Lenny Kravitz and Prince’s friendship dates back more than two decades, ever since the two musical legends met for the first time in 1990. Struggling to come to terms with his death, Kravitz details his love for his late-friend and mentor in a prolific eulogy penned to Rolling Stone.

“I saw him so much, in and out, that I can’t remember the last time we spoke,” Kravitz explained. “I heard about the plane landing the other week. And I knew what it was. I thought, ‘Okay, he dodged a bullet. Close call, but it’s a one-off and we move on.’ And then a week later, I got the news. It knocked me really out.”

Kravitz added: “I still haven’t really recovered. Not to be dramatic or overly sensitive, but I really feel like a piece of me died. I say that because of what he meant to me as an influence. I remember sitting in biology class in high school. I had a Sony Walkman and I’m listening to ‘Dirty Mind’. I just remember sitting there and listening to it over and over. That record just opened up my imagination as to where I wanted to go. He looked like me. I could identity with him. He was a mentor and then someone I got to know as a friend and play with. So when he left, a part of me really went too.”

During his lifetime, Prince performed with Kravitz several times, both at Paisley Park and on several of Kravitz’s tours.

“Those were fun times,” Kravitz said of his times jamming with Prince. “It was fun since we’d jump around to different instruments. I’d play drums and he’d play guitar and then I’d come and play guitar and he’d play bass or keyboards.”

Continuing to share some of his fondest memories the two musicians shared together, Kravitz’s interview with Rolling Stone celebrates a synergistic partnership in music and life that will transcend for lifetimes to come.

Read the complete essay here.