Prince officially has a holiday. In honor of the late music legend, Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton has signed a proclamation declaring Tuesday, June 7, “Prince Day.” Meanwhile, in an equally — if not more so, for those of us not in Minnesota — exciting move, Tidal has added numerous albums from the artist to celebrate, according to Billboard.
Tuesday would have been Prince‘s 58th birthday, so both developments are special ways for fans to honor the musician they loved. In Minnesota, Dayton called for his state’s residents to wear purple to pay tribute to their fellow Minnesotan’s “enduring legacy,” as reported by Rolling Stone. The proclamation celebrates him as “the creator of the ‘Minnesota Sound'” and of “revolutionary music and an iconic identity.”
That so-called Minnesota Sound can be heard on Tidal, the streamer with which Prince was working exclusively in his final months. (He previously made a strong statement by pulling his catalog from rival streamers.) With its Prince streaming monopoly already in place, Tidal is upping the ante. Tuesday’s additions include lesser-known Prince LPs, remix collections, live LPs, albums from his “Artist Formerly Known as Prince” period, and more. Some of the work includes The Gold Experience, Crystal Ball, The Black Album, and Indigo Nights.
Prince died in April after succumbing to an opioid overdose, a medical autopsy recently determined. He had been briefly hospitalized earlier in the month, but the sad news still came as a shock. As a testament to the profound impact of the late icon, Prince tributes have abounded since April, ranging from performances by fellow artists to SiriusXM creating a 24/7 tribute channel for a short period.
With Prince already being honored in so many ways by so many people, it was nice to see the state of Minnesota and Tidal each manage to come up with something new for his birthday. Plus, for fans, both Prince Day and his expanded Tidal catalog provide a perfect excuse to pay homage to the Purple One.
