NORFOLK, Va. - Fans across Hampton Roads were devastated to hear of Prince's unexpected death on Thursday.
Owner of the The Groove record store in downtown Norfolk, Paul Levine, said they had people coming in the store and calling all day.
"We immediately started to scurry to determine what's available and what's not," he says. "You can bet every record store in the country is already online or on the phone with someone to try to get some orders in."
Charles Black, afternoon personality for 95.7 R&B FM, says he still is in shock.
"I think it was the same as when you hear any loved one passing, denial, you just don’t want to believe it," he said.
As they have consistently as an R&B station, Black said they will be playing a lot of Prince hits throughout the weekend and will also allow listeners to share their stories.
He said it is a way to not only celebrate his unique sound, but also his fight for creative freedom.
"He was a fearless artist, he took chances, he did not allow himself to be burdened by commercial success or expectations," he says. "It took a lot of courage to walk away from a major recording contact, it took a lot of courage to change your name. Nowadays it’s pretty common to have an artist write all of his songs play all of the instruments and produce the album himself, but back in the 80’s, when Prince exploded, that was virtually unheard of," said Black.
Local buildings also lit up purple in honor of the music legend.
@the_slover pays tribute to Prince. #nfk #purple #purplerain
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