and how much he changed my life. He was very cool. He said, Oh, thank you. He asked me what I was recording. He said he liked my song Crazy. And then, of course, about 10 minutes after we were talking, his bodyguard came rushing out, because he had just realized Prince was gone. Yeah, right. It was quite a big scene.

The last time I saw him was in the Netherlands, at a festival where we were both performing. The person I was with at the time had never seen him play before. I said to him, You gotta see this. Trust meyouve never seen anything like this in your life. After hes gone, when he stops doing this, it will never be repeated.

Backstage, we watched Prince walk out to a rapturous reception, and then we were exposed to two hours of sublime musical genius. Everything he didevery single movement, every gesture, every step that he took, from the time he left that dressing room and walked onto the stage, was in absolute, total immaculate rhythm. And the band was in total rhythm with him. Nobodys eyes left him. They were in perfect sync and perfect rhythm with everything. I have never seen anything like it, nor will I ever see anything like it again.

And then he looked over at me and said, You wanna sing Mountains? So I went out and sang with him. I probably screwed the whole thing up. Just to be on the same stage as himit was a dream that I will take with me to my grave.