I Would Die 4 U - 9781476705491

Celebrated journalist, TV personality, and award-winning author TourÉ investigates one of the most enigmatic and fascinating figures in contemporary American culture: Prince.

Drawing on new research and enlivened by Toure's unique pop cultural fluency, I Would Die 4 U relies on surprising and in-depth interviews with Prince's band members, musicologists, and Bible scholars to deconstruct the artist's life and work.

Prince’s Baby Boomer status allowed him to play a wise older brother to the wayward kids of Gen X. Defying traditional categories of race, gender, and sexuality, he nonetheless presented a very traditional conception of religion and God and, TourÉ argues, is the most important religious artist of all time. Prince spoke in the language of 1960s pop and soul to a generation fearing Cold War apocalypse, the end of American world dominance, and the crack and AIDS epidemics. He was both an MTV megastar and a religious evangelist, using images of sex and profanity to invite us into a musical conversation about the healing power of God. Prince is undoubtedly one of the most enigmatic and fascinating figures in contemporary American culture, and by demystifying the man and his music, I Would Die 4 U shows us how he defined a generation.