Gone too soon: Billboards pay tribute to Prince

When word first began to leak out on Twitter that Prince had died, it seemed like just another social media hoax.

Every other week it seems a false rumor of a star’s death starts trending. You can’t believe them, as people start them as jokes and then the stars themselves eventually hop on Twitter to show they’re still alive or have their publicist issue a statement.

But soon trusted resources such as the Associated Press were confirming that The Purple One had actually passed.

And then Twitter and other social media sites really lit up.

How could a man so vibrant, so incredibly alive with his guitar playing, so very intense and deliberate with his sound, be gone? People posted links to his best riffs (the one he played honoring the late George Harrison was a favorite, as was his Super Bowl performance) and offered eulogies.

Media companies began cobbling together tributes. One particularly clever idea: Weather Channel and Weather Underground changed all of their rain icons to purple, in honor of “Purple Rain.”

The out-of-home companies also assembled their own tributes on billboards. We’ve gathered several of them, but if you’ve seen one that you like, send it to toni@medialifemagazine.com and we’ll add it here.

Tags: alt media, alternative media, billboards, prince