Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to celebrate Prince's 55th birthday. And while the Purple One's prodigious back catalog and outsized persona will always be one of the charismatic beacons for the Twin Cities music scene (and the world), there is no question that as of late, his output has been slipping. Prince's recent songs have been substandard, especially when you compare them to the inventive anthems of his past.

Here at Gimme Noise we've examined the late-period revivals of some other iconic musicians to see if Prince can perhaps learn a thing or two from how these artists resuscitated their careers and revitalized their sounds, despite growing a bit long in the tooth.

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While anticipation builds (and ticket prices fall) for Prince's two Saturday shows at Myth this weekend, the Purple One dropped a brand new video for "Fixurlifeup," a grungy, funk-fueled track drawn from his current collaboration with 3rdEyeGirl, which is currently available for digital download via iTunes by NPG Records.

The clip, which was directed by Sanaa Hamri, features plenty of live footage from a spirited recent performance, with many of the track's somewhat pedestrian lyrics included so that fans can sing right along with the Purple Yoda and his all-female band. There's even a slightly cringe-worthy image of Prince buttering some toast along with his lyrics that take a slight political dig at the U.K., before the track erupts with another of Prince's typically potent choruses that preaches rapid self-betterment.

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Prince to play at Myth

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Prince kicked off what should be an epic week with a storming of the 2013 Billboard Music Awards Sunday in Las Vegas. It was announced earlier this year that he'd be collecting the Icon Award at the ceremony, and he did, with Erykah Badu and Janelle Monáe presenting the honor.

He also performed a medley of "Let's Go Crazy" and "FIXURLIFEUP" at the ceremony with his new backing band 3rdEyeGirl. The version of his 1984 hit that he's been playing live lately is a grittier, bluesier take, and is a powerful showcase for the ensemble. The clip provides an aperitif for the sumptuous feast of two shows at Myth that hit this Saturday.

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No, this is not a joke. The Purple One is coming home again.

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A lot of things have changed in the past 30 years, but several of the controversial aspects of Prince were already fully established. For his first Rolling Stone cover story, which hit stands three decades ago this week, his twisted relationship with the press is as much of the story as the music itself.

Writer Debby Miller has quotes from Prince from other sources, but he refused to be interviewed for the story -- though the Purple One appears with his protege Vanity in a Richard Avedon photo on the cover. In the first of a half-dozen cover stories about him, Miller expertly traces the people from around the MInneapolis scene and Prince's family to fill in a fascinating portrait of the pre-Purple Rain era.

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The world lost perhaps its most beloved critic when Roger Ebert died this month at the age of 70. Since his passing, his devoted fans have taken to uploading and sharing favorite reviews of his, some not seen since their original airing. Among the most coveted finds were his verdicts on the filmography of one of Minnesota's most celebrated sons, Prince.

In loving memory, Gimme Noise looks back at Ebert's reviews of Prince's silver screen adventures from Siskel & Ebert.

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Prince performing "Bambi" on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon

Earlier this week, reports of noted guitar-smasher Prince finally crossing over to a national audience via a South by Southwest showcase started making the rounds. Tastemakers all over the country are finally going to understand what we've been blabbing about all these years! Okay, we kid.

In the new-fangled, corporate environment of exclusive parties with bold-face headliners at SXSW -- one which our colleague Andrea Swensson decided to skip this year -- it still comes as a mild surprise that Prince is indeed taking his rig to Austin. And, fortunately, the good people at Mashable can report the news in a fashion that reflects the climate.

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Could the "boy" from the North Country be the answer for our drought?

Summer un-officially began this month as pitchers and catchers reported to Florida to mark the start of another season of trying to survive in Twins territory. Even though about 12 inches of snow covers Target Field, we can still daydream of April 1 when the skies will be blue, and Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau will be healthy.

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The undeniably white and nerdy Weird Al Yankovic has received the blessing of umpteen pop musicians for his humorous pursuits over the past three decades. "Smells Like Nirvana" victim Kurt Cobain even called him "America's modern pop-rock genious [sic]" in his journals. As a result, we have a lifetime of laughable songs commenting on pop culture to the tune of tracks by Michael Jackson, Aerosmith, Chamillionaire and even Lady Gaga, who with a little prodding, gave him permission to skewer "Born This Way" as "Perform This Way."

While the list of parodies grows ever longer, there's a notable exception to this rule. According to Al himself, Prince is not down with some purple parody. In an awkward and somewhat intrusive video filmed by TMZ recently, the King of Pop Satire explains. 

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Who needs sepia when there's a purple filter?

Some of the greatest innovations and stupidest pet tricks come out of late-night television, so it's no surprise that Late Night With Jimmy Fallon introduced Princetagram to the masses this week.

With Prince fan ?uestlove -- who will perform at the Bobby Z's second Benefit 2 Celebrate Life on March 9 -- leading the Roots, Fallon's house band, perhaps this bit of technical wizardry got to jump through the usual copyright hoops a bit faster than you'd expect for the Purple One.

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