There aren’t that many celebrities that have an actual color that they can claim as their own. I mean, who gets to lay claim to something that’s a part of nature? Prince did, that’s who. And no one has disputed the fact that purple was His Royal Badness’ signature color for 35 years.
Not until now that it is. We’ve learned, via the folks at Vulture, the Prince’s sister Tyka Nelson claims that the Purple One’s favorite color wasn’t purple at all…it was orange. Wait, what??
Here’s what she had to say:
“The stand out piece [of his collection] for me is his orange Cloud guitar. It is strange because people always associate the color purple with Prince, but his favorite color was actually orange.â€
Ok. So I know Tyka was his sister, and is current executor of his estate (by the way, thank you Tyka, for finally allowing Prince’s classic videos on YouTube). BUT – as a longtime Prince fan since early childhood, I call shenanigans on this claim. From his iconic videos for “1999” and “Little Red Corvette“, both of which helped make Prince a household name, he was sporting purple from head to toe. On the song “D.M.S.R” from 1999, he ever so sexily commands the listener to “take a bite of my purple rock.” Prince even recently got his very own shade of purple!
And then, of course, there’s Purple Rain, his signature album and song. You kind of can’t overlook that one.
On top of all that, Prince’s Paisley Park home in Minneapolis was lit with purple lighting, the man had a fleet of purple limos, and he once changed the fountain colors from a mansion he rented from blue to purple. Yes, Prince wore other colors too, including orange. And the best outfit he ever wore was the bright blue one with little fluffy clouds all over it from “Raspberry Beret.” But I think when Pantone decided to name a shade of purple after Prince, they made the right call.
How do you feel about referring to Prince as ‘the Orange One” from now on? Does it feel as wrong to you as it does to us? Be sure to chime in with your thoughts down below in the comments.
Images: Warner Brothers
