The music industry has suffered many iconic blows lately, with the loss of Merle Haggard, David Bowie, Glenn Frey and many, many more! Now comes word that Prince passed away earlier this morning (April 21st, 2016). Many of today’s country artists loved his music and some were even maybe influenced by him.
Prince’s body was discovered early Thursday morning at his Paisley Park complex located in Minnesota. The “1999” and “Little Red Corvette” singer sold more than 100 million records during his career and won an Academy Award for Best Original Song Score for Purple Rain in 1985.
Keith Urban was one of the first artists to hit up social media with his comments. “Just heard about Prince ….can’t believe it …….” – KU (NOTE: Soundbite included below)
Charles Kelley – “can’t believe we lost Prince. another music legend has left us.”
Darius Rucker often performs “Purple Rain” during his concerts. He says, “Once again Heaven’s band just got even more incredible. One of my absolute idols #Prince. Thank u for showing me what true GREATNESS is!!”
Kip Moore – “Sad I never saw him live…what an incredible talent. RIP Prince”
Shania Twain — “Sad beyond words that Prince is gone. To me he was one of the greatest music heroes – a true genius. There will never be another Prince.”
Lauren Alaina – “So bummed to hear about Prince. His legacy will live on forever. RIP”
Mickey Guyton “RIP to a legend. #Prince”
Canaan Smith – “We’ve lost a true rock legend today. Rest in peace #Prince”
Audio / Keith Urban talks about Prince, who passed away on Thursday (April 21st).
DownloadKeith Urban (Prince) OC: …records? Omigod! :46
“The very first time I saw him was on MTV, you know? ‘1999,’ I guess was the song and video. That period you saw so many artists come and go, one hit wonder sort of thing, but there was something immediate about that track and about him and the way he performed. It was no surprise that that was going to be something of legend. That catalog of his is just mind-blowing. You kind of have to ask guitar players about Prince, because most people don’t seem to know [about his guitar playing], but every guitarist I’ve ever talked to knows he was a monster on guitar. Certainly when you went and saw him live, you’re just like, ‘Omigod! That’s you! You played on the records? Omigod!’
Audio / Lady Antebellum’s Hillary Scott shares her reaction to the passing of the legendary Prince.
DownloadHillary Scott (Prince) OC: ….too many this year. 1:14
“He’s in a genre all his own. He’s a genre all his own. And we used to cover that song in our shows. One of my most vivid memories with his music was when we were on tour– it was the Own The Night tour with Darius Rucker and he had closed his set every night with ‘Purple Rain.’ And this kind of a light-hearted moment — one of the last shows of the tour — Charles went out dressed as Prince. So, obviously Prince being much smaller in stature than Charles (he’s 6’6”), it was just one of the most light-hearted, sweet, funny, hilarious moments. But I say all that to say, I don’t know, really. There’s no one comparable to him. He’s his own. He’s a symbol for crying out loud for quite a few many years in his career. And he’s — that’s just a really, really sad loss to hear about. I mean so many people, even to this day right now in a room or on this block somewhere, are trying to emulate what he does; what he did. But thankfully, we have a lot of really incredible music that we will never have to not have.”
