Minnesota Lawmakers Seeks To Honor Prince With Congressional Gold Medal

Lawmakers from Minnesota introduced a resolution Monday that seeks to award the Congressional Gold Medal to the late pop superstar Prince for his "indelible mark on Minnesota and American culture."

The resolution, which may be referred to as the "Prince Congressional Medal Act," was introduced by Senator Amy Klobuchar in the Senate and Representative Ilhan Omar in the House.

The Congressional Gold Medal is the highest civilian honor awarded by Congress. It was first given to George Washington in 1776. Since then, only 163 notable figures have received the award. Its recipients include The Wright Brothers, civil rights leader Rosa Parks, The Tuskegee Airmen and the Dalai Lama.

In a news release, Klobuchar talked about growing up with Prince's music and being proud of his legacy.

"I was always proud to say he was from Minnesota," Klobuchar said. "The world is a whole lot cooler because Prince was in it — he touched our hearts, opened our minds, and made us want to dance. With this legislation, we honor his memory and contributions as a composer, performer, and music innovator. Purple reigns in Minnesota today and every day because of him."

Meanwhile, Omar, the first African refugee to become a Member of Congress, said "Prince is a Minnesota icon," adding that the artist showed the world that "it was okay to be a short, Black kid from Minneapolis and still change the world."

"He not only changed the arc of music history; he put Minneapolis on the map. Places like First Avenue, Uptown are landmarks because of Prince. I am proud to introduce this resolution to give Prince the recognition he deserves," Omar added.

According to the resolution, Prince is "widely regarded as one of the greatest musicians of his generation," having released 39 studio albums during his lifetime. On top of that, he also won seven Grammy awards, six American Music Awards, seven Brit Awards, four MTV Video Music Awards, an Oscar for Best Original score to the movie "Purple Rain" and a Golden Globe Award.

Born Prince Rogers Nelson in Minneapolis on June 7, 1958, Prince was recognized as a musical prodigy from an early age. At 19, he signed a recording contract with Warner Brothers where he juggled roles including writer, producer and musical arranger in his recording.

His hits include "Purple Rain," "Kiss," "When Doves Cry" and "Let's Go Crazy," which all made it to Billboard's Hot 100 charts as per The Guardian.

Prince died due to an accidental fentanyl overdose at his Paisley Park estate in Chanhassen, Minnesota, on April 21, 2016. He was 57.

As per congressional rules, the resolution will require at least two-thirds of support from the two chambers of Congress before it can be signed into law by President Joe Biden.