As most of us know, Prince had a tremendous backlash in the mid 1980s when he didn't showed up and took part in the Michael Jackson recording "We Are The World" - the "USA For Africa" project collecting money for the starving in Africa,

A lot of people got angry with nasty comments on Prince for not taking part. And this was really hurting Prince's career back then, it was hurting his recordsales in the US, despite he was at his creative peak in his career.

and as you know,

Prince's answer back then was the songs "Hello" the B-side to "Pop Life" & "4 The Tears In Your Eyes", the Prince song on the LP to USA For Africa.

Do you think the recent "controversy", Prince being "Pro-burqa", is hurting Prince, just like "USA For Africa" did....?

How do you think Prince fells about all this, the latest "Burqagate":

A) Do you think he cares at all, is he worried ?

B) Do you think Prince does not care, he is actually laughing at it all ?

C) Did Prince actually calculate with this strong reaction since "Burqas" is a hot issue in Europe these years ?

D) Do you think this (as we say in Denmark) is a "Storm in a glass of water", the burqagate will be soon forgotten ?

Finally:

E) Do you think this whole Burqa-case is inspiring a great Prince song (like "Hello" did back then) ?

[Edited 6/29/11 6:19am]

[Edited 6/29/11 6:25am]

I don't really see much backlash apart from the fan community. To put it bluntly, he's not relevant enough for the general public to care much about.

Vict0r said:

I don't really see much backlash apart from the fan community. To put it bluntly, he's not relevant enough for the general public to care much about.

Especially on the org... If he was Lady Gaga then yes, general public would care about a lot more.

I'd hardly even call the 1985 one a true backlash. It was a minor controversy for about a week. ATWIAD still went to no.1, and a year later "Kiss" went to no.1... It's not exactly in the 'Cat Stevens' league of backlashes now is it

Neither episode had that great of a backlash and I dont think P cared too much back in 85, but might care more in 2011.

I have yet to see anything about the burqa quote besides on the org. I think Prince is universally ignored by the entertainment news industry at this point, because he isn't willing to suck up to them. He's not gonna work his way to there good side just to get knocked down again.

I don't think Prince even put any thought into what he said and it is his view and he probably doesn't care. The USA for AFRICA as he STATED HE TOLD THEM he would give them a SONG for the ALBUM. He NEVER COMMITTED to BEING NEXT to MICHAEL and LIONEL and WORKING with QUINCY JONES. He won AWARDS that night at the AMA AWARDS and was CELEBRATING at CARLOS and CHARLIES IN HOLLYWOOD the PRESS BLEW EVEYTHING AT OF PROPORTION and it was UNFAIR TO PRINCE. HE wasn't ANTI-AFRICAN AT ALL! He like MADONNA PLAYED AT LIVE AID and MICHAEL and LIONEL HAD AN AGENDA to MAKE HIM LOOK BAD. IT WASN"T TRUE! SHELIA was there cause she was LOYAL to LIONEL. I also don't think PRINCE was TOO FOND of LIONEL and as a BIG STAR with PURPLE RAIN he didn't WANT to DO ANYBODY ELSE'S SONG.

RKJCNE said:

I have yet to see anything about the burqa quote besides on the org. I think Prince is universally ignored by the entertainment news industry at this point, because he isn't willing to suck up to them. He's not gonna work his way to there good side just to get knocked down again.

Its not that he, or any other entertainment giant, is ignored - these people make the news all the time. Its more that controversies don't really affect musicians because, at the end of the day, all the public really care about when it comes to musicians is their MUSIC!

The Beatles, The Stones and many others had high profile drug-busts - didn't hurt them at all. MJ was accused of peadophilia (perhaps the most heinous of crimes) - didn't end his career. Prince has been involved in negative media himself and he's still doing fine.

There are hundreds of other examples of musicians becoming embroiled in trouble, but very few of these stories end up ending their careers.

The only person who really springs to mind is Gary Glitter (who was successfully convicted of peadophilia) but his music career was already long gone - it was just his legacy and public image that was tarnished.

toejam said:

I'd hardly even call the 1985 one a true backlash. It was a minor controversy for about a week. ATWIAD still went to no.1, and a year later "Kiss" went to no.1... It's not exactly in the 'Cat Stevens' league of backlashes now is it

I agree and back then it easily played up his mistique and Rude Boy personna

and it spark some seriously creative music ie Hello (extended) and 4 the Tears in Your Eyes

cancans8 said:

I don't think Prince even put any thought into what he said and it is his view and he probably doesn't care. The USA for AFRICA as he STATED HE TOLD THEM he would give them a SONG for the ALBUM. He NEVER COMMITTED to BEING NEXT to MICHAEL and LIONEL and WORKING with QUINCY JONES. He won AWARDS that night at the AMA AWARDS and was CELEBRATING at CARLOS and CHARLIES IN HOLLYWOOD the PRESS BLEW EVEYTHING AT OF PROPORTION and it was UNFAIR TO PRINCE. HE wasn't ANTI-AFRICAN AT ALL! He like MADONNA PLAYED AT LIVE AID and MICHAEL and LIONEL HAD AN AGENDA to MAKE HIM LOOK BAD. IT WASN"T TRUE! SHELIA was there cause she was LOYAL to LIONEL. I also don't think PRINCE was TOO FOND of LIONEL and as a BIG STAR with PURPLE RAIN he didn't WANT to DO ANYBODY ELSE'S SONG.

I think he cares, that's why he's trying to retract it via DrFunk... and saying he didn't say it. In 2011 it could hurt him worse than if it was in 1985. + he'd have the people in his circle that could help put out some serious musical reply

I agree with the rest. He said he felt uncomfortable working next to so many great musicians

He was still on a Purple Reign, Michael was in his shadow at the time.

Sheila was there cause she was loyal to Prince even more so, he sent her to represent Erotic City

Mindflux said:

RKJCNE said:

I have yet to see anything about the burqa quote besides on the org. I think Prince is universally ignored by the entertainment news industry at this point, because he isn't willing to suck up to them. He's not gonna work his way to there good side just to get knocked down again.

Its not that he, or any other entertainment giant, is ignored - these people make the news all the time. Its more that controversies don't really affect musicians because, at the end of the day, all the public really care about when it comes to musicians is their MUSIC!

The Beatles, The Stones and many others had high profile drug-busts - didn't hurt them at all. MJ was accused of peadophilia (perhaps the most heinous of crimes) - didn't end his career. Prince has been involved in negative media himself and he's still doing fine.

There are hundreds of other examples of musicians becoming embroiled in trouble, but very few of these stories end up ending their careers.

The only person who really springs to mind is Gary Glitter (who was successfully convicted of peadophilia) but his music career was already long gone - it was just his legacy and public image that was tarnished.

For the most part I agree with you, but I don't know that Prince's image has ever fully recovered from the redicule of his name change and bizarre antics with Mayte.

I admit, I was glad P didn't participate in 'We Are the World'... in my opinion, that was one seriously weak-ass song - especially compared to the UK's 'Do They Know It's Christmas'.

Prince contributed a song to the album, which no doubt contributed to album sales, which no doubt generated money for African famine relief. Case closed, as far as I'm concerned.

As for the burqa thing, he's just another outta-touch celebrity talkin' nonsense. Just remaster the catalogue and open the vault, already!

Mmm ... I'd say: E) Do you think this whole Burqa-case is inspiring a great Prince song (like "Hello" did back then) ?

Then again, I see nothing wrong with a burqa becuz I'm Sunni Muslim and it's a part of 'our' standards of dress. My momz, she wears one ...

cancans8 said:

I don't think Prince even put any thought into what he said and it is his view and he probably doesn't care. The USA for AFRICA as he STATED HE TOLD THEM he would give them a SONG for the ALBUM. He NEVER COMMITTED to BEING NEXT to MICHAEL and LIONEL and WORKING with QUINCY JONES. He won AWARDS that night at the AMA AWARDS and was CELEBRATING at CARLOS and CHARLIES IN HOLLYWOOD the PRESS BLEW EVEYTHING AT OF PROPORTION and it was UNFAIR TO PRINCE. HE wasn't ANTI-AFRICAN AT ALL! He like MADONNA PLAYED AT LIVE AID and MICHAEL and LIONEL HAD AN AGENDA to MAKE HIM LOOK BAD. IT WASN"T TRUE! SHELIA was there cause she was LOYAL to LIONEL. I also don't think PRINCE was TOO FOND of LIONEL and as a BIG STAR with PURPLE RAIN he didn't WANT to DO ANYBODY ELSE'S SONG.

Actually, Prince did not play at LiveAid in 1985. Instead they showed the video he did of "4 The Tears In Your Eyes". Not commenting, just setting the facts straight. Thank you.

RKJCNE said:

Mindflux said:

Its not that he, or any other entertainment giant, is ignored - these people make the news all the time. Its more that controversies don't really affect musicians because, at the end of the day, all the public really care about when it comes to musicians is their MUSIC!

The Beatles, The Stones and many others had high profile drug-busts - didn't hurt them at all. MJ was accused of peadophilia (perhaps the most heinous of crimes) - didn't end his career. Prince has been involved in negative media himself and he's still doing fine.

There are hundreds of other examples of musicians becoming embroiled in trouble, but very few of these stories end up ending their careers.

The only person who really springs to mind is Gary Glitter (who was successfully convicted of peadophilia) but his music career was already long gone - it was just his legacy and public image that was tarnished.

For the most part I agree with you, but I don't know that Prince's image has ever fully recovered from the redicule of his name change and bizarre antics with Mayte.

In what way? Record sales number have remained pretty consistent since the name change (TGE (the first "Symbol" album) sold way more than it's predecessor, the "Prince" release "Come"). He had his first UK No 1 single with his first release as "Symbol". He still gets the biggest gigs (Superbowl, holds the records at the O2 etc etc) - just how has his career been affected? Or is that just your perception?

Vict0r said:

I don't really see much backlash apart from the fan community. To put it bluntly, he's not relevant enough for the general public to care much about.

Yeah to the public Prince's last days in the summit was years ago, plus since he plays by his own rules, they didn't wanna fuck with him (and vice versa with him). It's really just the fan community. No I don't count politrick sites lol

[Edited 6/29/11 9:53am]

Most of my friend don't even realise he is still doing anything. He has pushed himself to become totally irrelavent. He is mostly a figure for the press to ridicule or have some laugh at, if indeed they even give him any column inches these days. He's in the George Michael and Latoya Jackson club.

I definately don't think he cares....especially not now. It isn't like it was in the 80s when he was still proving himself. Prince HAS already proved himself, he's still around after all these years. So he can pretty much say and do whatever he wants to do at this point...He's always been master of his own plan, and I dig that. For the most part, people chalk it up to Prince being Prince, which makes people frown, then kinda smile afterwards b/c they wish they could be that free! And it has been posted other places than the org....I've had peolel text/call me about it and they definately don't get on the org. lol So its gotten some attention, but honestly, there is so much going on, it just isn't that big a deal. Hopefully people have gotten to the point that they don't believe everything they read & understand that celebs are human too with their opinions and personalities! Prince's recent and upcoming tour is much more important!

Most people I know don't know about the interview, don't know he's still touring and have no idea what he has done the past 15 years in terms of new music. So no, I don't think it will hurt him one bit. Fans will still continue to go his shows because most of us already knew the guy is an idiot and some other fans believe it was taken out of context or whatever.

Vict0r said:

I don't really see much backlash apart from the fan community. To put it bluntly, he's not relevant enough for the general public to care much about.

Exactly. Quick sound bites aside, the ONLY place this is being discussed is on Prince fansites. No one gives a shit.

thedance said:

As most of us know, Prince had a tremendous backlash in the mid 1980s when he didn't showed up and took part in the Michael Jackson recording "We Are The World" - the "USA For Africa" project collecting money for the starving in Africa,

A lot of people got angry with nasty comments on Prince for not taking part. And this was really hurting Prince's career back then, it was hurting his recordsales in the US, despite he was at his creative peak in his career.

and as you know,

Prince's answer back then was the songs "Hello" the B-side to "Pop Life" & "4 The Tears In Your Eyes", the Prince song on the LP to USA For Africa.

Do you think the recent "controversy", Prince being "Pro-burqa", is hurting Prince, just like "USA For Africa" did....?

How do you think Prince fells about all this, the latest "Burqagate":

A) Do you think he cares at all, is he worried ?

B) Do you think Prince does not care, he is actually laughing at it all ?

C) Did Prince actually calculate with this strong reaction since "Burqas" is a hot issue in Europe these years ?

D) Do you think this (as we say in Denmark) is a "Storm in a glass of water", the burqagate will be soon forgotten ?

Finally:

E) Do you think this whole Burqa-case is inspiring a great Prince song (like "Hello" did back then) ?

[Edited 6/29/11 6:19am]

[Edited 6/29/11 6:25am]

A. As others have pointed out, he cared enough to feed an ambiguous "clarification" to his unofficial mouthpiece.

B. He might have laughed initially, but the longer the story lingers the more it is likely to annoy him.

C. I hope not, though I wouldn't put it past him.

D. The fans won't forget it. It will be one more perennial joke among us, like chemtrails. The general public will soon forget about it because they have mostly forgotten about Prince in any event.

E. Maybe, but he's not recording anymore, so we'll never hear it, right?

Purple Kat thank you for fixing my mistake on LIVE AID, But I do believe it was a LIVE FEED if I remember Correctly and PRINCE and WENDY were in maybe CALIFORNIA singing 4 THE TEARS IN THEIR EYES.

.

[Edited 1/25/17 13:46pm]

electricberet said:

thedance said:

As most of us know, Prince had a tremendous backlash in the mid 1980s when he didn't showed up and took part in the Michael Jackson recording "We Are The World" - the "USA For Africa" project collecting money for the starving in Africa,

A lot of people got angry with nasty comments on Prince for not taking part. And this was really hurting Prince's career back then, it was hurting his recordsales in the US, despite he was at his creative peak in his career.

and as you know,

Prince's answer back then was the songs "Hello" the B-side to "Pop Life" & "4 The Tears In Your Eyes", the Prince song on the LP to USA For Africa.

Do you think the recent "controversy", Prince being "Pro-burqa", is hurting Prince, just like "USA For Africa" did....?

How do you think Prince fells about all this, the latest "Burqagate":

A) Do you think he cares at all, is he worried ?

B) Do you think Prince does not care, he is actually laughing at it all ?

C) Did Prince actually calculate with this strong reaction since "Burqas" is a hot issue in Europe these years ?

D) Do you think this (as we say in Denmark) is a "Storm in a glass of water", the burqagate will be soon forgotten ?

Finally:

E) Do you think this whole Burqa-case is inspiring a great Prince song (like "Hello" did back then) ?

[Edited 6/29/11 6:19am]

[Edited 6/29/11 6:25am]

A. As others have pointed out, he cared enough to feed an ambiguous "clarification" to his unofficial mouthpiece.

B. He might have laughed initially, but the longer the story lingers the more it is likely to annoy him.

C. I hope not, though I wouldn't put it past him.

D. The fans won't forget it. It will be one more perennial joke among us, like chemtrails. The general public will soon forget about it because they have mostly forgotten about Prince in any event.

E. Maybe, but he's not recording anymore, so we'll never hear it, right?

Nice Points

These controversys are stupid in general. There was a controversy because MJ wore his trademark flashy clothes in the video and people thought it "took away from the message" or some stupid shit like that.

Prince wasn't going to be coerced into singing at We Are the World right after a 3 hour award show where he was going to be forced to make small talk with them. It seemed like they had plenty of people to sing anyway. Most of the artists there were older, did their share of partying back in the 70s, and maybe if they had a guitar solo with him in mind, he might have come in.

The song was important but if you've read the experiences Geldof had after the event, most of the money they raised did... what? Leave a lot of food sitting because the government was blocking the trucks? Took years for Ethiopia to turn itself around, and the drought was just part of a bigger problem. Now you see Bono and Geldof using a different approach in trying to get money. Bono's the ONLY one apart from Geldof who WENT to Africa and saw this firsthand, rolled up his sleeves with his wife and actually did something. Dude's rich but not afraid to get his hands dirty, or just go for a photo op.

Geldof went off on a lot of people for not taking part in Live Aid, but he did a 180 on Prince for donating the video.

As far as I'm concerned, the whole "Burqua-gate" thing is basically part of the chapter Neil Strauss wrote in "Everybody Loves You When You're Dead", which was a compilation of unused interviews, but this part was left out of his book.

http://www.askmen.com/cel...rince.html

He should go on Howard Stern, just because he has that habit of answering a question with a question. If I was running a magazine, I'd put Prince and Bob Dylan in a joint interview because they're both very evasive interviewers but because they have a history with growing up in Minnesota (P would prob. ask Bob why he left) and have been through the same things as entertainers, have a mutual appreciation for each other, think a lot would come out of it.

PurpleLove7 said:

Mmm ... I'd say: E) Do you think this whole Burqa-case is inspiring a great Prince song (like "Hello" did back then) ?

Then again, I see nothing wrong with a burqa becuz I'm Sunni Muslim and it's a part of 'our' standards of dress. My momz, she wears one ...

I don't think it a judgement on the burqa as much as Prince's very shallow statement. A lot of women in Muslim countries are forced to wear them and it's how men view a womans sexuality and her place in creation it seems. I think the burqa are beautiful. But all Muslim countries the women don't have to wear them. So his statement is very uneducated...

I don't think your mother would get beaten if she showed skin or her face??

"It's fun being in Islamic countries, to know there's only one religion. There's order. You wear a burqa. There's no choice,” he told British newspaper, The Guardian, “People are happy with that.”

Apparently, Prince, not all people.

Mariam Sobh, Editor-in-Chief of Hijabtrendz.com, said she finds Prince's narrow understanding of the situation amusing.

“Prince is seriously out of touch with reality on this one. Perhaps he doesn't know what a Burqa is? I'm just shocked that instead of empathizing with women who are forced to wear it, he would basically say ‘too bad,’” Sobh told FOX411’s Pop Tarts. “I agree that we sometimes need boundaries, most likely when we are growing up, but if I'm not mistaken, he's tried to break boundaries throughout his career? I can only assume that Prince didn't get the memo that forcing women to adhere to any particular dress code is pretty much medieval.”

(For the record, this issue may not be the only one Prince is a little out-of-the-loop on. Last year, he announced that he was only releasing his album on CD because “the Internet is completely over.”)

Sobh also noted that Prince, 53, known for his flamboyant outfits, should have been more sensitive to the fact that Muslim women should also enjoy “being able to breathe once in a while.”

When asked how he would respond to those who don’t like donning the burqa, Prince reportedly said "there are people who are unhappy with everything. There's a dark side to everything."

So, in other words, those women who don't like being told what to wear are just Muslim "Debbie Downers"?

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2011/06/27/singer-prince-says-all-islamic-women-happy-having-to-wear-burqas/#ixzz1QlfxGs7Q

“He is probably right. It's so ingrained in the culture there that it's just what is acceptable. Women who wear burqas there look down on those who don't,” said Muslim filmmaker Hifney Masoud. “It may very well be oppressive dress, but they don't see it that way because they are programmed not to see it that way, but rather what 'God' requested.”

And according to Kamal Nawash of the Free Muslims Coalition, the argument could swing either way.

“It is true there are Muslim women who prefer to wear burqas and I would support their right to do so,” she added. “However, there are Muslim woman who reject ‘religiously’ mandated clothing and they should have complete freedom to dress as they please.”

[Edited 6/30/11 7:04am]

lopez568 said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

I agree with the rest. He said he felt uncomfortable working next to so many great musicians

He was still on a Purple Reign, Michael was in his shadow at the time.

Sheila was there cause she was loyal to Prince even more so, he sent her to represent Erotic City

LOL! Michael had the biggest selling album in the world that he was still riding high on. I doubt he was in anyone's shadow. Prince was big, but not MJ big.

What I mean in his shadow was 1984 was Prince's year without a doubt, I think at the time he was MJ big

I don't know if I would consider this latest controversy a backlash...it's more of a distraction.I wish Prince was in the news for something meaningful,like the release of some 'deluxe edition' remasters!

SoulAlive said:

I don't know if I would consider this latest controversy a backlash...it's more of a distraction.I wish Prince was in the news for something meaningful,like the release of some 'deluxe edition' remasters!

^

What a really good answer.... SoulAlive,

- and why not start with:

the PURPLE RAIN (Re-masters Deluxe Edition):


[img:$uid]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v67/ecnirp2004/Prince/PrinceRemastersDeLuxeEdition2010.jpg[/img:$uid]

Coming soon....?

Never is more likely...

(Credits, thanks to the original poster, I have forgot who it was..?)

[Edited 7/1/11 6:34am]