By now unless you have been living under a rock, you know that the world recently lost one of the few musical geniuses it had left with the passing of Prince Rogers Nelson. And whether you like it or not, you are hearing rumor after rumor about the savant regarding his life, his health, his alleged love children, recreational activities and the list goes on and on. Well meaning or distraught “friends” seem to keep finding their way to the mics in the shadows to speak on Prince in one way shape or form.
However, there is one thing that is breaking my heart about all of the gabbing that his alleged “most trusted affiliates” are doing and it’s this; Prince would hate every last second of everything that is going on. What’s worse is that everyone including his family, friends and the media know it. It feels as if our sadness is being exploited by people who care more about clicks and views than they do about this great man’s legacy or our obliterated musical souls and it’s not fair.
So, I ask in the name of “Pop Life” and all that is righteous within the world, what is wrong with us that we are so eager to watch his name and legacy be thrown under the bus all for a morbid moment of unnecessary voyeurism into the life of a man who intentionally kept us all out of his business? After all that he gave to us and to the various soundtracks of our lives, why can’t we honor him by minding our own dog gone beeswax as it pertains to those topics that he would have considered so completely invasive and taboo?
I have been sitting blankly in front of this computer screen for days now…trying to find the words to express my feelings about the loss of a man that meant so very much to me throughout my lifetime. While, co-workers and colleagues were posting such beautiful tributes and testimonials of a life so well lived, I was stressed out and eating chips by the handful wondering why in the world I could not find the words to memorialize this gentleman who I truly “adored” growing up. It was maddening and a bit disconcerting to boot.
And then the tributes began to give way to salacious gossip and speculation about the purple crooner from people who I knew good and well had never even met Prince. This did not sit well in my spirit y’all. Nothing about this felt right. For a man who was so free to walk this planet as he wished, there was still that element of secrecy that made him seem almost mythical to us. But that mystique should have been aloud to linger on until the end of time.
So, how do we get to weigh in on what he did or did not think, say or do if we’ve never met him and the circle he kept counsel with was small? He trusted so few and if we can’t see anything else we should be able to see he was justified in doing so. These people that are telling us of his personal affairs were obviously not those he trusted with the real 411. Those who were truly in the know, are people who are allowing him the dignity and respect of keeping his private affairs private.
They share things that we didn’t get to know such as Prince had a wonderful sense of humor or that he was big on philanthropy without the notoriety or fanfare that many celebrities insist upon when they help out or donate to a good cause. That type of testimony brought instant tears to us all. Take a look below at a video of Van Jones speaking Prince’s praises to see what I mean.
We should remember him though this touching tribute by one of the last national musical treasures that we have left Mr. Stevie Wonder. Take a look.
My point guys is simple, if you loved him then honor him in this way…celebrate him as the artist that he worked so freakin hard to be. Honor the persona Prince and all of it’s purple majesty without being so disrespectful to the person Mr. Nelson who never invited you into his personal life or business. If you loved him, then give him that respect that we all know he would have appreciated. We can mourn him without being cheap about it. He was famous for his artistry but it stopped there. He wasn’t a Kardashian parked in front of the cameras and begging for us to look at him. We looked at him because it was impossible not to.
I know as fans we feel entitled but as fans of Prince specifically…we must know that we aren’t. We are not owed even one detail about his passing that he would not have wanted shared with us. Because in the end it won’t fix what’s wrong anyway. He’s gone and this will not bring him back or get us any closer to closure. We’re hurting at the loss and as he said, “The beautiful ones you always seem to lose.”
To conclude, I want to directly address those who are speculating, gossiping and flat out lying about this man which is taking the focus away from his genius and placing the focus where it does not belong…in two words and in his own words…”Damn You!”