Purple Wisdom

How old are we really?" asks Prince, who turned 50 in June. "It's about ascension. It's not the other way. There's nothing down about it. Everything is better."

As an example, he points to the 21-night run in London: "I couldn't have sold out 21 nights in London in the peak of my career; it would have been an impossibility," he says.

"I look forward to these years where everything is just open sky. I wish this for every artist: freedom."