Ten years ago, the opioid crisis claimed a god Nights and Weekends Editor Published April 21, 2026 1:19PM (EDT) Prince performs his first of three shows onstage during "One Night... Three Venues" in 2009 t (Photo by Kristian Dowling/Getty Images) A version of this essay first appeared in  Crash Course , Salon's free morning newsletter.  Sign up for early access to articles like this, plus more of Salon’s bold journalism on how policies, movements and culture wars affect real people. For many of his 57 years on Earth, Prince was treated like a living god. An untouchable genius of songcraft and sex who straddled the frequently divergent worlds of massive chart success and universal critical acclaim. He was in our world but not of it, sent down to carry revelations of new ways to be funky, freaky and free. He was a diminutive guitar deity who could only have descended in America , but calling him something so plain and mortal as “American” still feels close to sacrilege.…