While the 1980's were a decade of musical splintering, one artist defied the trend and still rose to superstardom.
The mononymous Prince was an icon who eluded labels.
Musically, he most often existed at the intersection of R&B, rock and pop. But even if you could find the words to describe his sound, Prince's showmanship was tough to define.
His appearance on stage was that of an androgynous supernova. Between flashes of vibrance and sonic singularity, this master of the guitar gave music fans worldwide a litany of one-of-a-kind moments.
There was the Super Bowl in 2007, when Prince stood at midfield in Miami as rain fell over his head, playing his now-defining dynamic ballad "Purple Rain." There was his semi-rivalry with Michael Jackson, and then his team-up with the King of Pop on stage with James Brown in 1983.
And in 1982 — seven months before the release of "1999" and two years before "Purple Rain" hit theaters — a 23-year-old Prince played at Palmer Auditorium in Davenport.
While Prince came back to perform in the Quad-Cities again in 1997, this first visit was something special.
It was a verifiable megastar at the precipice of ubiquity.
Played alongside The Time
At the time of the show, Prince had charted on the Billboard Hot 100 just three times, for "Soft and Wet," "I Wanna Be Your Lover" and "Controversy," the title track for the album Prince toured in Davenport that night. By the end of his career, Prince had 47 Top 100 hits to his name, 19 of which made the Top 10.
Prince's show in Davenport was held on March 6, 1982. It was a Saturday, with the start time scheduled for 8 p.m. Tickets went for $9 to $10, which would be around $30 today, adjusted for inflation.
The opening act for the show was The Time, who were in the wake of their Billboard Top 50 debut self-titled album. The Time guitarist Jesse Johnson was born in Rock Island, making the concert in Davenport a pseudo-hometown show for him, too, something the Quad-City Times promoted in the lead-up.
The concert, however, had no assigned reviewer from the Argus, Dispatch or Times, a rarity in the research for this Timeless Tickets series.
Perhaps it's because Prince hadn't quite reached the level of fame he'd hit in the years to come. Instead, the papers were focused on other news.
There was a Sunday story in praise of Dan Rather, who kept CBS atop network ratings despite Walter Cronkite's departure the year earlier. On Saturday, the Moline Dispatch ran a story about actor-comedian John Belushi, who died in New York at the age of 33.
Much like this week in the Quad-Cities, there was also a discussion of the cosmic: that Wednesday, the planets in the solar system aligned on one side of the sun for the first time in centuries, leading conspiracists to believe there would be an apocalypse here on Earth.
There was not. The alignment of stars at Palmer Auditorium proved to be arguably more significant.
And later that summer, a different prince was born: William, Prince of Wales, first son of Princess Diana.
In the days after his show in Davenport, Prince played five more dates on his "Controversy" tour, including one the next night in Bloomington, Minnesota, near his hometown of Chanhassen.
In the months after the show, Prince released "1999," his breakout record with hits like "Little Red Corvette" and "Delirious." It finished 1983 in the Top 5 of the year-end Billboard album chart, and went on to be certified four-times platinum.
It was then that Prince became one of the biggest stars on Earth.
For a week in 1984, he held a unique triple crown: the No. 1 album, No. 1 song and No. 1 movie simultaneously. His sexual song "Darling Nikki" was the first domino in a reactionary movement that led to the establishment of a "Parental Advisory" label on albums with explicit material.
He won seven Grammy Awards, an induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and is still one of the highest-selling musicians of all-time.
He was active even in the mid-2010's, when he was in his late fifties. He played a tribute show for Baltimore native Freddie Gray, who died in police custody, in 2015. He continued touring the U.S. with a new backing band.
But on April 16, 2016, in Atlanta, Prince played his final show.
The next morning, he took a flight home to Minneapolis. On the flight, Prince became unresponsive, and his private plane emergency landed in Moline, his last visit to the Quad-Cities. Prince was admitted briefly at Trinity Moline for flu-like symptoms, received treatment and left.
The Trinity hospital system in Moline was flooded with calls about Prince's appearance, the Quad-City Times reported in 2016.
Less than a week later, he was found dead at his Minnesota home from an accidental fentanyl overdose at the age of 57.
In 2018, Prince's estate filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Trinity, among other defendants, but the case was dismissed.
Since his death, Prince's legacy has stood the test of time. Artists like Andre 3000, Beyoncè, The Weeknd, Frank Ocean, Rihanna and Lady Gaga have cited him as an influence.
The Grammy Awards in 2017 opened with a Tribute to Prince. Morris Day, lead singer for The Time, kicked it off, playing his peppy funk songs "The Bird" and "Jungle Love."
It was an animated display of musical flamboyance. Stars in the crowd reacted with obvious joy, the way they might have if Prince himself took the stage that day.
Then, Day abruptly ended. And the stage went dark. There was a blackness, like there probably was after The Time's set at Palmer Auditorium in 1982. An applause faded to a dull quiet before finally, the room illuminated.
Above the stage, Prince's famous logo lit up in white. Bruno Mars took the stage in Prince's signature garb.
"Dearly beloved," Prince's voice echoed through the Grammy crowd, and they roared in approval. "We are gathered here today to get through this thing called life."
The logo's light pulsated, an apparent nod from Prince's famous afterworld. Even supernovas burn bright one last time before they're gone.
This story is part of a series called "Timeless Tickets," where we're aiming to find the most notable concert in the Quad-Cities, every year from 1960 to today. Do you have a story or photo to share from an iconic local show? Send it to entertainment reporter Gannon Hanevold at ghanevold@qctimes.com.
To read more "Timeless Tickets" stories, click here.
There is no doubt that Prince was one of the world's greatest musicians. Often hailed as a musical juggernaut, his talents earned him seven Grammys, an Academy Award, a Golden Globe and an induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Accolades aside, he was also one of the world's greatest entertainers. From notoriously kicking Kim Kardashian off his stage, to performing a Super Bowl halftime show that is still talked about today, to appearing on the list of the best albums of all time — Prince was often at the forefront of the entertainment scene.
In honor of the anniversary of his death on April 21, 2016, PrettyFamous — an entertainment data site powered by Graphiq — highlighted his greatest contributions to entertainment. To do this, they ranked his albums and movies by their respective Smart Ratings. The Album Smart Rating is a statistic out of 100 that aggregates album ratings from external sources, including AllMusic, Metacritic, Rolling Stone, Pitchfork and many more. The Movie Smart Rating is a score out of 100 that takes into account a movie's IMDb rating, Rotten Tomatoes' Tomatometer and Audience Score, Gracenote rating, Metacritic Metascore and the inflation-adjusted U.S. box office gross.
Whether you are looking for a "Sign 'O' The Times" or simply want to reminisce on the genius of Prince in "Purple Rain," take a trip down memory lane to be reminded of one of the greatest performers of all time.
Note: Albums were excluded that were internet/MP3 release only, live or remix. Movie synopses are sourced from Gracenote, with minor edits.
Movie Smart Rating: 81.56 Release date: July 27, 1984 Genre: Musical Starring: Prince, Apollonia Kotero, Morris Day
A victim of his own anger, the Kid (Prince) is a Minneapolis musician on the rise with his band, the Revolution, escaping a tumultuous home life through music. While trying to avoid making the same mistakes as his truculent father (Clarence Williams III), the Kid navigates the club scene and a rocky relationship with a captivating singer, Apollonia (Apollonia Kotero). But another musician, Morris (Morris Day), looks to steal the Kid's spotlight - and his girl.
Remembering Prince: Ranking Prince's greatest contributions to entertainment
In honor of the anniversary of his death on April 21, 2016, PrettyFamous highlighted Prince's greatest contributions to entertainment. Whether you are looking for a "Sign 'O' The Times" or simply want to reminisce on the genius of Prince in "Purple Rain," take a trip down memory lane to be reminded of one of the greatest performers of all time.
There is no doubt that Prince was one of the world's greatest musicians. Often hailed as a musical juggernaut, his talents earned him seven Grammys, an Academy Award, a Golden Globe and an induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Accolades aside, he was also one of the world's greatest entertainers. From notoriously kicking Kim Kardashian off his stage, to performing a Super Bowl halftime show that is still talked about today, to appearing on the list of the best albums of all time — Prince was often at the forefront of the entertainment scene.
In honor of the anniversary of his death on April 21, 2016, PrettyFamous — an entertainment data site powered by Graphiq — highlighted his greatest contributions to entertainment. To do this, they ranked his albums and movies by their respective Smart Ratings. The Album Smart Rating is a statistic out of 100 that aggregates album ratings from external sources, including AllMusic, Metacritic, Rolling Stone, Pitchfork and many more. The Movie Smart Rating is a score out of 100 that takes into account a movie's IMDb rating, Rotten Tomatoes' Tomatometer and Audience Score, Gracenote rating, Metacritic Metascore and the inflation-adjusted U.S. box office gross.
Whether you are looking for a "Sign 'O' The Times" or simply want to reminisce on the genius of Prince in "Purple Rain," take a trip down memory lane to be reminded of one of the greatest performers of all time.
Note: Albums were excluded that were internet/MP3 release only, live or remix. Movie synopses are sourced from Gracenote, with minor edits.
Movie Smart Rating: 81.56 Release date: July 27, 1984 Genre: Musical Starring: Prince, Apollonia Kotero, Morris Day
A victim of his own anger, the Kid (Prince) is a Minneapolis musician on the rise with his band, the Revolution, escaping a tumultuous home life through music. While trying to avoid making the same mistakes as his truculent father (Clarence Williams III), the Kid navigates the club scene and a rocky relationship with a captivating singer, Apollonia (Apollonia Kotero). But another musician, Morris (Morris Day), looks to steal the Kid's spotlight - and his girl.