In the sad wake of Prince’s untimely death (The seven-time Grammy winner died on April 21, 2015 at the age of 57 from an accidental fentanyl overdose.) there is also a wonderful revealing of just how impactful Prince was on the entire music spectrum.

It seems ironic that the grand-daddy of music industry publications, Billboard, in launching a new look and feel to their storied tabloid in 2013, chose Prince to grace the cover…to affect the change.

“Imagine getting a phone call on a late Sunday afternoon from your boss asking you to fly out first thing the next morning to interview Prince. That’s the situation I faced in mid-January 2013. The Purple One had agreed to receive Billboard’s Icon Award and perform at our annual awards show that coming May. And his visage was going to grace the cover introducing Billboard’s new redesign.” — Gail Mitchell,  Senior Editor*

*@GailBBMitchell– Gail Mitchell is a senior editor at Billboard, covering R&B/Hip-Hop and other genres.

See the Fascinating History of Billboard Magazine.