On June 25, 1984, an intense, deeply talented and aggressively sexual young musician named Prince released one of the best  albums ever created. It was a soundtrack for one of the worst movies ever created. It was Purple Rain.

Nobody could’ve known at the time what a groundbreaking work of genius the album eventually would prove to be. I certainly didn’t realize then, as a 14-year-old, how it  would change my life. Only in 2014, as the album’s 30th anniversary approached (yes, holy crap, 30!) did I reflect on that time, that music and all the ways that Prince has affected my life since then.

So in 2014 when Prince’s birthday was approaching (June 7th), and in anticipation of Purple Rain’s 30th anniversary (June 25th), Daddy and I decided to make it a Purple Summer. After decades of estrangement from His Royal Badness, we reunited with old favorites and are discovering new gems we’d missed during the absence. It feels incredible.

In my house, it’s now an official holiday. Daddy, a radio disc jockey, designated his weekly shows in June 2014 to playing unreleased tracks, deep cuts, hits, favorites, B-sides, remixes and various minutiae from and about Prince.

I began writing down all the stories I could from my first exposure to The Kid—and realized that not only did I have a ton, but everyone I talked to had their own stories about Prince, too. So I created this blog to collect my stories, your stories, everyone’s stories about how Prince and his music have affected our lives.

Dig if you will the picture…