NIKKI SIXX And His SIXX:A.M. Bandmates Pay Tribute To PRINCE (Audio)

On Thursday, April 21, SIXX:A.M. members Nikki Sixx, DJ Ashba and James Michael paid tribute to tribute to legendary singer, guitarist, songwriter and producer Prince, who died unexpectedly earlier in the day at the age of 57 in his Minnesota home. You can listen to their words in the five-minute clip below.

Said Sixx: “Being a fan of an artist doesn’t necessarily mean you know everything about an artist. So there were times in Prince’s career where I wasn’t really a hundred percent in line with what he was doing, and if I heard something come on the radio, I’d be, like, ‘That’s classic Prince,’ and I would love it. And I’d go back and listen to the records and sometimes I’d get a new record. And the reason I’m saying this is, I wasn’t aware of this, sadly, until today, but he released 39 albums. 39 albums! So for those of you out there listening, you think about that. You go look at AEROSMITH or even THE ROLLING STONES, and you’re not going to see 39 albums. He was kicking an album out every single year, sometimes more, his whole career.”

Reports of Prince’s death began surfacing Thursday morning and were soon confirmed by his publicist. At press time, the death was being investigated and a cause of death had not yet been announced. The singer was said to be ill with the flu in recent weeks

Prince’s death comes only days after he said he wasn’t feeling well, causing the cancelation at least one concert in Atlanta. He eventually played the city, after which his plane made an emergency landing. At the time, his publicist said that he was “fine and at home.”

Prince has won seven Grammy Awards, and he won an Oscar for the original song score to the classic film “Purple Rain”, in which he also starred.

He recorded and toured prolifically even after a very public battle to get out of his major label contract threatened to derail his career.