As the music world continues to grapple with the death of Mac Miller, a record label in Pittsburgh has set up a vigil at his favorite childhood park. Frick Park’s Blue Slide playground—the inspiration for Miller's debut studio album Blue Slide Park—will serve as the location of a vigil on Tuesday, September 11.
"We would like to bring the city together in full force for this legendary icon," Nightfall Records wrote in the description of a Facebook event that announced the vigil. "Mac deserves to be sent off with an evening of celebrating his life, discussing his struggles, and remembering his stories; most importantly for his iconic work that brought joy into the lives of everybody who listened. We are welcoming all artists to come and paint, create, draw, live tribute art for this event."
"Blue Slide Park is a park in Pittsburgh we grew up at," Miller told MTV News in 2011. "No matter what happens in life, no matter where you go, where you're off to, what happens with the park, that slide will always be blue. That will always be Blue Slide Park no matter what. You can go to New York and live for 10 years and become a huge business mogul and then come back to the 'Burgh and no matter how much money you got, that slide is still blue."
When news of Miller's death from an apparent overdose spread on Friday, some fans instinctively gathered at the park. "I didn’t believe it. I’m still in denial. It’s very devastating to me," a fan named Julia Silvester told local Pittsburgh CBS affiliate KDKA.
Since Miller passed away, artists like J. Cole, Chance the Rapper, Kid Cudi, and Drake have publicly mourned his death and shared stories about their close friendships with the late rapper. As friend and collaborator Thundercat put it, Miller was "hands down one of the sincerest people I’ve met in my life."
As fans revisit his large catalog of music, Miller's most recent album, Swimming, has returned to the top of streaming charts. The project currently sits at No. 1 on the Apple Music albums chart as of Sunday evening, over Eminem's Kamikaze at No. 2 and Travis Scott's ASTROWORLD at No. 3.
