Demand for Prince music soars as death reverberates across Triangle

Daniel Matti, of Schoolkids Records in Raleigh, said the demand for Prince's music is at an all-time high.

"Either vinyl, or CD. I have even had a couple of phone calls to see if we had t-shirts," he said.

But everything is sold out. The only Prince album in the store belongs to Matti.

"I was deeply saddened. I have been a Prince fan for quite a while," he said.

For Raleigh resident and artist Marcus Anderson, who had the pleasure of playing with Prince, the loss is personal.

"When it was actually confirmed... it was unreal," he said about hearing the news of Prince's death. "He always made it about the music. Non-stop music. He always enjoyed it."

From his first appearance on network television in 1980, to his Super Bowl performance in 2007, Prince put the music ahead of all else.

"He would just tell me to follow the music, let the music speak for itself," Anderson said. "Always try to be original."

Matti said seeing Prince was on his bucket list.

"I'm saddened I can't see him live," he said.

Like so many legends, Prince will live on in the art left behind.

"It's just a loss for music," Matti said. "He was a pioneer of so many genres of music. The fact that he blended them all together is a pretty big deal."