A memorial service for Prince is being planned at Los Angeles City Hall, potentially for next week, city officials and event organizers said today.
The memorial is tentatively set for May 6 at 11 a.m., but details are still being worked out and the date could change, according to Chanelle Brown, an aide to Councilman Marqueece Harris-Dawson.
The event was spearheaded by activist Najee Ali, who also organized a candlelight vigil in Leimert Park last Thursday, the same day he was found dead in an elevator at his Paisley Park home in Minnesota at the age of 57.
Ali, who is director of Project Islamic Hope, said the City Hall memorial service will be a “celebration of Prince’s life, music and his legacy.”
With the singer “being cremated so quickly at a private, small memorial service in Minnesota,” his fans in Los Angeles did not have the opportunity to have “true closure,” Ali said.
He said he reached out to radio station KJLH-FM 102.3, which is owned by musician Stevie Wonder, to sponsor the event, which is also being sponsored by Harris-Dawson and several other city officials.
A master of showmanship, Prince created a musical style of his own, making him one of the best-selling artists of all time, thanks to hits including “When Doves Cry,” “1999,” “Raspberry Beret,” “Kiss” and “Little Red Corvette.”
His talent was on full display in the 1984 film “Purple Rain,” which became a cult sensation and propelled him to superstardom.
Prince — born Prince Rogers Nelson — won an Oscar for best original song for “Purple Rain.” He also won seven Grammys.
