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Video Lunch: It's The Anniversary Of Prince's Purple Rain, All Hail The Purple One
In this Feb. 18, 1985 file photo, Prince performs at the Forum in Inglewood. (Liu Heung Shing/AP, File)
Today marks 34 years since Prince gave us a beautiful violet gift. The movie Purple Rain came out on this day in 1984, backed up by one of the best albums of all time (released a month prior).
For those who haven't seen it, it's not a concert film -- there's a story being told. But there's also a mythic element, with Prince's character only being known as "the Kid," and it's packed with performance after epic performance.
While he made his name in Minnesota, bathing in the waters of Lake Minnetonka, Prince left a big impression on Los Angeles too. Check him out at the 1985 American Music Awards right here in L.A. -- introduced by Lionel Richie -- delivering that film/album's title song.
Latter-day Prince did a famed 21-concert residency at the Forum in Inglewood as part of efforts to revitalize the venue back in 2011. Before that, he did three shows in one night at different L.A. Live venues to promote a three-disc album he had coming out.
You can watch the last of those shows, an after-midnight performance at Club Nokia, right here:
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And, of course, a lot of Los Angeles (who we are all very jealous of) had the chance to head to Coachella and experience Prince's legendary, breathtaking performance of Radiohead's "Creep." Prince and his people spent years pulling it down from the internet, but
We recommend you check out as much Prince as possible, including both the film and album of Purple Rain -- but if you want just a taste, here's "the Kid" delivering "I Would Die 4 U":
And here's Prince taking his love interest on a motorcycle to another of his songs with questionable/wonderful spelling, "Take Me With U":
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