Chris Stapleton on Prince: ‘He Was an Anomaly’

On the surface, Chris Stapleton and Prince couldn’t have less in common. But the R&B-influenced country singer says the late music visionary was an inspiration, both as a singer and a fellow guitar player.

“I don’t think you can exist in music and not have been influenced by him. His music has been part of the musical psyche for the entirety of my life,” Stapleton tells Rolling Stone Country. “He’ll be missed.”

While he says he can’t choose a favorite Prince track, Stapleton was particularly impressed by his deeper cuts. “Some of the things he had just sounded like straight jazz tunes. He’d get out there,” says the Traveller singer-songwriter, who has been covering Merle Haggard songs in his set to honor the late country legend. Adding a Prince song into his show, however, would be daunting. “He’s a tough one to cover. There’s a lot going on there. He had a lot of range.”

Prince, who died on April 21st at 57, was one of a kind, according to Stapleton. “He was a remarkable musician and an anomaly. There are very few like him and there won’t be another one.”