Prince dead: Snapchat adds touching Purple Rain geofilter to pay tribute to legendary musician

Just a few hours after news broke of legendary musician Prince's death at age 57 on 21 April, Snapchat has added a special Purple Rain geofilter to honour the musical icon. Prince was found unresponsive in an elevator at his Paisley Park studio in Minnesota on Thursday.

Users of the popular app can now add a filter with an image of purple rain over their snap — a nod to one of Prince's most iconic songs, his 1984 album and the title of his cult-classic film. Not to be confused with the app's motion-tracking selfie lenses, the simple and touching tribute filter has already been received well by users.

To use the filter, simply snap a picture and then swipe left. If you don't have the filter yet, you might need to update your app.

Snapchat has also added a "We Love Prince" story to allow its more than 100 million daily users to contribute their own goodbyes all day, curated by the company.

Prior to the filter's roll out, many fans warned Snapchat to approach the idea of a commemorative Prince filter with caution after its controversial Bob Marley lens debacle.

Snapchat's commemorative tribute filter comes on the heels of its Bob Marley filter to celebrate 20 April, known as 4/20 (an unofficial holiday for those who enjoy marijuana and cannabis culture). The filter, which added the signature Bob Marley Rastafarian hat with dreadlocks, also made the user's skin darker — a feature that many people found distasteful and called "digital blackface."

Google also paid tribute to the When Doves Cry singer by changing its famous logo to a plum hue with animated rain drizzling down onto the search engine's home page.