I think he had a few personas that he liked to use as and when he pleased. I don't think anyone really knows who was really behind all that, probably not even Prince. Perhaps it was just that man who was peacefully cycling around Paisley Park sometimes.

[Edited 9/16/16 16:08pm]

CherryMoon57 said:

I agree. Prince's personality was complex, I think (who really knows ) underneath it all he just wanted to be treated as a regular guy. That's an endearing quality I admire in him, although sometimes he could be very Princey ; he was just a stone cold genius who wanted to protect his privacy while creating and performing the music that he loved.

I believe that. My brother in law is an entertainer. He has said many times

"when I walk off that stage, that guy is gone, I'm back to me".

laurarichardson said:

CherryMoon57 said:

I think he had a few personas that he liked to use as and when he pleased. I don't think anyone really knows who was really behind all that, probably not even Prince. Perhaps it was just that man who was peacefully cycling around Paisley Park sometimes.

[Edited 9/16/16 16:08pm]

--- Morris Day and Sheila E said the same thing he was much more easier going then he let the public see.

People are all a bit like that though, adapting their behaviour depending on who they are with and the context, and then on their own, they can be very relaxed, that's part of our human nature. Prince seemed to have had even more flexibility in doing that. A bit like an actor. He was a showman and performer first and foremost.

My perception of him is that of a professional performer onstage and a human being off. Whatever your work is, you have a different personality and way of being than when you're at home. We all do it. What bothers me is the adjectives journalists ascribed to him like "weird, eccentric, shy, reclusive", etc. that then colored the public's view. Again, we all have our on/off days. The only way the public knew him was through what was written about him or what he said in a televised interview, and, of course, his music. He let his music speak to you just like any other artist does - they don't mess with your experience of it by "explaining" what they meant. They want it to touch you in your own way; that's why everyone walks away with a different interpretation. Half the fun is leaving it open.

anangellooksdown said:

Adam Levine says Prince was just a regular dude - and that he thinks people had a weird perception of his public persona. Yeah, I can see that. I can see Prince truly deep down inside just wanting to be treated like a regular person and accepted for who he was in real life. I also feel (and have heard others close to him say) that there was the Prince who was the showman and then there was the Prince that was just Prince. What do you think? Here's the clip: http://www.youtube.com/wa...amp;sns=em

An entertainer's public persona is an image they project. They best way it was explained for me was Elvis Presley. He said, "There is a big difference between an image and a man. I'll just say it's hard to live up to an image." He said those words a long time before he died. Elvis Presley for the entire time he was alive had the 'image' of a clean lifestyle. Antidrug, antialcohol. His insiders that worked for him and good friends, girlfriends, ex wife, etc, knew different but they kept their mouths shut until the end. THEN over the years the ex wife, live in girlfriend, family, friends, employees, etc all wrote books telling what the man was really like out of the public eye. He was very human and he had a pill problem and a very bad one which ultimately killed him. He was in very bad health due to the pills he was addicted to.

I went into that to point out you only know what they want you to know unless their insiders run their mouths. But the truth always comes out. If he had a problem, you will hear that. I KNEW his ex or ex's would write a book I just did not know when or which one. We don't know what this book will say. Who knows? His hairdresser is writing one also. There will be many more I am sure.

blondie1147 said:

laurarichardson said:

blondie1147 said:

An entertainer's public persona is an image they project. They best way it was explained for me was Elvis Presley. He said, "There is a big difference between an image and a man. I'll just say it's hard to live up to an image." He said those words a long time before he died. Elvis Presley for the entire time he was alive had the 'image' of a clean lifestyle. Antidrug, antialcohol. His insiders that worked for him and good friends, girlfriends, ex wife, etc, knew different but they kept their mouths shut until the end. THEN over the years the ex wife, live in girlfriend, family, friends, employees, etc all wrote books telling what the man was really like out of the public eye. He was very human and he had a pill problem and a very bad one which ultimately killed him. He was in very bad health due to the pills he was addicted to.

I went into that to point out you only know what they want you to know unless their insiders run their mouths. But the truth always comes out. If he had a problem, you will hear that. I KNEW his ex or ex's would write a book I just did not know when or which one. We don't know what this book will say. Who knows? His hairdresser is writing one also. There will be many more I am sure.

-/ Anyone could see Elvis was in bad health at the end of his life he weighted 400lbs and would fall asleep on the stage.

[Edited 9/17/16 7:49am]

laurarichardson said:

-/ Anyone could see Elvis was in bad health at the end of his life he weighted 400lbs and would fall asleep on the stage.

Nice Laura - and is there a point here?

purplepoppy said:

laurarichardson said:

purplepoppy said:

Nice Laura - and is there a point here?

--- You said entertainers let you see what they want see. I agree with that but in Elvis's case Ray Charles could see he was not healthy.

Uh, Blondie said that. Ray Charles too? Standard unfunny jokes about dead celebs. Thanks for sharing.

Prince had regular guy qualities... of course he did.

But at no point in time did he ever want to be treated as a regular guy, or a 'normal' person. Prince eschewed 'normal'. And even went he went 'normal' (so to speak) and went into extreme religion - he did it with the JW - and it was an extreme incarnation of normal.

He took normal things like marriage and love and cranked them into highly fetished versions of what they are - and it was all in service of the art.

I think Prince pushed himself to have extraordinary experiences so he could uncover the mysteries of our human condition and write about them.

He was low key in person like many performers are - then he unlocked the doors to his subconscious and all that showed up on stage. Thats an incredible power to have.

He created the publics perception of him - and he cultivated it very carefully - it made him endlessly interesting -and that was one of the smartest things he ever did really. He was better than Madonna at being able to decide when he wanted attention and he decided why you were paying attention.

Because he is (was!)* a virtuoso, he necessarily falls (fell)* on the extremes of the bell curve of normality. There is a lot of negative judgement out there for people who fall outside of the normal. It's all good! Einstein wasn't normal, but he pushed scientific knowledge further than where it he found it. Humanity benefits from the contributions of the outliers. Prince cultivated his talent, always striving to push forward and sideways in creative exploration, and created art that broke boundaries.

As far as how Prince coped with being special, well I'm sure it was isolating sometimes. Most people will probably not get you. It's just not a reasonable expectation. I read somewhere that romantic partners should be within 10 IQ point of each other to understand each other. Prince was misunderstood by some, but that was always going to happen. It was fortunate that he was strong & confident enough in himself, and refused to judge himself by the standards of other people (he said as much in an interview) so that he gave himself the freedom to nurture his art.

I hope that he found even a few people he could just be himself with, and that he felt loved by those people. I hope he knew that he connected deeply with the fams, and that assuaged any sense of isolation.

*I still default to the present tense. Still struggling with acceptance

purplepoppy said:

laurarichardson said:

blondie1147 said:

An entertainer's public persona is an image they project. They best way it was explained for me was Elvis Presley. He said, "There is a big difference between an image and a man. I'll just say it's hard to live up to an image." He said those words a long time before he died. Elvis Presley for the entire time he was alive had the 'image' of a clean lifestyle. Antidrug, antialcohol. His insiders that worked for him and good friends, girlfriends, ex wife, etc, knew different but they kept their mouths shut until the end. THEN over the years the ex wife, live in girlfriend, family, friends, employees, etc all wrote books telling what the man was really like out of the public eye. He was very human and he had a pill problem and a very bad one which ultimately killed him. He was in very bad health due to the pills he was addicted to.

I went into that to point out you only know what they want you to know unless their insiders run their mouths. But the truth always comes out. If he had a problem, you will hear that. I KNEW his ex or ex's would write a book I just did not know when or which one. We don't know what this book will say. Who knows? His hairdresser is writing one also. There will be many more I am sure.

-/ Anyone could see Elvis was in bad health at the end of his life he weighted 400lbs and would fall asleep on the stage.

You missed my point. He did appear unhealthy. But nobody expected him to die. He hid his addiction and blamed his bad health on other reasons. Some would say Prince appeared unhealthy only weighing 112 pounds at the end. We still didn't expect him to die and had no idea he was using pain pills. He hid it well. They all do.

laurarichardson said:

purplepoppy said:

Uh, Blondie said that. Ray Charles too? Standard unfunny jokes about dead celebs. Thanks for sharing.

-- You struggling to stay on the topic. People used the Ray Charles line when he was alive and well and I am sure he would have laughed his ass off. I worked with the Blind for 5 years they are not uptight.

Wow just wow. If you are so on point (on topic) why so defensive? "You worked with the blind"? How about this "Some of my best friends are black". Those "jokes" are so so so old and no one is LMAO.

blondie1147 said:

Where do you get 450 pounds btw? Did you research and find that number?

laurarichardson said:

blondie1147 said:

You missed my point. He did appear unhealthy. But nobody expected him to die. He hid his addiction and blamed his bad health on other reasons. Some would say Prince appeared unhealthy only weighing 112 pounds at the end. We still didn't expect him to die and had no idea he was using pain pills. He hid it well. They all do.

-- No one expects. 450lb man to die :br

[Edited 9/19/16 5:30am]