Prince performs at the Warner Theatre in DC on June 14, 2015. (Photo by Karrah Kobus / NPG Records)

We at Parklife DC are shocked and saddened to hear of the passing of the legendary musician Prince, who was found dead today at his Paisley Park studio complex in Minnesota.

Reportedly, Prince was hospitalized with the flu a few days ago. You can read the latest on the situation via the Associated Press.

Last year, I saw Prince twice — once on my birthday weekend at Warner Theater in DC on June 14, and prior to that at Royal Farms Arena for the Rally 4 Peace concert in Baltimore last May.

I ranked the DC show as my #1 concert of 2015, describing it as follows:

“Soon into a 2.5 hour set, Prince reached down into the audience and grabbed the hand of my favorite lady Yasmin –- and then Prince brought her up out of the front row and ONTO STAGE TO DANCE WITH HIM. Yasmin kicked off her shoes and danced up there with Prince for three songs or so as he sang through ‘U Got the Look,’ ‘Shake!,’ and ‘Cool’ (covering the Time).

If that wasn’t enough to set the night on fire, Stevie Wonder snuck onto stage during our late-night show at the Warner Theatre to take over keyboards at some point, perhaps around the time of ‘Controversy,’ the title track to the amazing Prince album from 1981. Stevie stayed on stage for the strongest segment of Sunday’s late show, rolling from ‘Controversy’ to ‘1999’ to ‘Little Red Corvette.’ Prince himself was full of delicious swagger, and the audience ate it up. The man often took center stage during his performances, dancing up a funky two-step or thrashing away on his guitar while strident before his microphone. He was in good form, and he sounded fantastic and looked as fit as fuck.”

We loved your music, Prince, and we loved how you broke barriers from soul to funk to R&B to new wave. Bless you, my friend.