As a writer, editor, choreographer and performer, I’ve worked with hundreds of artists. So I’m not into hero worship. For anyone. Especially not for someone so notoriously hard to understand, with a history so full of religion, bizarre behaviors and controversial decisions as Prince…  BUT:

As the anniversary of Purple Rain approached in 2014 and I was listening to the album a lot, I realized that I had a dozen stories about the way that Prince’s music affected my adolescent development and subsequent musical understanding. I realized he’s been important to me for a long time.

And when I told other people my stories, I found that they had stories about Prince and their own lives—whether or not they had personal contact, whether or not they still pay attention to his catalog. (Myself, I’ve only come back to the fold recently after a 20-year hiatus.)

I came to realize that, as an artist and a personality, Prince has been affecting our collective life for almost 4 decades: Of course we’re gonna have stories to tell—good or bad, funny or sad, stupid or pointless or unbelievable—and telling them (and hearing them) is a pleasure we can all have in common.