Prince's Biggest Celebrity Fans Come Forward With Powerful Responses to His Death

"He was a great musician. He loved music. He loved playing his instrument," Stevie said during an interview with Anderson Cooper. "He could play classical music if he wanted to. He could play jazz if he wanted to, he could play country if he wanted to. He played rock, you know, he played blues. He played pop. He played everything. . . . A great musician, a great producer, a great songwriter, someone that allowed himself to be himself and encouraged others to be themselves. It's always great when we don't allow fear to put our dreams to sleep and he didn't." He added: "It's a heartbreak and I was shocked. I didn't believe it as I find it so hard to believe. It's a heartbreak to lose a member of that army of love."

Carmen, whose real name is Tara Leigh Patrick, told Us Weekly that she has the singer to thank for launching her career and telling her that she's "not a Tara." Prince signed her to his record label after watching her try out for (and fail) to join a girl group back in the early '90s. "I was so shocked and heartbroken to hear about the loss of my mentor, Prince,” she said. "The world has lost a truly incredible spirit and musical genius. What a blessing it is to be one of the chosen ones who had the chance to work so closely with him. He gave me my name, he believed in me, and he has inspired an entire generation. I will always love him . . . 'Sometimes it Snows in April.'"

"[I'll remember] just the great times that we had and just constantly being inspired by how he did things his way [and] never let anybody deter what he wanted to accomplish creatively and musically," Adam told People. "As a musician, I can't tell you how much that's rubbed off on me. [I was] lucky to call him a friend. . . . I'm still really shocked . . . I'm gonna miss the guy so much."