Stevie Wonder remembered his good friend Prince Tuesday afternoon with a touching letter about the singer's legacy in Rolling Stone. "If Michael [Jackson] was the King of Pop, Prince should be the Emperor," Wonder wrote in the piece. "Prince fought for his artistic freedom. He didn't allow anyone or anything to get in his way. By following his own path, Prince took music to a whole other place, like the Beatles did. He wanted to change the way things were, like Marvin Gaye did. When you do that, you have to be very sure of yourself."
He also expressed an appreciation for Prince's art and music, which so many fans and artists have shared since the singer's tragic death. "Prince's music was so picturesque that even I could see it. I could see his boss Mr. McGee, who thought Prince was never going to be shit. I could see Old Man Johnson's farm. I could feel that "Purple Rain" too. Prince's songs were that vivid, the images were that strong."
Wonder touched on the last conversation he ever had with Prince, where they talked about making the world, and specifically the U.S., a better place. "When Prince and I spoke last, we talked about how we needed to fix this world. All this bullcrap about getting our country back and 'Make America Great Again'—it's always been great. We just have to stop people filling their minds with lies and prejudice and open them up to the possibilities."
You can read the rest of Stevie's tribute here and watch his recent CNN interview, where he discussed his late friend, above.
