Prince’s death spurs tributes in purple

The life of singer Prince, who has died at the age of 57, is being marked with purple-coloured tributes.

Buildings, newspaper front pages and websites across the US and beyond have changed colour in his honour, BBC reported. Prince was found dead at his Minnesota home on Thursday. He became a superstar in the 1980s, with the albums ‘1999’, ‘Purple Rain’ and ‘Sign O’ the Times’.

No cause of death has been stated and a post-mortem examination will take place on Friday. Born in 1958, Prince was a prolific writer and performer from a young age – reportedly writing his first song when he was seven. In 1984, he won an Oscar for the score to Purple Rain, a film in which he also starred. In 2004, Prince was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which said he “rewrote the rulebook”.

US President Barack Obama said the world has “lost a creative icon”. Prince’s innovative music spanned rock, funk and jazz. In Prince’s native Minneapolis, the Minnesota Twins baseball team turned their stadium purple, as did the Lowry Avenue Bridge in the centre of the city. While the Niagara Falls were turned purple to mark the Queen’s 90th birthday, the coincidence was welcomed by Prince fans online.