logo
Today in History: April 21, Prince dead at age 57

Today in History: April 21, Prince dead at age 57

Yahoo21-04-2025

Today is Monday, April 21, the 111th day of 2025. There are 254 days left in the year.
Today in history:
On April 21, 2016, Prince, one of the most inventive and influential musicians of modern times, was found dead at his home in suburban Minneapolis from an accidental fentanyl overdose; he was 57.
Also on this date:
In 1836, an army of Texans, led by Sam Houston, defeated the Mexican Army, led by Antonio López de Santa Anna, in the Battle of San Jacinto, the final battle of the Texas Revolution.
In 1910, author Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, died in Redding, Connecticut, at age 74.
In 1918, German Air Force pilot Manfred von Richthofen, nicknamed 'The Red Baron,' was killed at age 25 after being shot during a World War I air battle over Vaux-sur-Somme, France.
In 1930, fire broke out inside the overcrowded Ohio Penitentiary in Columbus, killing 322 inmates in the deadliest prison disaster in U.S. history.
In 1975, with Communist forces closing in, South Vietnamese President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu resigned after nearly 10 years in office, fleeing the country five days later.
In 1980, Rosie Ruiz was the first woman to cross the finish line at the Boston Marathon, but was later exposed as having cheated by entering the racecourse less than 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) before the finish line. (Canadian Jacqueline Gareau was named the actual winner of the women's race.)
In 2015, an Egyptian criminal court sentenced ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi to 20 years in prison over the killing of protesters in 2012. (Morsi collapsed and died during trial on espionage charges in June 2019.)
Today's Birthdays: Actor-comedian-filmmaker Elaine May is 93. Author-activist Sister Helen Prejean is 86. Singer Iggy Pop is 78. Actor Patti LuPone is 76. Actor Tony Danza is 74. Actor Andie MacDowell is 67. Musician Robert Smith (The Cure) is 66. Actor Rob Riggle is 55. Actor James McAvoy is 46. Former NFL quarterback Tony Romo is 45. Actor Gugu Mbatha-Raw is 42.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Prince William & Kate Middleton Reveal 'Lovely Surprise' After Anniversary Trip
Prince William & Kate Middleton Reveal 'Lovely Surprise' After Anniversary Trip

Yahoo

timean hour ago

  • Yahoo

Prince William & Kate Middleton Reveal 'Lovely Surprise' After Anniversary Trip

Prince William & Kate Middleton Reveal 'Lovely Surprise' After Anniversary Trip originally appeared on Parade. and revealed a "lovely surprise" for fans after their anniversary trip. On Tuesday, June 10, the Prince and Princess of Wales took to Instagram with photos and video clips from Middleton's royal visit earlier in the day. 🎬 SIGN UP for Parade's Daily newsletter to get the latest pop culture news & celebrity interviews delivered right to your inbox 🎬 "Celebrating the joy of creative opportunity and craft at the V&A East Storehouse," they captioned the update. "Great to see these incredible collections are now accessible to everyone, allowing us to enjoy our nation's exceptional talent and history." For the outing, Prince William, 42, and Middleton, 43, checked out the East London branch of the Victoria and Albert Museum. They had the opportunity to see hundreds of thousands of pieces from the museum's collection. Related: In the comments, Instagram followers shared their delight over Middleton's most recent royal appearance. One follower declared, "Lovely surprise!!! 💙💙💙." Another shared, "This had to be a fantastic day!!👏🏻." Someone else echoed, "✨WOW! What an incredible museum and Catherine, the Princess of Wales looks stunning! 💙✨." Meanwhile, a different Instagram user wrote, "Catherine enchants people with her magic and takes her time doing it! Simply cool! 💙🥰👸🥰💙." Middleton's solo outing at the museum came on the heels of her and Prince William celebrating their 14th anniversary on April 29 with a trip to the Scottish Isles. Since tying the knot in 2011, the royals have welcomed three children, Prince George, 11, , 10, and , 7. Next: Prince William & Kate Middleton Reveal 'Lovely Surprise' After Anniversary Trip first appeared on Parade on Jun 10, 2025 This story was originally reported by Parade on Jun 10, 2025, where it first appeared.

'Weird Al' Yankovic Reveals the Huge Singer Who Would 'Never' Approve a Musical Parody
'Weird Al' Yankovic Reveals the Huge Singer Who Would 'Never' Approve a Musical Parody

Yahoo

time2 hours ago

  • Yahoo

'Weird Al' Yankovic Reveals the Huge Singer Who Would 'Never' Approve a Musical Parody

While stopping by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on June 9, "Weird Al" Yankovic revealed that the one singer who would "never" approve a parody — Prince He said that he even pitched the late singer a parody of his song "1999," and the "Purple Rain" singer was so uninterested that he didn't even reply Yankovic noted that Prince was seemingly a fan of his music though, particularly his parody of Michael Jackson's song "Bad""Weird Al" Yankovic has performed parodies of hits from the likes of Michael Jackson, Elton John and Madonna, but there is one artist who turned him down. During a Monday, June 9 appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, the 65-year-old musician revealed that he had tried to get Prince to approve several parodies, but was never successful. He explained that the "Purple Rain" hitmaker "is like the one guy that was never into it." "He's got a good sense of humor," Yankovic added, saying that he'd "heard a bootleg recording of him in the studio talking to some friends" about Yankovic's late-'80s parody of Jackson's song "Bad," which he titled "Fat." In the clip, Prince reportedly said that the song and its accompanying video were "really funny." "But when it came to parodying one of his songs, not so much. I had like a half a dozen ideas that I pitched him, and none of them got accepted," Yankovic recalled. There was one he was particularly excited about — a comical take on Prince's song "1999," which he wanted to title "$19.99." It was inspired by the idea of late-night infomercials, but Prince was not interested. He didn't even respond to the offer. Prince died at the age of 57 in 2016. However, Yankovic won't even attempt to spoof him at this point. "I try to respect the wishes of the artists," he said. "And he still made... He made his wishes very, very clear while he was with us." Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Yankovic might not have had luck with Prince, but he previously spoke very highly of Jackson, who he told Rolling Stone was very receptive to his ideas and had "always been very supportive." In fact, the "Smooth Criminal" performer enjoyed the parodies so much that he allowed Yankovic to record the music video for "Fat" on a subway set. "The first time I met him in person was long after I had gotten permission to do 'Eat It' back in 1984. There's a contract somewhere that has his signature next to mine, proving that we are the co-writers of 'Eat It,' which is surrealistic in and of itself," Yankovic recalled. He continued: "The first time I actually ran into him was backstage at one of his concerts, this was maybe four years later, when Even Worse came out with my second parody, 'Fat.' I went backstage, and he was seeing a lot of people, but I brought along a gold record of Even Worse to present to him, and he was very gracious and thanked me for it and said some nice things." Yankovic revealed one song that Jackson "wasn't quite so into" having him cover — "Black or White." "He thought 'Black or White' was more of a message song, and he didn't feel as comfortable with a parody of that one, which I completely understood," he said, adding: "In a way, he did me a huge favor, because I was already getting pegged as the guy who did Michael Jackson parodies, and because he wasn't so into it, I decided to go with Nirvana, which wound up revitalizing my career." Read the original article on People

The musical world that Sly Stone made for us still spins
The musical world that Sly Stone made for us still spins

Washington Post

time4 hours ago

  • Washington Post

The musical world that Sly Stone made for us still spins

Not even in a world this big, bad, beautiful, wonderful, horrible, overstimulated and hyperbolic can we begin to overstate the importance of Sly Stone. His death on Monday at 82 feels too enormous, too unwieldy for whatever tools we have to measure it. He's one in a tiny handful of 20th-century visionaries who created the musical reality we've lived in ever since, standing shoulder to shoulder with his peer influences (the Beatles, Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, James Brown, all of Motown) and the star students he inspired (Parliament-Funkadelic, Prince, Janet Jackson, Outkast, all of hip-hop, all of everything). Pop's utopian impulse might not begin with him, at least not in a tidy, big bang way, but it doesn't grow so vast — so quickly — without the immensity of his imagination. When we grieve Sly Stone, we grieve a sense of what's possible in all music.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store