I remember it like it was yesterday. I was driving to Baltimore, MD, where I was scheduled to give remarks at a colleagues’ retirement party at Johns Hopkins University where he had taught for many years. My young sons and I were probably thirty minutes into the drive when the news came over the radio that Prince was found dead in a lift at his suburban compound Chanhassen home, which was more like a compound.
When I heard the DJ say, “he played 25 instruments” I immediately knew about whom the speaker was referencing. However, I was not prepared for what he said next: “dead at the young age of 57.” That was the morning of Thursday, April 21, 2016. Stunned by the news I pulled into the nearest rest stop where I sat for what may have seemed like an hour to my kids but was only fifteen to twenty minutes listening to one station after another pay homage to one of the most talented musicians of the twentieth century.
The other day, knowing that the tenth anniversary of Prince’s death was fast approaching, my oldest son inquired about the impending publication of my fifth and final Prince project. I responded that the book is scheduled for release in December at which point he asked if Prince had ever performed in Ohio. Not only had Prince performed in Ohio many times I answered, but he performed in Columbus on several occasions that I know of.
Prince’s first performance as part of the Controversy Tour was in late December 1981 at the Columbus Veterans Memorial Auditorium. Less than a year later just days before Thanksgiving he was back in town again performing at the same venue. That was the year and the album 1999 that put Prince on the map. According to people I have spoken to over the years his 1980s performances punctuated by his theatrics were something to behold.
In the ensuing years Prince continued to be a frequent guest in the Buckeye state, but sixteen years passed before he resurfaced in Columbus appearing at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in 1998; Nationwide Arena on June 21, 2001; and on March 5, 2002, when he performed for nearly three hours before a sold out audience at the Ohio Theatre. His last appearance in Columbus was on April 16, 2004, at the Value City Arena at the Schottenstein Center during the Musicology Tour. His performances in the 2000s left some of his fans with mixed feelings, especially his 2002 performance that featured a lot of new material when some of his fans would have preferred the hits for which he was famous.
Although Prince is known the world over for his musicianship his generosity is seldom noted. For example, among the well-known artists for whom he wrote and cowrote songs are Sheila E., The Bangles, Steve Nicks, Madonna, Sheena Easton, Patti Labelle, Kenny Rogers, Tevin Campbell, and of course, Morris Day and the Time as well as Vanity 6, a group he created.
In Prince’s later years he was introduced to a younger generation with his Super Bowl halftime show where he performed in the rain in Miami and his memorable guitar solo to the Beatles 1968 song While My Guitar Gently Weeps while on stage with Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne, Steve Winwood and Dhani Harrison at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony held at the Waldorf Astoria in New York. Prince ended the solo by tossing his guitar in the air and walking off stage. Some claim that Prince’s exhilarating performance was in response to Rolling Stone writers who inexplicably left his name off their 2004 list of the “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.” Whatever the motivation Prince’s performance is lauded as being among the greatest guitar solos in modern history.
There is no way to know if Columbus held a special place in Prince’s heart, but what is clear is that he left an indelible imprint in Ohio, and that includes the city of Columbus.
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Judson L. Jeffries, PhD, MPH, is Professor of African American and African Studies at The Ohio State University.