When news of Prince’s death was released yesterday, it was shocking.

Though I may not be the biggest Prince fan there is out there (hang on to your pitchforks for just a second), the fact that he passed away so suddenly and at the impossibly young age of 57 was a painful kick.

As I’ve stated many times before, I’m a HUGE fan of the music of David Bowie yet when his passing was announced, it was very sad but not terribly shocking.  There were rumors going around for a number of years as to Mr. Bowie’s health and his deterioration was obviously incremental enough that he had the ability to create and release one last, fabulous album as a way of saying goodbye.

The same cannot be said for Prince.

Again, I may not be the biggest Prince fan but  I’d have to be both blind and deaf not to acknowledge and appreciate his tremendous impact on the music scene as well as his skills as a musician.  Like many, my first exposure to him was with the album and movie Purple Rain.  I suppose that remains Prince’s single “biggest” success and the album featured such classics as Let’s Go Crazy, When Doves Cry, and of course Purple Rain.  He had other hit songs, including 1999, Kiss, and a personal favorite, Raspberry Beret.

Prince created a large amount of material and rumor has it there much stored away and awaiting an eventual release.  Perhaps with his passing some of this will finally see the light of day.

Prince was also the writer of this song…

Which was remade by Sinead O’Connor and became a huge hit…

In sum, Prince created great music and his death at such a young age is as shocking as it is senseless (I won’t go into the latest rumors regarding the cause…it will be determined soon enough).

RIP Prince.

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POSTSCRIPT:  In case you haven’t noticed, 2016 has been a brutal year regarding deaths in the music industry.  Michael Garafolo over at salon.com offers a listing of music icons lost so far this year…

2016 has been a tragic year for music: A look back at the icons we’ve lost, from Prince to Bowie