Prince's death was felt throughout the world Thursday, including in the world of sports.
The pop superstar was found dead at his home on Thursday in suburban Minneapolis, according to his publicist. He was 57.
A short time after the news came out, the Golden State Warriors cranked Prince classics at shootaround while they prepared for Thursday night's playoff game against the Rockets. Prince had appeared at a Warriors game March 3.
But it was Prince's ties to football that really resonate. In 2015, Billboard magazine proclaimed Prince's 2007 halftime show at Dolphins Stadium the greatest performance in the history of the event. Undeterred by a driving rain, Prince played the Creedence Clearwater Revival classic "Proud Mary," Jimi Hendrix's iconic version of Bob Dylan's "All Along The Watchtower," and his own hits "Let's Go Crazy" and "1999." The climax was his performance of "Purple Rain" as showers created the perfect stage for his unique drama.
Prince was also a huge Minnesota Vikings fan, even penning a song for the team.
"Praise every voice and let it be known, in the name of the purple and gold," the song begins. "We come in the name of the purple and gold, all of the odds are in our favor ... long live the purple and gold!"
Reaction to the star's death from the sports world was swift. NBA commissioner Adam Silver said: "I want to note Prince's passing. ... I crossed paths with him many times during my NBA tenure. ... After the All-Star game in Minneapolis he hosted a legendary late-night party that people still talk about. ... On behalf of the NBA family I want to say how sorry we are for his family and his millions of fans."
Prince's hometown Minnesota Twins tweeted about the star:
Fitting that it's raining in Minneapolis today. http://pic.twitter.com/s5KFurDhHi
— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) April 21, 2016
The man born Prince Rogers Nelson stood just 5-foot-2 and seemed to summon the most original and compelling sounds at will, whether playing guitar in a flamboyant style that openly drew upon Hendrix, switching his vocals from a nasally scream to an erotic falsetto or turning out album after album of stunningly original material. Among his other notable releases: ``Sign O' the Times,'' ``Graffiti Bridge'' and ``The Black Album.'' He was also fiercely protective of his independence, battling his record company over control of his material and even his name. Prince once wrote ``slave'' on his face in protest of not owning his work and famously battled and then departed his label, Warner Bros., before returning a few years ago.
``What's happening now is the position that I've always wanted to be in,'' Prince told The Associated Press in 2014. ``I was just trying to get here.''
In 2004, Prince was inducted into the Rock and Roll of Fame, which hailed him as a musical and social trailblazer.
``He rewrote the rulebook, forging a synthesis of black funk and white rock that served as a blueprint for cutting-edge music in the Eighties,'' reads the Hall's dedication. ``Prince made dance music that rocked and rock music that had a bristling, funky backbone. From the beginning, Prince and his music were androgynous, sly, sexy and provocative.''
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
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