[Blitzer:] We're covering today's breaking news, the death of the music legend Prince. He was only 57 years old. You're looking at live pictures of Paisley Park, the studio outside of Minneapolis. The sheriff's department statement says he was unresponsive when discovered in an elevator at that studio in the state of Minnesota. First responders were called. They attempted CPR, but they could not revive him. There will be an autopsy. We're back with Kerry Gordy, the former executive vice president of Prince's company, Paisley Park. You've got a lot of history in this business. Your father, Berry Gordy, it's fair to say founded Motown. And all of us have enjoyed all of that music over these many, many decades.
[Gordy:] Thank you.
[Blitzer:] Talk a little bit talk a little bit about how he emerged from Motown as a new generation, a new generation R&B star.
[Gordy:] Well, Prince wasn't with Motown. Prince was with Warner Brothers.
[Blitzer:] I know he wasn't with Motown, but he was influenced by that music.
[Gordy:] There's no question about it. It was really funny, because when I met Prince and I was going to become the person that was running his company along with John Dukakis, he actually looked up to me because I was the son of his idol.
[Blitzer:] Right.
[Gordy:] So it was a really interesting paradigm, because everyone else who worked for him, he had this thing of where he would look at them like, "OK, you work for me." But in my case, he was like, "Oh, my gosh, you're the son of the man who I've looked up to for my whole life." Right? So yes, he's definitely looked up to everybody. I had a chance to I was really good friends with Stevie Wonder and I still am and Stevie was the one person that Prince would say, you know what, that guy I'm not I'm talented but I'm not as talented as that guy, right? I mean, he looked up to Stevie. He looked up to Smoky Robinson for his song-writing ability. So he really looked up to those Motown artists and, of course, Michael Jackson was one of his idols as well as his major competition. And at one time, I managed Rick James and Prince opened for Rick James and Prince actually started doing some of Rick James' show where he would go, ooh, ooh. And Rick got so mad. He's like, that guy's stealing my show. And Prince was like, hey, listen, you can't copyright ooh, ohh. So anyway, it goes, it was great and yes, Motown did have an influence on Prince.
[Blitzer:] It certainly did. Kerry, can you stick around or you got to run? Because I got some other guests, they may want to ask you a question or two. Can you stick around?
[Gordy:] Sure. Sure. I can stick around.
[Blitzer:] All right. Good. I want to get some more now on the life and career of Prince. Joining us, Brian Monroe. Brian Monroe is a former CNN.com specialist, he's now a professor at Temple University in Philadelphia. Also he's the former vice president editorial director of Ebony and Jet magazines. Also with us Stephen Thompson, NPR music editor and reviewer, and Don Lemon, our anchor. When was the last time, Brian, you had a chance to speak with Prince?
[Bryan Monroe, Former Vice President And Editorial Director, Ebony And Jet Magazines:] Well, we were very fortunate. Almost eight, nine months ago, in August 2015, I was in Minneapolis along with the National Association of Black Journalists and the convention was there. The last night of the convention, we got a surprise call from Paisley Park. Prince wants us to come on out. So he we loaded up the buses, brought 1200 people out there to a private event at Paisley Park, big sound stage as well as a studio and part of the residence. And then got a little tap on the shoulder and said, Prince wants to sit down with just a handful of you. There was like eight or 10 of us. And we're exported backstage up to his studio, you know, really working hands-on working studio. We all kind of crammed into the studio room. And he said, no, it's just too tight in here. He led us out up the stairs, past all of his golden and platinum records. Up the stairs to his conference room. We sat down. Had he two gorgeous assist they looked like they're twins. They were dressed out in the same outfit. And we sat down, and so the next hour, hour and a half, we had a one- on-one conversation with Prince, an interview where he was talking a lot about the music industry or fairly about how important the industry was to him and how much he fought against a lot of the royalties and how the business was structured. You know, he was off Warner Brothers for 18 years before he finally got his catalog back. So he talked about that. He looked great, energetic, you know, he had the nice hair and was thin and was eager and excited to talk to us.
[Blitzer:] Stephen Thompson, you've studied Prince, you listened to him, you've enjoyed him, he had a concert, what, it was the last concert, the FOX Theater in Atlanta just last week, the president of the theater said this, and I'll put it up on the screen, "Prince was a music pioneer, innovator and cultural icon. His music moved and inspired many including the fans that were able to join him as he took the stage for his final performances last week at Atlanta's FOX Theater. We along with the world mourn the loss of a music legend." What did Prince mean to be a world of music pop culture?
[Stephen Thompson, Editor And Reviewer, Npr Music:] I mean, I think that, first of all, you look at this absolutely towering collection of music and it's so important and we're going to spend the next weeks and months and years picking it apart and studying it and celebrating it, but I think there are other sides to his legacy that we should also be looking at. I think he didn't get enough credit for being an incredible collaborator and an incredible supporter of other musicians. I found myself from when I first discovered him as a kid in the '80s, I was always fascinated at how he would bring other musicians up with him up as much as possible, particularly women. He was an incredible and prolific songwriter and wrote the signature songs for a lot of for a lot of other artists. You think about "I Feel For You" by Chaka Khan, and that that's one of her signature songs. Prince wrote it. Think about "Manic Monday" by the Bangles, you know, this classic pop rock song, Prince wrote it. Obviously people know about Sinead O'Connor, her her cover of "Nothing Compares to You," that's a Prince song. And he you know, he also was always bringing up musicians in his band, so like I said, particularly women. Wendy and Lisa who performed in his band, performers like Vanity who sadly died earlier this year as well. Apollonia 6, you know, he was always nurturing other talents and seemed to be celebrating that as much as, you know, working as his own towering artist.
[Blitzer:] Yes. Those are excellent points. Don, I know he had a huge impact on you. What set him apart, from your perspective, from other artists?
[Don Lemon, Cnn Anchor:] Well, to be honest, as I've been saying, his individuality but there are lots of things. Let's look at this. Let's break this down. So you have lots of entertainers who are great lots of artists who are great entertainers. You know, you will say this person is a great dancer. This person is a great singer. This person is a great musician. This person writes. Well, guess what, Prince was all of those. Prince was a great writer. He was prolific. He was a great singer, he had a voice. At 57 years old, you know, he's doing falsetto and hitting every note as if he was 19 when he started back in the '70s. He could dance, he could play the hell out of a guitar. He could he knew music. But here is the most interesting thing, he was also a great businessman. So he was the threat across the board. I can't even say for how many numbers. Across the board. Because as your previous guest was saying, he really sort of upset the music industry because he wanted to own his own stuff, his own music. And, you know, record companies don't like that. They want to own it because that's where the money is. So if you own your own catalog, you make money. Lots of entertainers go to their grave broke because they sing, they perform, they do concerts, they make the money and then when that's done, it all dries up. And so where you have Whitney Houston who made a lot of money in her time but then lost a lot of it. Dolly Parton made a lot of money for "I Will Always Love You" because she wrote it. So Prince wanted to own his own catalog and then just bought his own catalog and owned it. So now the Prince estate, billions of dollars. So he was the overall artist and business person and the kind of person that most people in the music industry aspired to be.
[Lemon:] Do you mind, Wolf, if I ask a question to Kerry?
[Blitzer:] I want you to ask. Go ahead. Go ahead. Ask Kerry a question.
[Lemon:] Kerry, a question. Here's what I want to know. Everyone is asking me on social media, we keep talking about Paisley Park and that compound. What is inside of that compound? Either Bryan or Kerry, what's in that compound? What's in Paisley Park?
[Gordy:] Oh, my gosh, it's the most amazing compound for an artist because there is a studio, a recording studio. There is an actual stage that has a stage that he can actually perform his show, you know, get his shows together on. It's a real stage with real lighting and it's amazing. He doesn't have to go outside to do that. And he's got a little apartment up there, which is amazing, and so and all- inclusive facility that has everything that one could need to do everything that you would do in the entertainment business.
[Blitzer:] All right, guys. Everybody, stand by for a moment. We have a lot more coming up. I want to remind our viewers, a special note, an important one, Don Lemon will host a special edition of "
[Cnn Tonight," 10:] 00 p.m. Eastern through midnight, right here on CNN. You're going to want to see that as well. Let's take a break. In the meantime, let's listen a little bit of "Purple Rain."