This is Prince’s best recorded performance, the best halftime show in Super Bowl history, and the fondest way to remember his art.
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With the impressive selection of songs Prince has done in the past three decades, it was understandable that he couldn’t get every single one of his hits into the approximately 85 minute set. His 1984 film “Purple Rain” is widely considered one of the best and most influential music films, while its accompanying soundtrack won an Oscar and spawned the No. 1 hits “Let’s Go Crazy” and “When Doves Cry”. He later played that venue on April 14, but his plane had to make an emergency landing following the show for undisclosed reasons.
There had been a lot of speculation that Prince was in bad health after he canceled a tour date in Georgia because he wasn’t feeling well, according to The Atlanta-Journal Constitution. The NFL put together a really good video package about why the rain should be a challenge to an artist, but wasn’t to Prince.
President Barack Obama, for whom Prince was a White House guest past year, said he and his wife “joined millions of fans from around the world” in mourning Prince’s sudden death. “From the beginning, Prince and his music were androgynous, sly, sexy and provocative”. Always a private person, I heard Rev. Al Sharpton discuss how Prince was financially supportive of civil rights issues of the black community, but never wanted to receive credit for his generosity. “People will want to sing these songs and just gather”.
Sarjeant said working with Prince was a “thrill”. Prince’s publicist confirmed his death to the Associated Press. While Prince crossed genres from funk and soul to pop, here he was pure rock and roll. Literally. Who else but the rocker who made Purple Rain an anthem could have called on the heavens to unleash a torrential downpour for a special effect?
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Sports editor Matt Vita contribute to this report from NY.
