“Can I play this guitar?” Prince Rogers Nelson questioned, centre stage at the 2007 Super Bowl half time show – a rhetorical question if ever there was one, Prince could play guitar like no other. Framed in a purple glow he struck a chord that reverberated worldwide, whilst overhead the heavens opened, right on cue. That night Prince showered the earth in purple rain.

Yesterday the news nobody wanted to hear fed out of global news outlets. Prince was pronounced dead at the age of 57.

There is a select group of artists who can be credited with defining a sound, an aesthetic, an era and an entirely individual way of approaching art. Undoubtably, Prince was one of these visionaries. A pioneer in the truest sense of the word, his influence stretched wide and took numerous forms; from his 1984 quasi-autobiographical film Purple Rain, to his inimitable genre-blending musical back catalogue. The common thread? An unwillingness to conform to the norm.

Away from his musical and cinematic output, Prince was also a principled activist, and cultural provocateur, toying with societal dualities; masculine/feminine, black/white, straight/gay. Committed to his principles and his craft, he dared to take on the corporate music industry and took some of the first bold steps in releasing music over the Internet, a medium he later railed against. This ability to transcend mediums and revolutionise cultural epochs places Prince on a level unmatched by most; his name etched in purple marble, silver scepter in hand.

Unpredictable, mysterious and uncompromising to the very end (who else would change their name to an unpronounceable symbol?), the flair-cuffed boy from Minneapolis more than lived up to his regal title – you can leave your bunting at home, Prince represents the true meaning of royalty. 

“Dearly beloved
We are gathered here today
2 get through this thing called Life…”