Prince

Prince

22 April 2016

Reluctant as I am to add to the social media overload, I will say that in 1990 I was living in London and was so very lucky to see Prince ignite Wembley Arena on his Nude Tour. His set list for the more stripped down (“nude”) shows was driven by his greatest hits which, 26 years ago, were already plenty. I was ecstatic when he chose to perform “Nothing Compares To U” on that night, along with “1999”, “Kiss” and so many others. Some months later, in the same year, I saw Sinead O’Connor perform her exquisite version of “Nothing Compares To U” at the Royal Albert Hall. What a privilege to have twice witnessed the fruits of songwriting at its most sublime. Prince refused easy classification and remained an enigma on one of the few truly artistic musical journeys of the past 35 years. In his songwriting and live performances, he never ceased in his search for transcendence, which is surely the goal of all music.