Prince Rodgers Nelson has passed away and it sucks. In the face of losing a beloved artist, the most immediate way of processing grief is to a. blast their music and b. collectively reflect on the memorable moments that made us love them in the first place. With the Purple One, there's a plethora of classic moments to choose from that highlighted not only his greatness, but his iconic status. In the immediate aftermath of the news, we here at Complex got together to talk about some of our favorite Prince moments. Picking one per person was nearly impossible.
Prince Rodgers Nelson has passed away and it sucks. In the face of losing a beloved artist, the most immediate way of processing grief is to a. blast their music and b. collectively reflect on the memorable moments that made us love them in the first place. With the Purple One, there's a plethora of classic moments to choose from that highlighted not only his greatness, but his iconic status. In the immediate aftermath of the news, we here at Complex got together to talk about some of our favorite Prince moments. Picking one per person was nearly impossible.
Super Bowl Halftime Show (2007)
Prince was the freest soul in pop culture. When the NFL called him to tell him it was pouring, his response was, "Can you make it rain harder?" He was unstoppable. —Ramy Zabarah, NTRSCTN community manager
"Batdance" (1989)
A truly iconic moment in both film and music. —Zach Frydenlund, assistant news editor
Performing with Beyoncé at the Grammys (2004)
Performing with Beyonce at the Grammy's, 2003. Instant classic that spawned a recurring SNL skit.—Steve Dool, Deputy Editor
Madison Square Garden (1988)
MTV VMAs (1991)
"1991 VMAs. That yellow 'fit. Ass shots galore."—Shante Cosme and Catie Keck, Editor-in-Chief NTRSCTN; Assistant News Editor
"Darling Nikki"
"Breakfast Can Wait"
Grammys 2015
His perfect side eye from the 2015 Grammys.—Kerensa Cadenas, Deputy Editor
When Prince was the proto-Khaled
"THIS!"—Brandon Thomas, Director of Talent Relations
Kevin Smith recalls his Prince encounters.
Favorite part: "And she was just, like, 'Well, Prince has been living in ‘Prince-World’ for quite some time now… so, Prince will come to us periodically and say things like, ‘It’s three in the morning in Minnesota. I really need a camel. Go get it.’ And then we try to explain to Prince things like, ‘Prince, it’s three o’clock in the morning in Minnesota. It’s January. And you want a camel. That is not physically – or psychologically – possible.’ And Prince says, ‘Why?’” —Ben Shapiro, Director of Content Operations
"I Wanna Be Your Lover" on American Bandstand
"How many instruments can you play?"
"Hmmm. Thousands." Best Prince interviw ever. —Jack Erwin, VP of Content Operations
Prince hoopin'
I will always remember Prince for his constant shade throwing, the time he wrote slave on his face, the numerous rumors about his sexcapades, his cover of Radiohead’s “Creep,” the time he outswagged Michael and James, the mystery and the allure that was his musical career, and so much more.
I remember coming across this video of Toure talking about the time he played basketball with Prince. Toure emailed him some questions for a piece he was working on and in the last one he asked Prince when he would play basketball with him to which Prince replied: “Anytime.” Toure goes on for about 10 minutes about how Prince has a hoop at Paisley Park and always had a pair Nike Air Force 1s on deck. This interview confirmed Charlie Murphy's story for me and I’ll always regret not being able to talk in depth with Prince about his love for basketball. —Angel Diaz, Staff Writer
Live at the Civic Arena (2004)
In 2004, I saw Prince in Pittsburgh, at the Civic Arena with my dad. Prince performed "Sweet Thing" by his friend Chaka Khan and did an amazing rendition of "Shhh." What I remember best is that he wore clear plastic heels with blinking red lights embedded in the spikes and my dad, who was born during World War II and enlisted in the Navy during the Vietnam war, thought they were cool.—Ross Scarano, Deputy Editor