Prince, music royalty gone too soon

The artist formerly known as Prince was Prince again, at the end of his life, which came too soon at age 57 Thursday morning at his home in Minneapolis.

His name was Prince Rogers Nelson, though he went by several during a career he created literally from nothing. His parents were musical in the city where he died, but it was through his own hard work – reportedly learning to play more than 20 instruments – that Prince the artist rose to fame. It wasn’t an easy rise, but once he was a star, he stayed on top for virtually his entire career, winning multiple Grammy Awards and even an Oscar for “Purple Rain.”

Was his eccentricity – the clothes, the mystery he created around himself, the dramatic concerts featuring moving stages and lights and sounds long before other artists used them – intentional? Only he knew, but this was known by all, as reflected in all of the adoring comments from other performers following his unexpected death: Prince was a master of showmanship, the consummate performer, one who could cause frenetic excitement in his fans.

That doesn’t come easy, and it most emphatically is a gift. Not many performers have it on his level – Elvis Presley, Prince’s friend Madonna, less than a handful of others. With each new album, and Prince sold more than 100 million of them, the music industry and his fans were stirred to rare levels of excitement. From that house in Minnesota, the product of genius was always, it seemed, in progress.

This story was originally published April 21, 2016 at 7:35 PM with the headline "Prince, music royalty gone too soon."