MTV changes programming, will honor Prince with ‘Purple Rain’ airings

With MTV being at the forefront of all things music programming, and with Prince serving as one of the most-noteworthy artists of all time, it only seemed right for the network to find a proper way to pay tribute to the artist. Following his shocking death at the age of 57, they are doing that by making sure that people having the chance to see some of his most-noteworthy music videos / performances to go alongside his noteworthy “Purple Rain” film.

In a statement, the network had the following to say:

“MTV is heartbroken and in utter disbelief at the news that the world has lost Prince Rogers Nelson so suddenly and so before his time … Prince was a once-in-a-lifetime artist who transcended every medium and genre he touched and created music with a passion and individuality that inspired multiple generations. Our hearts and prayers go out to his family, friends and millions of fans.”

“Purple Rain” the movie will air on the network multiple times today, and they plan on continuing to do so on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. We imagine that in due time, some other networks will also alter their programming in some way in order to honor the singer, but this is going to take a little bit of time to sort out since the news is still so stunning and difficult to hear. He was a performer who was still so young, and also someone who had performed just as recently as last week. It was only one year ago we were talking about a string of performances featuring him.

As mentioned during our initial report on his shocking death, our thoughts and well-wishes are with everyone who loved him and supported him during this difficult time. We’ll have some further news on network reactions as time passes.