MTV Turns Its Logo Purple to Honor Prince's Life and Career

As the music industry, and millions of fans, are reeling from the shocking news that Prince died today at 57, MTV is airing music videos on three of its networks as part of a multiplatform tribute to the iconic singer-songwriter. MTV will also change its logo to purple for the rest of the day to honor Prince. MTV and MTV2 began airing a block of Prince's most influential music videos at 1:55 p.m. ET, while MTV Live joined in at 3 p.m. The networks will also run archival interviews, behind-the-scenes moments and other footage. The network's Snapchat Discover channel will be Prince-focused on Friday, while MTV News will air a podcast spotlighting his impact on music and is dispatching correspondents to New York and Paisley Park to speak with fans. VH1 will air Prince's 1984 film Purple Rain several times today and tomorrow starting at 5:30 p.m. ET. On-air personality Sway will host special coverage. Cable news channels have been airing nonstop coverage since around 1 p.m. Even the Weather Channel's Weather Underground changed all the rain icons purple (instead of the traditional blue). Prince died today at his Paisley Park estate outside Minneapolis, his publicist said in a statement, adding, "there are no further details as to the cause of death at this time." The news of Prince's death came just hours after new MTV President Sean Atkins detailed his plans to bring music back to the network in an announcement before this afternoon's upfront. But the network ended up returning to its music roots far earlier than Atkins had planned. Beyond listening to Prince's music and watching his unforgettable videos, fans also flocked to YouTube to stream his legendary Super Bowl XLI halftime show from 2007, considered to be one of the best ever. Social media tributes have been pouring in all day, including this remembrance from New Girl star Zooey Deschanel. In one of his last TV appearances, Prince played himself on the show's post-Super Bowl episode in 2014. Prince was a true gentleman, a king among men. He was as sharp and as talented as they come. I'm so glad I was lucky enough to work with him — zooey deschanel (@ZooeyDeschanel) April 21, 2016 New Girl's producers added: "We are all so deeply saddened to hear about the passing of this hero of ours—and so grateful to have had the opportunity to meet him and to have him on our show. It's something we will remember forever. Our thoughts go out to his family. We are among the millions of people who will truly miss the brilliant Artist." The episode featuring Prince is currently available on Netflix.

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MTV Turns Its Logo Purple to Honor Prince's Life and Career

Airs music videos, preps Snapchat takeover after shocking death at 57

Jason Lynch

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Jason Lynch