The Minnesota government has been busy with Prince-related legislation. In May, a cleverly acronym-ed bill called the PRINCE Act (Personal Rights in Names Can Endure) sought to protect a deceased person’s name, image, voice, and signature for 50 years after their death. Deemed too rushed, it was ultimately put on hold, but it will return next year to uphold the proprietary rights Prince fought for his entire life. Today, though, Minnesota introduced a piece of legislation that faced no critique.
In honor of what would have been Prince’s 58th birthday, Governor Mark Dayton declared June 7 Prince Day, as Rolling Stone reports. Dayton lauded Prince as the creator of “The Minneapolis Sound,” a “contribution not only to the global catalogue of music genres, but to Minnesota’s worldwide prominence and its economic growth.” And truly, Prince is one of the few hometown heroes that opted to stay local rather than go to one of America’s cultural hotbeds. In doing so, he made Minneapolis a cultural hub of its own.
Tidal, the music streaming service to which Prince aligned just before his death, celebrated Prince’s birthday, too, by making 15 of his lesser known albums available for streaming. The updated library is now offering The Gold Experience, Crystal Ball, Chaos & Disorder, The Black Album, the One Nite Alone and Indigo Nightslive LPs, Prince’s Girl 6 soundtrack, and several others.
So on Prince’s birthday and on this newly declared Prince Day, let’s dig deep into his sound. Let’s also heed the last clause in Dayton’s proclamation that encourages Minnesotans, and, by extension, all Prince fans, to “wear purple on Prince Day in honor of The Purple One’s enduring legacy.” As a native Minnesotan, I vow to wear purple from this June 7 onward, and I hope you’ll all do the same.
Revisit our tribute to Prince below.
Image:Â deviantArt // TSOR1
