The lights go down, a hush settles over the crowd. One lone spotlight is shining on the center of the stage. Everyone is wondering when the concert will start. Off in the distance, the music starts to play and boom. Fireworks light up the arena and there “HE” is. “HE” is Prince and he commands the stage. He starts shredding on his guitar with a ferociousness that I have never seen. I stand in awe at the talent that is right in front of me. Prince is my favorite musical artist and here I am, standing within feet of him. I can see the whites of his eyes, the sweat dripping down his face. Prince comes over to the side of the stage and I could almost touch him. The smile I have on my face couldn’t get any bigger. I am swaying, singing and clapping along to the music. This is the best Prince concert ever.

My introduction to Prince and his music happened when I was 14. I heard one of Prince’s song on the radio at my best friend’s birthday party and I have been hooked ever since. I remember saying to my friend that this music is amazing and he had told me that it was a new artist named Prince. Ever since then, I couldn’t get enough of his music.

I have been to 18 of Prince’s concerts. Other than my first concert, two others stand out in my mind. The first one was right after the movie “Purple Rain” had come out and his concert was at the Tacoma Dome. This was not his best concert in my mind, but stood out because of all the controversy the concert garnered because of one song that was on the sound track. Parents had heard of all the “inappropriate” ways he sang his songs and they were protesting the concert. Getting through the protesters was difficult and the concert was nothing like the parents were protesting. I always felt that maybe the parents should actually go to a concert and then figure out if they needed to protest.

My all-time favorite Prince concert was his Musicology concert. My sister had gotten us tickets for my 40th birthday, this would be her first Prince concert and we had seats right in front of the stage. When we walked into the concert, we were given a free CD of his Musicology album. After this concert, my sister was hooked. One of the reasons this was my favorite Prince concert was because it really showcased his musical genius and talent. Prince held his guitar up in his left palm and played for over 20 minutes with his right hand. It was the most amazing experience ever. In my opinion, Prince is a better guitar player than Eddie Van Halen, whom I have also seen in concert.

Prince was a quiet, introverted man that people call eccentric. In reality I feel he was a quiet genius whose mind never stopped making music for his fans. Prince didn’t want the spotlight and shied away from it. Prince just wanted to spread his musical talent throughout the world.

The loss of Prince and his musical talent will be greatly missed. I will miss the excitement of seeing him in concert. My heart is heavy with sadness of the loss to this world of a genius musician and a talented man that gave to many organizations anonymously and helped wherever he could. Prince was “Beautiful, Loved and Blessed” by many fans.