Image via Complex Original
On Thursday, the world said goodbye to the legendary recording artist Prince.
The 57-year-old died at his house in the suburbs of Minneapolis.
Prince gained fame not only as a pop star but also as an androgynous fashion icon who criticized war, racism, and the politics of the music industry.
Here are some ways he taught us to be ourselves:
1. When he refused to be a "slave" to record companies
Prince has a long history of pushing back against record companies' ownership of his work.
He signed to Warner Music in 1977 and continuously fought with them over money and music, The Guardian reported.
During a legal battle over his album The Gold Experience, Prince wrote "slave" on his face, which referenced their attempts to control him.
In order to escape the label's control, he changed his name to an unpronounceable image combining the male and female symbols and became known as "Symbol," "Squiggle," and "The Artist (Formerly Known As Prince)" for a period of time in the 90s.
2. When he was a gender-bender
Prince frequently cross-dressed in his performances and videos, earning him status as an androgynous fashion icon.
Vogue credited him with creating "a new archetype of masculinity wrapped in a shiny container," noting his high-heeled boots and red tunic in the video for “Are You Gonna Go My Way.”
Prince also developed a female alter ego named Camille as he recorded the album Sign O the Times.
He originally recorded a self-titled album by Camille entirely in "her" signature high-pitched voice. He scrapped it, but the persona ended up in the songs “If I Was Your Girlfriend” and "Shockadelica.”
3. When he was anti-war
While singing the lyrics “Fightin’ war is a such a f*cking bore” in the song "Party Up," Prince dropped an uncensored F-bomb on Saturday Night Live in 1981, according to Mental Floss.
He also addressed the Cold War in the song "1999" when he sang, "Everybody's got a bomb. We could all die any day."
The more recent "Cinnamon Girl" criticizes the Iraq War and anti-Muslim sentiments in the U.S. with lyrics like, "So began the mass illusion, war on terror alibi."
4. When he didn't let the weather stop him
The day of Prince's Super Bowl performance, the NFL let him know it was raining.
His response? Despite the slick tile of the stage and the multiple electric guitars he was using, all he said was, "Can you make it rain harder?"
5. When he didn't believe in time
Prince was free from the constraints of the music industry, society, and...time.
When asked how he looks so young in an interview with Notorious magazine, he responded, "Your magazine probably won't print this, but I don't believe in time. I don't count. When you count, it ages you."
He believed in our thoughts' influence over reality, and it seemed to work for him.
6. When he redefined "cool"
In an interview with Rolling Stone, Prince said, "Cool means being able to hang with yourself."
He got pretty damn profound: "All you have to ask yourself is 'Is there anybody I'm afraid of? Is there anybody who if I walked into a room and saw, I'd get nervous?' If not, then you're cool."
That's a philosophy he lived by until the end of his life.
7. When his music was too sexy for a general audience
You know those "Parental Advisory" stickers you see on albums? Those were Prince's doing.
The people who decided they were necessary were responding to his song "Darling Nikki."
After hearing the song, which famously references masturbation, Tipper Gore founded the Parents Music Resource Center, which pushed for the use of parental advisory stickers.
8. When he taught us to value character over money
"I ain't got no money. But honey, I'm rich on personality," Prince sings in "Baby, I'm a Star." And that's how he conducted his life.
He told Rolling Stone he was once so poor that he would stand outside McDonald's to smell the food instead of eating it.
But his larger-than-life personality got him through those tough times, and his songs remind us that life is about what's in our hearts and minds, not our pockets.
9. When he became a vegan
"I have such a reverence for life now. And I have stopped eating all animal products," Prince told Interview in 1997.
He connected the decision back to changing his name to the male-female-hybrid symbol and freeing himself from his record label.
"There is something that happens when you get emancipated," he said. "You approach life differently. You eat differently. You respect yourself more. You respect the gift you have been given."
10. When he reminded us people are never really gone
Prince told Interview Magazine after his son's death, "If you ever lose someone dear to you, never say the words, 'They're gone,' and they'll come back."
So let's not say he's gone. After all, we still have his music and revolutionary legacy to remember him by.