How Prince Created One of My Greatest Friendships

Tuscaloosa's biggest Prince fan is a friend of mine. When learning of his death, before saying anything on the air, the first thing I did was give him a call.

*Phone rings*

"Tell me it's not true."

Dead silence.

"I wish I could tell you that."

"You mean, it's unconfirmed or it's true?"

"It's true," I whispered. I was not prepared to hear the shaking in his voice. This masculine but not really burly man sounded as though he'd lost a family member or very close friend.
Initially, he barely uttered his pain. All that escaped his lips was a softly spoken, "D--n."
I could practically hear his pain as it grew from a whisper to almost a bawl. "D--n," he said once again before yelling through obvious tears, "D--N! D--N! D--N!"
"Are you ok?" I asked.

"Let me call you back." And the line went dead.

I worked, taking calls and playing Prince songs over the next two hours, but my thoughts remained on my friend. Eventually, I called him back. I know he said he would call me back, but I just couldn't have peace until I knew he was ok.

When he answered this time, he sounded a little better. While I knew he was a HUGE Prince fan, I didn't expect Prince's death to affect him as harshly as it did; but he shared a personal story with me that helped me to understand.

We became friends over the request line. My first job in radio was doing the Quiet Storm. This listener would regularly call in and request a Prince song, "Scandalous" being his favorite.

He worked at night, and we'd sometimes talk about things that had nothing to do with radio. That tends to happen when all of your other friends work during the day. You end up forming friendships with people who are up when you're up. Then came the night that my friend was off. We met in a place where we wouldn't be alone. That way, it wouldn't be awkward if we didn't hit it off for whatever reason. Luckily, that wasn't the case. We sat and talked for quite some time, sharing laughter about a variety of things.

Oddly though, even at that time, we still didn't exchange numbers. We kept our regular routine. He'd call the request line while I was at work, and I'd play his song. When he wasn't busy, we'd talk about current events and the such. Eventually, he gave me his number to call him and let him know when I'd be playing a Prince song so he could turn on the radio if it wasn't already on. He didn't want to miss it, and I made sure he didn't.

I worked that shift for 2 1/2 years; and during that time, we talked weekly. When my shift changed, we didn't talk quite as much, but we still kept in touch. Our interaction is quite sporadic, actually. In fact, here's an example of how our communication usually occurs (and it's VERY grammatically incorrect):

To have had that exchange Sunday and then hear my friend's pain yesterday made me feel even more helpless. Yet, I made it abundantly clear that I am here if he needs me. That's what friends do, regardless of how much time has passed.

While I'd always acknowledged Prince's musical genius, it was this friend that made me pay attention to more of the lyrics in Prince's songs. So, while I am sad about his passing, I grieve more so for my friend.... The friendship that Prince indirectly formed.