Four years ago today, the icon known as Prince left this mortal coil after an accidental fentanyl overdose, leaving countless grieving and despondent. Suffice it to say the late, great Purple One will forever live on in the minds of millions — and there’s a bevy of ways to commemorate his legacy, online.
Prince had a certain affinity for San Francisco. The musical prodigy behind songs like “Little Red Corvette” and “Purple Rain” commonly frequented Mr. Tipple's Recording Studio whenever he was in town, sipping on limoncellos while enjoying the club’s live performances. (The seven-time Grammy winner, too, was also an avid Warriors fan.) So it was only fitting that City Hall lit up purple — thanks a million like-colored heart emojis, Eve Batey — on the night of his passing in 2016.
Watch amazing performances by @st_vincent and more honoring @Prince on Let's Go Crazy: #GRAMMYSalutePrince TONIGHT at 9/8c on CBS & @CBSAllAccess. pic.twitter.com/3UYjJIjx7i
— CBS (@CBS) April 21, 2020
Even though we’re all now bound to our dwellings on what’s the fourth anniversary of Prince’s sudden death, there are still ways to honor the legend’s incredible life and work that spanned some four decades-long. Here are but a few, including two nods to SF.
Watch the Prince tribute concert tonight
To honor the global figure, recording artists like Common and the Foo Fighters came together and filmed a tribute concert featuring some of his most memorable music. "Let's Go Crazy: The GRAMMY Salute To Prince" is scheduled to air tonight at 6 p.m. PST on CBS and CBS All Access. Because these performances were recorded pre-pandemic, this won’t be an assortment of at-home webcam performances, but rather a collection of concert-quality videos; a welcomed treat to say the least.
Take a digital tour through his Paisley Park complex
Prior to the coronavirus shutting the country (and globe) down, VICE News got an up-close and personal tour of the legend’s private estate and production space. You can watch the six-minute video of their tour inside Prince’s cryptic citadel that was led by Dan Piepenbring, Prince’s co-author of the experimental biography The Beautiful Ones, below.
Read the story behind Prince’s autobiography… that turned into a memoir
Speaking of The Beautiful Ones, the ode to Prince’s lush life and career published in 2019, the book’s co-author Dan Peipenbring wrote an essay in The New Yorker on the unusual bond and working relationship he forged with the then-living legend in the months before his passing. If you’ve got say, fifteen minutes to delve into some reading — you won’t be disappointed by “The Book of Prince.”
Order vegetarian delights and stiff cocktails from Nopa and Mr. Tipple's Recording Studio
In February of 2016, just weeks before his earthly departure, Prince and his team went on a Bay Area odyssey. One stop along their route was high-brow Nopa, where the well-known vegetarian indulged in plant-based bites. While it’s unclear as to what he exactly dined on that evening, you can both pay homage to him and support a local eatery by placing an order for pick up from Nopa via ChowNow; opt for the grilled broccoli and their basil pesto kit to stay to-theme.
Thirsty? Mr. Tipple's Recording studio is currently taking to-go cocktail orders via Caviar. Let your eyes go wide while scanning their online menu.
Re-visit a purple San Francisco
SFist was the first to report on the purple aurora which illuminated much of San Francisco that evening in April. Not only did City Hall sport a purple palette that night, but as did much of the seven-by-seven. Case in point: Foreign Cinema paused a screening Japanese film I Wish to play Purple Rain on the patio, bathing it in plum and periwinkle. Take a digital walk down memory lane, here.
And, of course: stream the hell out of his discography on Spotify and Apple Music today.
Related: All The Things That Were Lit Up Purple Last Night
San Francisco Fans React To Sudden, Inconceivable Death Of Prince
Image: Darwin Bell