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Music Legend Prince Dead at 57; Autopsy on Prince Within Hours; Fans Pay Tribute to Prince at Paisley Park; Randy Jackson Talks Prince; 500 Possibly Dead Last Week in Mediterranean; Earth Day Celebrations Around the World. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired April 22, 2016 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[02:00:11] GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Another music legend gone before his time. Prince dies at the age of 57 years old.
NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR: Tributes pour in from fans, musical peers, and the president of the United States.
HOWELL: And venues where this iconic artist played, they are lit up in his trademark purple.
ALLEN: Nice attention this is getting, this is so deserved. All this hour, we look back at the life and legacy of one of the world's most popular and ground-breaking musicians, and that would be Prince.
Welcome to our viewers around the world. I'm Natalie Allen.
HOWELL: I'm George Howell. Thank you so much for being with us. This special edition of CNN NEWSROOM starts now.
Here's what we know so far. An autopsy is planned in the coming hours where we will learn exactly how Prince died.
ALLEN: Paramedics found him unresponsive inside an elevator at his home in Minnesota Thursday morning. Prince had already died before help arrived, according to a man who placed the emergency call.
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HOWELL: The video you see there, that was Prince's last concert right here in Atlanta, Georgia, exactly one week before his death. Just hours after the sold-out performance an ambulance rushed Prince to a hospital in Illinois. His plane made an emergency landing on his way home.
ALLEN: Fans are mourning his death but celebrating his life and his gift to the world of music. They gathered at the Apollo Theater in New York to dance to his biggest hits.
HOWELL: Take a look at this, even Mother Nature paying a tribute. A rainbow appeared over Prince's estate, Paisley Park, on Thursday afternoon.
ALLEN: Fans started filling the streets of downtown Minneapolis once the news of Prince's death broke. There is an all-night dance party at the first avenue club there. That's where Prince filmed most of his hit movie "Purple Rain." And of course, that Minneapolis, Minnesota, was his home.
Our Kyung Lah has been in the middle of that massive crowd.
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KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Minneapolis is remembering Prince in the only way he'd want to be remembered. There is music and coming out and dancing the night away throughout the night into the early morning hours. All these people, this entire crowd that you're seeing here, they are packing the street outside the club. And inside the club, the music of Prince is blaring on the speakers. People are dancing. There is no cover charge. Anyone over the age of 18 is being allowed in to celebrate Prince's life through his music. And outside the club here, what we're seeing is a memorial that has continued to grow. You can see that there are flowers, there are notes, deeply personal notes, talking about what various songs meant, notes saying that it is raining purple, that their hearts are broken. And despite the size of this crowd what we're seeing is, yes, it's a somber mood but it's also a celebratory mood as people here in Minneapolis remember someone who was not just a great musician but someone who united the city in the 1980s, and continued to be a breakthrough artist for this city, someone who never gave up on the state of Minnesota.
Kyung Lah, CNN, Minneapolis.
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ALLEN: Prince's influence reached far beyond the world of music. He was also a leading voice for artist rights to control and distribute their own material.
HOWELL: It was very important to him.
"CNN Money" senior correspondent, Brian Stelter, has a look.
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BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT & CNN HOST, RELIABLE SOURCES: Hi, there. Yes, the world mourning the death of a pop culture and pop music genius. Prince's work spanned radio, television, and the Internet, inspiring and exciting fans for well over 30 years.
Think back to the days of MTV, just launched, early 1980s, when the music video was created. Prince recognized early on the power of the music video and created must-see TV for MTV.
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STELTER: Around the same time his movie "Purple Rain" also became a big hit, an Oscar winner and Grammy winner, catapulting him to even greater levels of fame.
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STELTER: Over the years, he was able to combine funk and pop and rock and other genres in remarkable ways. He was an early innovate over the world wide web, creating websites to reach his fans directly, foreshadowing the days of Spotify, Pandora, Apple music. On those sites today, relatively small numbers of his songs available. He was always restrictive about what songs were released online and other ways like that, always wanting to control distribution. He was outspoken about the music industry and about his role in it. That's something I think other artists have learned from and been inspired from.
Today, his songs have been played on radio, there have been marathons on radio stations and MTV, and people are seeking out his music videos online as well.
He was, at the time of his death, working on his first book. It was going to be a memoir. He was working on with his brother. It's unclear how much was written or whether it will ever come out. But he chose this time in his life to start to write down his experience, to write down the story of his life, something I'm sure many of his fans wish they could read today.
Brian Stelter, CNN, New York.
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[02:05:35] HOWELL: Brian, thank you.
Let's go to Prince's recording studio, Paisley Park. Chris Welch is there outside in Chanhassen, Minnesota.
Chris, good to have you this hour.
Looking behind you, it seems there is a memorial, so many people have gathered. What's the mood?
CHRIS WELCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I have to tell you that people here who have come out to pay their respects tonight, most people here in Minnesota are still in a state of shark. We've been talking about this for hours now really here. Prince was 57 years old. This was an unexpected death. And fans have been streaming here through all afternoon, they've been coming by all night long, really just only right now have they started to dissipate and filter out. It's only maybe about a dozen or so people here behind me now. But this is the place, really, where Prince called home. He was born and raised here in Minnesota. He was a hometown icon and legend. And so people here in Minnesota really felt honored, really, by the fact that he came back to live here. He embraced his Minnesota roots. He was someone who frequented the clubs, the music venues here in Minnesota. The people would see him out and about. Obviously Paisley Park, his studios, a residence here. This was a place where he would have impromptu parties, music events throughout the years. This is certainly the home more or less of Prince over the years and people have been saying, this is shocking. We don't want to cry yet, we don't want to keep this mood too somber, we want to celebrate the music. We just saw some of the scenes from downtown Minneapolis where that is in full force. We're seeing that on full display. The party atmosphere, the smiles, the music. That's the type of thing that it seems right now that Prince would probably enjoy seeing.
It seems like the party happening there in downtown Minneapolis, I know that when Prince was alive if you were to get a ticket to a private show at Paisley Park, that was the ticket to get. So obviously this is a very sad day for so many people. Many fans around the world of Prince's.
HOWELL: Chris, if you could tell us the latest on the investigation, where do things stand now?
WELCH: Unfortunately we still have no idea, George, exactly how this happened or what happened to cause this death. We know an unidentified male at Paisley Park called 911 when he saw him unresponsive in an elevator. Authorities showed up a short time later, attempted CPR. Obviously, that did not work and he was pronounced dead a short time later. We do know there is an autopsy scheduled for tomorrow.
HOWELL: Chris Welch, thank you so much for your reporting.
ALLEN: Prince was one of the most successful recording artists of modern history. Although he wrote a song called "Money Don't Matter Tonight," Prince's net worth is estimated to be around $300 million. That's according to "Fortune." Prince made the "Forbes" celebrity 100 list just once in 2005 when he banked close to $50 million before taxes. And according to "Forbes," Prince made about $1.5 million per concert.
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ALLEN: Joining me is former editorial director of "Billboard" magazine, Bill Werde.
Bill, thank you for joining us.
BILL WERDE, FORMER EDITORIAL DIRECTOR, BILLBOARD MAGAZINE: Absolutely. A pleasure to be here.
ALLEN: I know that you've had some experiences with Prince. We'll talk about that. First, I want to start with this. Years ago when I was anchoring on CNN, when he became a symbol, we were all in a tizzy about how did we do stories on Prince now? Do you remember those days?
WERDE: Absolutely. That tizzy is what led to Prince becoming known as the artist formerly known as Prince, because none of the journalists and none of the folks in media knew how to pronounce the symbol, so ergo.
ALLEN: I think it's interesting all the things we know about -- we knew he was quirky, he was sexy, he was a little bit mysterious. But what I'm hearing now is that he was also mischievous. He had that part in him. And a good sense of humor.
[02:09:44] WERDE: Yeah. That was the Prince -- right now everyone's going through their memories, thinking about all the times Prince's music touched them. I was fortunate to be in some situations where I got to interact a bit with Prince and that's the Prince that I think I tend to remember right now is a guy that was quite mischievous. In 2013, "Billboard" was redesigning our magazine. And we were going to re-launch with an issue with Prince on the cover. And getting the interview with Prince was a little fraught. We sent a reporter to his house. Not only did it turn out that Prince wouldn't let her record anything, but he wouldn't even let her take notes. We finally got the story, a great story. As the minutes were ticking down to the point the printer is calling and asking for the cover, Prince hadn't sent any images, he was going to supply images, he wouldn't be photographed. Not at the 11th hour but the 15th hour I get a text from Prince's management and they say, Prince is right here with us, he has selected an image for you, he thinks you're really going to leek it, we're sending it now. Guy to my e-mail, open it, the photo's downloading. Turns out to be a photo of a random old woman who has nothing to do with Prince. I will add as a footnote that immediately after that, he sent three images, one was more beautiful than the next, we put on it the cover of our re-launch issue, and that issue went on to win all sorts of awards for design and a single issue of a magazine. So Prince had a real sense of humor and he also had a real vision for how people should interact with his art.
ALLEN: Yes. Someone likened him this way. Where James Brown would meet Charlie Chaplin. That was kind of the little part he had of himself. I know I heard you talking about "Purple Rain." "Time" magazine right now, I just noticed, on the Internet has a story, how "Purple Rain" totally dominated 1984.
WERDE: Yeah, well, I think there's very little question about that. As a guy who sheepishly will admit to being pretty close to a teenager in 1984, that movie and Prince in general was really inescapable then. For people of a certain age will really appreciate that if it wasn't Prince, Michael, or Madonna, I'm not sure what was happening that year. He was just on the top of his game at that point.
ALLEN: He just exploded at that point. And he was just always I think a marvel. And all of his music was music that just makes people want to get up and dance, right?
WERDE: I think he presaged this era or brought down this era of the days of the Beatles or Elvis where a pop star could be so many different things. So he was a movie star, he made music for movies, he acted in movies, he did so many things. He did them all really quite well. Then you look today at artists like Beyonce, for example, Jay-Z. Artists that want to take their brand and extend it, take their talent and really extend it into a lot of during the courses. I think Prince was ahead of that game. You were saying Prince is really known for sexiness. I think his music is just like -- I've talked to deejay friends over the years and they'll al tell you there's two artists that you keep in your bag for when whatever you're playing isn't working on the dance floor. One of them was Michael Jackson, the other is Prince. He just got you moving.
ALLEN: I get that. In ten seconds can you tell us, somebody who's young and growing up, who's never heard of Prince, how would you try to describe him?
WERDE: I think fortunately in this age of YouTube there's so much you can see. I guess I would say the people that can play guitar like Prince didn't have soul like Prince. And the people that had soul like Prince couldn't touch his virtuosity. You take all that and put it in with one of the greatest songwriters, frankly, I would argue, of all-time, and you get this complete package of a guy that was an intense entertainer, could take a show to a whole other level, could steal any stage in the world. That was Prince.
ALLEN: Very good.
We'll leave on it that. Thank you so much, the former editorial director of "Billboard" magazine, Bill Werde.
Thank you, Bill.
WERDE: Thank you for having me.
ALLEN: We noted earlier on CNN that iTunes is exploding with people downloading his albums.
HOWELL: Not surprising. This guy was just a legend.
ALLEN: I'm going to go home after work and just watch every performance I can.
HOWELL: Yes, same here. It's like the music's on Prince all day in my home for sure.
[02:14:21] This is CNN NEWSROOM. We'll hear from Stevie Wonder as we continue our special coverage on the death of Prince. Stay with us.
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HOWELL: That was Prince's song, "1999," a song we were singing for many, many, many years, leading right up to 1999. Right now, fans across the world though are mourning the death of this music legend.
ALLEN: Yes, as we noted earlier, paramedics found him unresponsive at his estate Thursday and could not revive him. We hope to learn more about the cause of his death after medical examiners in Minnesota perform an autopsy in the coming hours.
HOWELL: When you think about the countless number of musicians that Prince influenced, the list goes on and on. In an interview with CNN's Larry King in 1999, Prince said that he modeled himself after mellow music legend, Stevie Wonder, calling him an inspiration and a role model. The two then became friends.
Wonder told CNN's Anderson Cooper that news of Prince's death was a total shock to him. Listen.
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[02:19:34] STEVIE WONDER, SINGER: I was shocked. I didn't believe it. I find it so hard to believe. You know, in this journey of music we as artists that sort of create the reflection of society and reflect the people that really want to see a better world, a better people, a unity of people, all those things as did his music, too. And will continue to do for those of us who will continue to listen to it. It's a heartbreak to lose a member of that Army of love. He was a great musician. He loved music. He moved playing his instrument. And you know the times that we did jam together were amazing. All the various people he would bring together. And most of all he brought all the various cultures together. He could play classical music if he wanted to, he could play jazz, country if he wanted to, he played rock, he played blues, he played pop. Everything. He was just a great musician. And very cognizant of what his responsibility was as a musician and a human being.
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HOWELL: That's really what I loved most about him. He really did bring all different cultures together. Everyone loved Prince.
ALLEN: Yeah, and he just transcended that and he transcended music. He's so -- so much in that little package of a guy. Prince was just 5'2". But, boy, he got on that stage and he was a giant.
HOWELL: Yeah, totally.
ALLEN: We've got more reactions to the news about Prince from various people.
From model Naomi Campbell, "Please say this is not true, you were a genius, I never missed a show, I love you Prince Rogers Nelson."
Whoopi Goldberg, "This is what it sounds like when doves cry. Prince, rest in peace. Condolences to his family and to us all."
HOWELL: Chelsea Clinton tweeted, "Thank you, Prince, all my thoughts and prayers are with your loved ones."
The National Football League tweeted this, "One of the greatest Super Bowl halftime performances of all-time," talking about that 2007 performance in Miami in the rain, Purple Rain.
ALLEN: Purple Rain.
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ALLEN: So we have to go back and watch that too, on the list.
HOWELL: Absolutely.
ALLEN: Prince had a reputation for protecting his privacy, and as we mentioned earlier, CNN's Larry King had a rare opportunity to interview him back in 1999. Here's more of that interview.
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LARRY KING, FORMER CNN HOST, LARRY KING LIVE: A lot of people said, he's hard to talk to. You're not hard to talk to. Where did this reputation begin that you are difficult? You're not hearing it here for the first time.
PRINCE, MUSICIAN & SINGER: Probably where all reputations begin. I think the media plays a big part in one's perception of me. Until one sits down and talks to me they can't really know me.
KING: Should you have been more public, should you have done more things like this?
PRINCE: No, I kind of did what I wanted to do. I wanted my music, even now, to speak loudest for me.
KING: But you're not uncomfortable here, through.
PRINCE: No, not at all.
KING: But the reputation is that you would be. How do you fight that, other than by counteracting it?
PRINCE: Well, I'm not -- I don't think in terms of fighting. I don't think that you win anything by fighting. I'm the type of person that likes to look at things for exactly the way they are.
KING: Do you get angry? You're a perfectionist musically, you must get angry. PRINCE: I use my anger with humor. I have a way of being very
stern, but I always find the irony and it I always make it funny. I make it funny for myself and the person I'm --
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KING: So the person you're directing at is not humbled or made to feel less than a human?
PRINCE: Well, no one can make you feel anything. You pretty much are going to fall in there if you aren't spiritually based.
KING: How do you handle that aspect of the media which has often given you trouble, the tabloids?
PRINCE: I don't have trouble with anybody.
KING: Do you read them?
PRINCE: No.
KING: Do you hear about them?
PRINCE: Very seldom.
KING: Did you think any part of a personality's private life is our business? Do you think your marriage is our business?
PRINCE: Well, you know -- I'm like this. My music is my music. That's pretty much what you come to the party for.
KING: Naturally.
PRINCE: If I give you something else, that's me giving you something else. If you seek something else, there's something inside of you that's lacking, I would think. You know, so I think that personal actually means personal.
KING: But do you wonder why the public wants to know? Don't wonder?
PRINCE: No.
KING: Are you interested in the personal lives of other people?
PRINCE: Let's see, Michael Jordan?
KING: Yeah, Michael Jordan, you're a big fan.
PRINCE: Big fan of Michael Jordan.
KING: Are you interested in how his marriage goes?
PRINCE: No.
KING: No. Interested in how he gets along with his children? PRINCE: No.
KING: Care what --
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PRINCE: Interested in how he gets along with that rim.
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KING: Well said.
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HOWELL: Prince is all about business.
ALLEN: He's cool.
HOWELL: Absolutely.
ALLEN: A cool man.
HOWELL: Prince wrote several songs that were hits for other artists. In 1986, the song "Manic Monday" by the Bangles was written by Prince. "Nothing Compares to You," Sinead O'Connor, was one of Prince's songs.
ALLEN: I love both those songs. In 1989, Prince and Madonna recorded a song together called "Love Song" for her "Like a Prayer" album. And Alicia Keys' song, "How Come You Don't Call Me Anymore," was originally released by Prince another back side of "1999."
HOWELL: Reaction from around the world, record producer and "American Idol" Judge Randy Jackson shares his memories on Prince. You'll hear that just ahead here on NEWSROOM. Stay with us.
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ALLEN: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. Thanks for joining us. I'm Natalie Allen.
HOWELL: I'm George Howell. We continue our coverage this hour on the death of Prince.
ALLEN: Medical examiners in the U.S. state of Minnesota will perform an autopsy on the legendary musician in just a few hours. Paramedics found him unresponsive inside an elevator at his estate Thursday and could not revive him. Had apparently already died before help arrived, according to a 911 caller. [02:30:00] HOWELL: Reaction now from the U.S. President Barack
Obama. Expressing his sympathy in a statement, sending his thoughts and prayers to Prince's family, the band, and everyone who loved him. Saying, "Today the world lost a creative icon. Michelle and I join millions of fans from around the world in mourning the sudden death of Prince."
ALLEN: In New York, the famous Apollo Theater is honoring the music legend. The venue changed its marquee in reference to some of his songs, "In honor of the beautiful Prince, nothing compares to you, I only wanted to see you laughing in the Purple Rain."
HOWELL: In New York, on Broadway, the cast of "Hamilton" honored Prince at the end of their show Thursday night with a dance set to "Let's Go Crazy."
ALLEN: Here's a glance.
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ALLEN: Love that.
HOWELL: Got to love it.
ALLEN: Outside of Minneapolis, fans are leaving tributes at Prince's Paisley Park recording studios.
CNN's Ryan Young is there.
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RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The big question we've heard over and over as people have walked by this memorial is what happened to Prince? They wanted to know if there was any more information. That so far has not come out in terms of the investigation going on here. What we do know is thousands of people have shown up and want to pay their respects. You can see this memorial. We've talked to people who have traveled more than seven hours to stand out here at Paisley Park, wanting to be a part of the celebration for Prince's life. All across the world, especially here in the city, people are playing his music tonight.
What we do know about what happened to the 57-year-old singer that is he's found unresponsive in an elevator. Someone called 911. From the 911 transcripts we know there was some confusion in terms of getting someone here to this address. Once they did arrive, they tried to perform CPR but that did not work and he was pronounced dead here at the scene. We know an autopsy will be performed Friday. So many people have questions. We do know he's been battling some illnesses but hopefully there will be some answers to find out what happened to Prince.
Ryan Young, CNN, Minnesota.
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HOWELL: The life Prince. What a career, what a legacy. I'm even having trouble realizing that he's no longer with us. It's a very difficult thing for so many people around the world.
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To talk about this, with us now is Randy Jackson, an American bassist, singer, record producer, music manager, and better known most recently as a judge on "American Idol."
Randy, thanks for joining us on the line.
RANDY JACKSON, MUSICIAN/SINGER & RECORD PRODUCER/MUSIC MANAGER & AMERICAN IDOL JUDGE (voice-over): Thank you. Thank you.
HOWELL: I was telling our viewers that this is a tough day for so many people.
JACKSON: I mean, it's a tough day for me. I can't even believe, as you said earlier, I can't even believe this has happened. I can't believe Prince is no longer with us. At least his spirit and his music will live on for ever. The greatness that he left us and showered us with. But man, it's just such a depressing day. I had to cancel most of my day today, I couldn't take it.
HOWELL: I understand. I know that you've had some personal interactions with Prince. What can you share with us about his character, about who he was as an individual?
JACKSON: I've had various interactions with him through various artists I was working with and through the great artist who worked with him and throughout his career. We've had many touches. We had him on "Idol" in one of the finale shows on "American Idol." one of the things I must say is that he is probably -- if you have Elvis, Michael Jackson, and David Bowie as one pillar, Prince is that side of the pillar of male icons that just changed the face, the history, the route, wherever music was going, and in the most fearless, controversial, whatever kind of way, they really took the bull by the horns themselves and went in their own direction and charted their own course to unbelievable greatness.
I mean, some of the times that I interacted with Prince, new artists that I was working with, he loved this artist Nick Acosta I used to manage. He loved van hunt, another artist I used to manage from the Atlanta area. He was all about the legacy, because he loved James Brown, he loved sly and the family stone, Larry Graham and his company. And he loved new artists as well. So music, fashion, art, culture, everything was so his life. And I so loved that. And he was truly one of a kind.
[02:35:00] HOWELL: You know, he played in Atlanta and I was talking to my wife about this, and we were debating getting tickets. I wish we would have gotten those tickets to see that performance. But I do remember seeing him once before. And this is a guy who wouldn't miss a beat, regardless of the situation. You think back to the Super Bowl performance back in 2007. The rain's coming down, the life of Prince, what a career, what a legacy. I'm even having trouble realizing he's no longer with us. It's a very difficult thing for so many.
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Having a technical error with that pre-tape. But it was really nice to hear Randy Jackson talking to us.
And Randy had a point. He talked about the fact that Prince was so bold. He really didn't -- he created the music and it came from him. It was deep within him. And people around the world were attracted to it. They loved it.
ALLEN: Yeah, he just -- everything on that stage was just moving.
HOWELL: Pure and authentic. It was great.
ALLEN: I love hearing him described as a humble man. You can tell from that interview with Larry King that he was. He didn't have to talk about himself a lot.
HOWELL: No, he didn't. The music and the art did it for him.
ALLEN: You're right.
Coming up, we'll bring you some of the day's other news after a short break.
HOWELL: Plus, more on our top story, the death of music legend, Prince. We'll have reaction and tributes from fans and fellow musicians. Stay with us.
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[02:39:53] HOWELL: Other stories we are following around the world on CNN NEWSROOM.
Chinese authorities have reportedly gained control over a big fire at a chemical warehouse in eastern Jiangsu Province. explosion rocked the plant Friday morning and forced evacuations from nearby factories. Local officials say there are no reports of casualties at this point. We don't know what caused the explosion so far. Chinese state media say the factory stored liquid oil and gas products.
ALLEN: And now to yet another tragedy at sea involving migrants. The U.N. says as many as 500 people may have drowned in the Mediterranean trying to reach Europe. HOWELL: It happened last week when human traffickers crammed
people into an overcrowded ship and that ship sank.
CNN's Atika Shubert talked to one of the 41 survivors and has this report.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The captain of this, he says that he sheltered. He say that, whoa, whoa, ship coming, ship don't want to go down.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The ship was going down like this.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Completely down like this. Then watching people swimming. They don't know how to swim. They're like this. Saying help us, help us, help us. I'm wanting my brother. My brother told me that, please help me, brother, please. The water coming very badly. The sea was going immediately down. I'm not seeing any ships. I just felt it. I just cried. I can do nothing.
People that cried saying, help us, help us. The people are going very far, the water is taking. The water is taking like this. They're going very far. I've seen only the jacket. The jacket. We have something light.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm seeing light, yes, going very far. I can do nothing. I'm watching my brother. I'm just looking for my brothers. Can he be safe? No, nothing.
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What happened to your brothers?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're dead.
SHUBERT: All six of your brothers?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah, all dead there.
SHUBERT: I'm very sorry. That's terrible to see.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Watching my brothers -- help me. I can't. I can't. I can't.
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HOWELL: Again, the story of just one survivor. And there's so many stories of people that make this dangerous journey, keeping in mind the U.N. says as many as 500 migrants may have drowned in the Mediterranean trying to reach Europe. We'll continue to follow that story across Europe.
Friday is Earth Day. And 155 countries are celebrating in a historic way.
Meteorologist Derek Van Dam has this report.
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DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Today is Earth Day, celebrated by over one billion people in 192 countries, highlighting earth's fragile environment and hopefully spurring some action to help protect it along the way. But this particular day is going to be unique. Because leaders from all over the world are gathering in New York City at the United Nations to help put pen to paper for the Paris agreement, which if you recall was established in December of 2015. This aims to keep global warming below 2 degrees and even striving to curb that to 1.5 degrees. But this will be no easy feat considering that we have had record-setting temperatures so far in 2016 with spikes across the globe from North America to Africa and parts of Europe.
And just highlighting the urgency of how important this Paris agreement is, take a look at this. Our warmest years ever on record, 2010, 2014, and 2015. They pale in comparison to what's happening this year. Look at 2016. We're over 1.2 degrees Celsius above average. There are many things we can attribute to our warming temperatures, including the recent strong El Nino event that we're starting to phase out of. And look how this is impacting temperatures across the globe. We have recorded our hottest march on record in Australia, Asia and Africa. Number three warmest marches. And North America continues to sizzle, their warmest March on record. This is impacting sea ice in the Arctic. It's at its lowest maximum extent in the wintertime. This has major ramifications for the world environment, especially when you combine that with glacial melt. This is actually an artist's rep edition of the coastal city of Shanghai and how a 2-degree warming world could flood even the financial district.
Back to you.
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ALLEN: We'll have more on Earth Day tomorrow, Friday. Well, it is Friday, isn't it? As the hours push on here.
Queen Elizabeth and U.S. President Obama are set to have lunch on Friday.
[02:45:09] HOWELL: That is right. This comes a day after the monarch turned 90 years old.
Our royal correspondent, Max Foster, reports on Thursday's celebrations and tributes to Queen Elizabeth.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MAX FOSTER, CNN LONDON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Queen
Elizabeth's 90th birthday started with the unveiling of three portraits by the renowned photographer, Annie Liebovitz. The king with her two eldest grandchildren and five great grandchildren, another portrait picketed her with beloved corgis at Windsor Castle, and with her only daughter, Princess Anne.
Her son, inspired by Shakespeare, paying tribute to the monarch and his mother.
PRINCE CHARLES: She shall be to the happiness of England, an aged princess. Many days shall see her and yet no day without a deed to crown it.
FOSTER: A portrait with Charles and two future queens even made into commemorative stamps.
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FOSTER: The queen herself in Windsor where thousands turned out to see her on a walk-about outside her main residence, Windsor Castle. This has become a signature move of the monarchy. The queen has always made a point of getting close to the public, and this day was no exception, as the queen ushers in her tenth decade, she shows no signs of slowing down.
UNIDENTIFIED MILITARY SERVICEMEMBER: Fire!
(GUNFIRE)
FOSTER: The day was marked by royal gun salutes in key cities across the U.K.
Prime Minister David Cameron led the tributes from parliament.
DAVID CAMERON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: The reach of Her Majesty's diplomacy is without comparison, so much so that as a result of a visit to balance moral she can claim to be the only woman who every drove the king after Saudi Arabia around in a car.
(LAUGHTER)
FOSTER: The celebrations came to a close with the queen lighting the first in a chain of more than 1000 beacon that spread across the country and the commonwealth.
Thursday was actually more of a private occasion with a family dinner hosted by Prince Charles at Windsor. Birthday celebrations will culminate in June with a street party for thousands outside Buckingham Palace.
Max Foster, CNN, Windsor.
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ALLEN: There's also a cool series of photographs on social media showing a picture of her every year of her life, and it goes really fast, from when she was a baby, all the way up to age 90.
HOWELL: That's amazing.
Happy birthday to the queen.
Back to the death of Prince, we are continuing to follow that story as tributes have been pouring in from around the world.
Our special coverage continues after the break.
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[02:52:31] ALLEN: "Raspberry Beret," another hit in the massive catalog of music legend Prince. The singer/songwriter died unexpectedly Thursday at the age of 57.
HOWELL: What is your favorite song?
ALLEN: It's impossible. They're all so fantastic. I really like dancing to "When Doves Cry."
HOWELL: I'm a "Purple Rain" guy, it's my song.
Social media, it is blowing up with reaction.
ALLEN: Latoya Jackson, sister of the late Michael Jackson, tweets, "We just lost an incredible talent. So sorry to hear about Prince. We will always love your music forever and ever. Rest in peace."
M.C. Hammer says, "I love this man. Too soon. Can't comprehend it but it's unfortunately true. Heaven is yours, rest in peace, Friend."
HOWELL: Boy George of Culture Club tweets, "Today is the worst day ever. Prince, RIP, I am crying."
From Billy Idol, "Oh my god, I can't believe that Prince has died. He was a great, great talent, RIP." And pop star Katy Perry tweets this, "And just like that, the
world lost a lot of magic. Rest in peace, Prince. Thanks for giving us so much."
The news of Prince's death continues to spread around the world and we've seen a number of touching tributes to the superstar.
Jeanne Moos has this report for us.
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JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He took us for a spin with his music.
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MOOS: And his style.
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MOOS: When word came --
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Prince has left us.
MOOS: Aretha Franklin puts it like this.
ARETHA FRANKLIN, SINGER: It's such a blow.
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MOOS: The purple tributes began to rain down, rest in purple from the unknown and the famous.
Madonna Instagrammed this photo.
Katy Perry tweeted, "And just like that the world lost a lot of magic."
The Apollo Theater changed its marquee in honor of the beautiful one, or as the media used to call him --
LARRY KING, FORMER CNN HOST, LARRY KING LIVE: The artist formerly known as Prince.
MOOS: Those were the days when he had surrendered his name for a symbol.
KING: Can you tell us what this signifies?
PRINCE: Me.
MOOS: CNN identified him on screen by the symbol, morphing between male and female.
KING: Some say you're different.
PRINCE: As compared to what?
[02:55:01] MOOS: Nothing compared to Prince.
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MOOS: He wore his fame lightly.
PRINCE: I'm Prince. How rude of me. I haven't given you enough time to freak out yet. You may do so now.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my god.
MOOS: His interviews were rare.
PRINCE: I don't look back much. I try to stay in the now and live in the now. I think it keeps you young.
MOOS: Now he's died now relatively young.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: At the age of 57.
MOOS: He played the guitar as if it were a woman and a woman as if she were a guitar, even rode his instrument.
One of the more touching tweets was when my teacher found out when Prince died.
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MOOS: "It's just one of those days when you just hold your head in your hands."
Jeanne Moos, CNN --
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MOOS: -- New York.
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ALLEN: Terribly sad day. We can rest assured his music and legacy will never die.
HOWELL: Will live on forever.
ALLEN: I'm Natalie Allen.
HOWELL: I'm George Howell. Thanks for being with us.
We'll be back with another hour of CNN NEWSROOM and much more coverage of the life and death of Prince after the break.
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