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It’s not enough that in the year 2016, we have lost some of the most important and iconic people in Black history, entertainment and culture, but that it’s only June! There’s still half the year left. 🙁

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Not to think about death more than we have to, we take a look back down memory lane and celebrate the lives of two great entertainers who many didn’t know had a great relationship

Singer Prince met Ali for the first time at a 1997 press conference intended to promote The World Healing Honors, a benefit concert raising money for charities that confronted and worked to eliminate bigotry and prejudice around the globe, according to The Los Angeles Times.

TAKE A LOOK: Muhammad Ali Best Quotes Ever

“My friend Londell McMillan called me a couple of days ago and asked me, ‘Muhammad wants you to…’ and I said ‘Yes.’ I didn’t even let him finish,” Prince said.

“He could have said, ‘He wants you to mow the lawn’ and I would have been down with it,” admits Prince. “Muhammad is my hero and has been since I was a child.”

It was a little known secret that Prince was a big sports fan.  A admittedly big Chicago Bulls fans and would watch games while he was performing on stage.

The two had a budding friendship and Ali called the Purple Rain singer a “genius” in his message posted to his official social media account on April 22 alongside a picture of the two icons together.

He wrote: “We’ve lost a true original. @Prince was someone who cared for others & used his genius to help many.”

Now, we have lost another ‘true original’ in Ali.

Throughout the years since their first meeting, they two still remained friends and crossed paths rarely in humanitarian efforts. But because of Prince’s religion, Seventh Day Adventist, he couldn’t openly say aall the good things he’s done.

Both will forever be severely missed.

muhammad ali prince WATCH: Rare Footage Of Prince, Muhammad Ali Is My Hero

Rare Footage Of Prince Talking About What Muhammad Ali Means To Him [VIDEO]  was originally published on blackdoctor.org