AUSTIN (KXAN) – The Prince 2013 performance at La Zona Rosa is considered by many as the most spectacular booking in the history of South By Southwest. James Minor, general manager for SXSW, remembers everyone expected the show to run about an hour, however, “Pretty soon it was two hours, then three hours. He just kept going on.”
Like everywhere he played, Prince enthralled the audience with his style and eclectic mix of genres. They begged for repeated encores, and he obliged. Minor recalls what Prince said, “Before one of the last encores he said don’t make me hurt you Austin, do you know how many hits I have?”
Radio stations around the country were playing wall to wall Prince on Thursday, including Austin’s 96.3FM RnB. Disc jockeys there took the loss personally. Suga Rae said, “I was devastated. I felt like I lost my boyfriend, Prince was my first boyfriend in my head. It was a blow to my childhood. It really was, because Prince was the soundtrack of my life.”Prince fans in the Live Music Capital of the World offer up their favorite songs from the artist, upon learning of his death:Nakia, Singer-Songwriter
- Baby I’m A Star
- Purple Rain
- Blue Light
- Little Red Corvette
- Sometimes It Snows In April
Elizabeth McQueen, Singer-Songwriter and KUTX DJ
- Little Red Corvette
- When Doves Cry
- Purple Rain
- 1999
- Let’s Go Crazy!
John Kuntz, Waterloo Records
- I Would Die 4 U
- Let’s Go Crazy
- When Doves Cry
- Dirty Mind
- Little Red Corvette
Bob Cole, Austin Radio Network
- When Doves Cry
- I Want to be Your Lover
- Purple Rain
- Raspberry Beret
- I Would Die For U
Tommy Blank, Quiet Company
- When Doves Cry
- Darling Nikki
- Purple Rain
- 1999
- Nothing Compares 2 U
“I offer no apology for being an iPod owner of his biggest hits,” said Cole. “We all probably took this guy for granted. A terrific human being and a powerful figure from my generation. We will program our station, Classic 105.3, with all Prince, 24/7, Friday and Saturday.”
