ATLANTA — Everyone who wasn't there now wishes they had been.
It was just one week ago that Prince held his final concert in Atlanta after cancelling performances at the Fox Theatre the week before.
A piano and a microphone. That’s how the legendary singer billed what would be his final concert.
He did two shows with just a baby grand piano and his enchanting voice.
“His voice was amazing. He had so much energy like in addition to just singing his heart out and playing the piano,” said fan Alex Reyes.
Reyes told Channel 2’s Carol Sbarge she still feels obvious joy when she talks about seeing the Prince concert at the Fox.
She said she saw no signs of him being ill.
“He was just so filled up with the music. He would jump off the keys and do laps around the stage,” Reyes said.
A fan in the front row at the 10 p.m. concert sent Sbarge a picture of Prince and said she didn't think he looked well.
In tribute fans are leaving flowers at the Fox, heartbroken about his death.
“I grew up with parents listening to him so I grew up listening to him in the house. I'm shocked,” said Alexander Torres.
Reyes told Sbarge she feels a special loss for the musician she finally got to see in concert. She grew up in Minnesota where Prince is from.
“He's our hometown legend and is such a loss not only to Minnesota, the music industry, to the world. You don't have a lot of musicians like him anymore,” Reyes said.
Alan Rosenberg's been a fan since he saw his first Prince concert 31 years ago.
Rosenberg told Channel 2’s Richard Elliot he had front row seats to last week's concert.
He says other nearby fans were just as excited to be there as he was.
“It was a very emotional show, just watching him at the piano and being as close as we were to the stage, 10 feet from him and his fingers,” Rosenberg told Elliot.
“It was amazing. He was full of energy. He apologized for having to postpone the show from the week before because he was sick, and he gave an awesome, about an hour and a half performance, and I would never have guessed anything was wrong,” Reyes said.
Rosenberg said Prince's performance amazed him too and he still can't believe he saw the last concert.
“I just feel blessed to have been able to see him one last time. I just wish, you know, he wasn't gone. He was gone too soon,” Rosenberg said
For Rosenberg, 2016 has been especially hard. He was a big fan of the late David Bowie, too.
The Fox Theatre released a statement late Thursday afternoon saying:
"Prince was a music pioneer, innovator and cultural icon. His music moved and inspired many, including the fans that were able to join him as he took the stage for his final performances last week at Atlanta's Fox Theatre. We, along with the world, mourn the loss of a music legend."
Atlanta performers say Prince was major influence
Some of Atlanta’s biggest music names are stunned at the sudden death of Prince.
Channel 2’s Jovita Moore talked with Chris “Ludacris” Bridges about his relationship with the superstar, and the impact his death is having.
“Tell me about your reaction when you learned today that Prince had died," Moore asked Bridges.
"I believe like the rest of the world I'm in complete disbelief. Totally unexpected. Not anything that anyone saw coming. I felt like Prince was immortal," Bridges said.
"Can you pick a favorite song, a favorite album, there's so much of it," Moore asked.
"It is, it really is. And, and that's why, you know, it just -- 'Purple Rain' would be the favorite but one of my, I think everybody's gonna say 'Purple Rain,' so I would wanna' say, you know, 'When Doves Cry' is one of my favorites," Bridges said.
Bridges says Prince was very funny.
“The thing that a lot of people don't know is how great his sense of humor was,” Bridges said. "I'm just fortunate to have been invited to so many different places. He actually used to invite people over to his home in Hollywood and then he would perform in his own living room."
Bridges spoke on about his craftsmanship as a musician.
"He was a poet. And these are the things I love to celebrate today and to talk about. This is a man who played 27 different instruments. Think about that,” Bridges said. "And that's why I say, there will never be another Prince, not in our life time. We're talking ever. Ever, ever."
Moore also spoke with music producer Dallas Austin Thursday evening. He credits Prince with having the single biggest impact on his career.
"I kind of based my music career off of him since I was like, 7 or 8 years old," Dallas said. “He was everything. I mean, that's the reason I learned how to play keyboards, and learned to write music and compose music and everything was just totally based around Prince. Period. As long as I can remember."
Singer, songwriter and rapper Cee Lo Green told Channel 2’s Carl Willis that Prince had a huge impact on his career.
"That individual is at least 75 percent of who I am. Prince is big for me because he's everything," Green said.
Prince was influenced by icons like James Brown and Jimi Hendrix, but forged a style uniquely his own and become a legend himself.
Green was one of the faithful fans who witnessed 57-year-old's final performance.
"None of us thought it was that serious but I will say this, when he performed, he performed very strong."
Local radio stations honor Prince
Music fans around the metro area are remembering Prince as an artist who made magic on stage.
Channel 2’s Tom Jones was at radio station V-103 Thursday afternoon as caller after caller spoke about the impact the singer had on their lives.
The callers talked about remembering specific songs and where they were when they heard them.
For many, Prince's death was so sudden that the callers said it's hard for them to believe.
“I'm sad. It's like so unreal,” one caller said.
Many callers were near tears and reminiscing about songs with which they grew up. One caller said she played her Prince music so loudly that her neighbors had to be in agony.
“I remember when he came out with 'HouseQuake.' Whew. I know they didn't like me either because that was another one I used to clean up the apartment to,” the caller said.
Prince died Thursday in his studio in Chanhassen, Minnesota, a week after performing at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta. He a canceled a show a week earlier because of an illness.
“It was terrible. I was just in shock,” on-air personality Ramona Debreux told Jones.
Debreux said she was on the air when she got the news that Prince was dead at 57 years old.
She remembers seeing Prince perform at The Tabernacle years ago. At a meet-and-greet afterward, she said Prince paid special attention to her.
“I just remember him saying, ‘You. You know? You're nice. I like you. I’m going to call you the pretty deejay,’” Debreux told Jones.
But what she remembers most of all is the magic that Prince made on stage. She told Jones that he was a pioneer in the music industry.
“He was the perfect combination of businessman meets artist while being still extremely creative and so talented. I mean, he could sing. He could play anything,” Debreux said.
V-103 on-air personality Big Tigga told Jones that he has more than 17 hours' worth of Prince music on his iTunes, which he has been playing since learning of the singer’s death.
At radio station KISS 104, Prince’s death is pretty much all anyone is talking about
That station has been playing Prince music and talking calls from listeners all afternoon.