Happy Birthday Prince: Seven Ways People around the Country are celebrating the Legendary Musician

Prince Performing at Coachella 2008.
Found on Wikipedia. By Micahmedia

On this day in 1958, legendary singer/musician Prince was born. An innovator best known for hits “When Doves Cry,” “Purple Rain” and “1999,” Prince blended R&B with rock and pop to create a sound all his own. He would have been 59.

With Prince’s death still fresh in people’s minds, the Purple One’s life is still being celebrated. Particularly with his birthday being today, a lot has been happening all over the country in the last week and into the coming weeks and months to commemorate his life and work.

Vinyl Bay 777, Long Island’s music outlet, has been scouring the news to find what people are doing to celebrate Prince. Here are seven events taking place around the country in the next week remembering his legacy.

1.       Prince: A Tribute To His Royal Badness: Starting off locally, on Friday, Maxwell’s in Hoboken, New Jersey will be filled with the sounds of Prince as the singer’s ‘Purple Rain’ album will be performed in its entirety. The event, ‘Prince: A Tribute To His Royal Badness,’ is being organized by Sylvana Joyce & The Moment guitarist C. Robert Smith and will feature several local musicians, both male and female, taking turns singing lead vocals on the album’s classic songs.

2.       Hoboken Spring Arts & Music Festival: Later this weekend, Hoboken, New Jersey  will be hosting another tribute, this time during their annual Spring Arts & Music festival. Jazz-fusion band Burnt Sugar The Arkestra Chamber will be playing a full set of Prince’s hits, a set they are already quite familiar with. The group did a similar show at New York’s Lincoln Center last year.

3.       Prince Double Feature: On Saturday, The Little Theatre in Rochester, New York, will be celebrating Prince’s film work. The theater is planning a double feature that includes screenings of both ‘Purple Rain’ and ‘Under the Cherry Moon.’ Tickets are $5 per movie, or $8 to see both.

4.       Princess: Across the country, female Prince cover band Princess will be playing a sold out show tonight in Los Angeles, California. The band features comedienne Maya Rudolph and Gretchen Lieberum and have brought their act all over the country, as well as television. Prince was even a fan of theirs, so this tribute would be approved by the man himself.

5.       Let’s Go Crazy: A Prince Dance Party: If you’re in Cleveland, Ohio, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is hosting a dance party tonight to commemorate his birthday, although they make clear that this is not a birthday party. The free event will include DJs spinning Prince’s greatest hits and will feature both an air guitar and dance contest. This is the second year the Rock Hall is putting on this event.

6.       LoVeSEXY: New Jersey isn’t the only state that will get to hear ‘Purple Rain’ in its entirety. Tonight in Boston, Massachusetts, Prince tribute band LoVeSEXY will be taking the stage at the Supper Club to perform the classic album from front to back, as well as some of the Purple One’s other hits.

7.       Atlanta Symphony Orchestra: While this is not happening this weekend, it is still a good time to plan ahead for this. It was announced yesterday that the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra will be performing Windborne’s ‘The Music of Prince’ on January 26, 2018. The show will feature classical arrangements of Prince’s greatest hits. Tickets go on sale Friday.

On the anniversary of his birth, many are taking the opportunity to continue celebrating the life and work of Prince. As evidenced by the many tributes taking place this weekend, Prince and his incomparable music will never be forgotten.

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Celebrate the music of Prince and other legendary artists at Vinyl Bay 777 and vinylbay777.com. As Long Island’s top new independent record shop, we have thousands of titles to choose from ranging in genre from R&B, pop and hip-hop to rock, metal, jazz, classical and more. Browse our wide selection of new and used vinyl records, CDs, cassettes, music DVDs, memorabilia and more both in store and online. With new titles being added to our selection all the time, you never know what you will find at Vinyl Bay 777.