Tag Archives: Prince Rogers Nelson

Parsons Playlists: Prince’s Legacy

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Welcome back to Parsons Playlists! Today’s playlist is curated by Music Library student manager Amy (class of 2025) and features the music of Prince.

Prince’s Legacy

Prince wearing a pink feather boa while playing guitar

While reading The New York Times article about Ezra Edelman’s upcoming Netflix documentary on Prince, I found myself diving back into the legendary artist’s discography, rediscovering just how revolutionary his music truly is.

The documentary promises to go beyond Prince’s enigmatic persona, exploring his artistry, activism, and control over his own music. That deep dive into his legacy made me want to create a playlist that captures his signature blend of rock, soul, and pop, which has become synonymous with his name.

I compiled a playlist of my favorite Prince songs that reflect his talent, including the 2003 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame performance of “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” in tribute to George Harrison with an incredible guitar solo that amazes me every time I hear it.

You can also listen to Prince’s albums like Parade, Prince, 3121, Sign “o” the Times, and HITNRUN Phase One at the Music Library.

Prince – “Kiss”

Prince – “Purple Rain”

Prince – “Raspberry Beret”

Prince – “The Most Beautiful Girl in the World”

Prince – “When Doves Cry”

Prince – “1999”

Prince – “Little Red Corvette”

Prince – “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”

Prince – “Baby I’m A Star”

Prince – “Let’s Go Crazy”

Prince – “I Would Die 4 U”

Here is a link to the whole playlist on YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLU94rco57Zew7B53G8i6r_pd53gJ3L71H&si=isECQul5rPmvq38D

And here it is on Spotify:

Arachnophonia: “Prince – The Last Interview”

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Editor’s note: Arachnophonia (“Arachno” = spider / “-phonia” = sound) is a regular feature on our blog where members of the UR community can share their thoughts about resources from the Parsons Music Library‘s collection.

All links included in these posts will take you to either the library catalog record for the item in question or to additional relevant information from around the web.

Today’s installment of Arachnophonia is by student assistant Griffin (class of 2027) and features a collection of various interviews with Prince. Thanks, Griffin!

Prince: The Last Interview and Other Conversations

Prince: The Last Interview and Other Conversations

Prince: The Last Interview is a collection of interview articles curated to create a comprehensive story using primary sources for insight into the superstar’s psyche. Nobody has had a bigger influence on modern American music than the Minnesotan native, bending the boundaries of genre. Born in 1958 and rising to international fame through the 80s and 90s, Prince’s sound couldn’t be described by any classical music labels of music, mixing elements from jazz, funk, synth-pop, rock, and more. Despite his parents both being musicians, Prince claims they never influenced his musical development. Instead, he was influenced by musicians such as James Brown, Sly and the Family Stone, Jimi Hendrix, and Stevie Wonder.

Introduced by Hanif Abdurraqib and by the interviewee Prince, Prince: The Last Interview and Other Conversations pulls together interviews at different stages of his life that begin to unravel the mysterious persona that was known to have an adverse relationship with the media. The collection gives us a glimpse of the icon from back from an interview in his school’s newspaper where his tremendous talent began to be recognized, through the struggles and freedom from the Warner Bros. Records label, his adaption to the computer age, and even his veganism.

Despite his tragic early death in 2016, Prince’s impact can’t be underestimated. Prince: The Last Interview showcases the artist’s thoughts on identity, freedom, religion, the art industry, sexual expression, forgiveness, and most of all how he continued to evolve his beliefs but not falter from them. If you want to know more about this generational talent who experiments with multiple types of artistic expression, you can check out the book from the Parsons Music Library.