Who? Prince
What’s the story? So another music legend departs in 2016 and, like David Bowie, Prince was another artist who made great music right up until the end with the two HITnRUN albums last year, including the excellently-funky Stare. But he will surely be remembered for that Eighties imperial phase, when he could do no wrong, knocking out classic after classic. So, which song to remember him best by? Well, while it may not necessarily be representative of his whole oeuvre, it's hard to look past 1984's Purple Rain as an example of an artist at the peak of their powers. Let it never be forgotten that it is, essentially, a ludicrous song and yet it's testament to Prince's brilliance that he managed to pull it off. It's almost nine minutes long, it's as slow as hell, there's a shout-along chorus, an incredible, emotional vocal performance, an outrageous guitar solo, a truly unifying singalong 'whoah-oh-oh-oh' near the end, a stadium smash-up finish and a discordant, yet beautiful, synth and string outro. No one has ever dared to even try and cover it, because they couldn't. Because only a performer as talented and artistic as Prince could make it work. Listen to it (you'll need to head to iTunes) and feel lucky to be doing so.
For fans of: Well, Prince
In three words: Absolute pure genius
