Music superstar Prince electrified the stage and took the world by storm with his eclectic music in the '80s. A private man, Prince was a force to be reckoned with - widely influencing the sound and trajectory of popular music, while at the same time, setting the bar for it.
His death at 57 sparked an outpouring of grief on social media. Nodding to the prolific musician's 1984 album and film Purple Rain, NASA on Friday tweeted a photo of a purple nebula called Crab nebula.
"A purple nebula, in honor of Prince, who passed away today," the space agency said.
Just like Prince, the Crab nebula has an iconic cosmic presence. It is a supernova remnant within the Milky Way galaxy and is located at about 6,500 light-years away from our planet.
The Crab nebula is what was left after the explosion of a massive star, which was observed by Chinese astronomers in 1054. Such stars burn incredibly brightly and then die young. As Space.com says, NASA's photo tribute seems all the more appropriate.
The photo is a composite view of the nebula combined with the imagery from NASA's Hubble Space telescope and the European Space Agency's Herschel Space Observatory.
A purple nebula, in honor of Prince, who passed away today. https://t.co/7buFWWExMw pic.twitter.com/ONQDwSQwVa
— NASA (@NASA) April 21, 2016
Love From All Over The World
Tributes for the music titan came flooding in on Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites from all around the world.
Retired Los Angeles Lakers player Magic Johnson tweeted, "When you went to a Prince concert, he had you partying until you couldn't party anymore."
Haitian rapper Wyclef Jean said, "R.I.P. to the King Prince. Thank you for inspiring me to be a musician first and [use] this tool to heal people."
Another post was funny and heartwarming. "David Bowie and Prince are probably having the best concert in space rn [right now]," tweeted beauty writer Arabelle Sicardi.
Lastly, The Roots' Questlove Gomez said, "Long Live The King."
Prince's Music Lives On
Shortly after the music icon's death Thursday, Tech Times reported that his albums climbed iTunes' Top Album charts: The Very Best of Prince at No. 1; Purple Rain at No. 3; and The Hits/The B-sides at No. 9. Fans have been fortunate enough to watch the enigmatic man perform in his final show in Atlanta's Fox Theatre.
