Just come across this interview with axl rose were he mentions prince talking about finding 27 to be the hardest age. Obviously alot of musicians died at 27 but back then he wasnt on drugs must have just been superstitious. The bit starts at 7 minutes.

[Edited 7/27/18 9:13am]

great find.

HTF do we know?? Geezus

Maybe just afraid of getting older.

Probably not--I mean, this video is from 1990--so it's still before there was a whole lot of talk about the 27 Club--which didn't really kick off until after Kurt Cobain died (even though the Morrison, Hendrix, Joplin, and Jones deaths were of course long before that). Prince's own year of being 27 would have been during mid-85 to mid-86. So, the time of the Around the World in a Day and Parade releases, filming for Under the Cherry Moon, assorted associated acts along with the Paisley Park label--all in the aftermath of the huge success of Purple Rain, with none of it matching that popularity . Then the release of Under the Cherry Moon right after it (easy to slide back into thinking of it as part of the same age). Then, only a couple of months before the end of the Revolution and the complications of the associated relationships ending or greatly changing (which had already started months earlier).

Sounds like a rough year to me, one that in retrospect might feel like he "got through it"--completely separate from any concerns about what happened to some people who lived very different lives in regard to substance abuse then he did, and thus were walking a tightwire he was not walking at the time. It might have been in his mind--I don't know if he knew about the ages of Morrison, Joplin and Jones, but he probably knew how old Hendrix was. And certainly people track their ages in comparison with the mortality of those they feel a connection with: I've done it as I reached and then passed the ages my sister and father died. But I don't think this was a reference to the 27 Club--and notice that neither Axl nor Kurt Loder does anything with that idea, either--five years later, I'm sure they would have interpreted it in that context. Kurt's response to Axl saying that Prince said it was the hardest year (which it seems it was for Axl too) is a kind of slightly surprised "Really?" and a confused chuckle--nobody in the music world would have been surprised at the idea 5 years later. They might not think 27 had any real significance, but they would have understood immediately any reference to the idea that it did. Kurt doesn't seem to do that here; Axl is applying it to his own life and not anything beyond it.

[Edited 7/28/18 7:33am]

that's right, i recall axl saying that. what made it hard for prince was probably different than what made it hard for the rest. he was probably still coming to terms with going from a cult artist to a superstar which is hard on anyone. worries about what to do next, the failures of the movie, album sales not very good. Just dealing with a world that is all the sudden treating him like a god had to be hard for him to deal with.

EddieC said:

Probably not--I mean, this video is from 1990--so it's still before there was a whole lot of talk about the 27 Club--which didn't really kick off until after Kurt Cobain died (even though the Morrison, Hendrix, Joplin, and Jones deaths were of course long before that). Prince's own year of being 27 would have been during mid-85 to mid-86. So, the time of the Around the World in a Day and Parade releases, filming for Under the Cherry Moon, assorted associated acts along with the Paisley Park label--all in the aftermath of the huge success of Purple Rain, with none of it matching that popularity . Then the release of Under the Cherry Moon right after it (easy to slide back into thinking of it as part of the same age). Then, only a couple of months before the end of the Revolution and the complications of the associated relationships ending or greatly changing (which had already started months earlier).

Sounds like a rough year to me, one that in retrospect might feel like he "got through it"--completely separate from any concerns about what happened to some people who lived very different lives in regard to substance abuse then he did, and thus were walking a tightwire he was not walking at the time. It might have been in his mind--I don't know if he knew about the ages of Morrison, Joplin and Jones, but he probably knew how old Hendrix was. And certainly people track their ages in comparison with the mortality of those they feel a connection with: I've done it as I reached and then passed the ages my sister and father died. But I don't think this was a reference to the 27 Club--and notice that neither Axl nor Kurt Loder does anything with that idea, either--five years later, I'm sure they would have interpreted it in that context. Kurt's response to Axl saying that Prince said it was the hardest year (which it seems it was for Axl too) is a kind of slightly surprised "Really?" and a confused chuckle--nobody in the music world would have been surprised at the idea 5 years later. They might not think 27 had any real significance, but they would have understood immediately any reference to the idea that it did. Kurt doesn't seem to do that here; Axl is applying it to his own life and not anything beyond it.

[Edited 7/28/18 7:33am]

I don't think it's a reference to the typical rock-star-death-at-27 thing...27 is a transformative year for a lot of people. I had a huge move/job change that year myself. Not that I had been irresponsible before but I felt like I "grew up" at 27 (which may explain why some rock stars can't get past that year). I've heard that from a lot of friends too. I think at 27 you're so focused on hitting 30 (which is no big deal) that you don't realize 27 is actually the big year.

I'm sure that post-1985 he wasn't.

i would think the era where chick was selling stories and his bodyguards were beating on people at the awards shows would have been the toughest time, wasn't he 26 then? that's when he wrote old friends 4 sale too. Also, by the time of lovesexy, he was really, really struggling, so i think it's safe to say none of it was easy on him, he was almost 30 by that time. Lionel Richie seemed to be privy to how hard the period was for him, maybe they talked but he seemed to be aware of it and how MJ was losing it too. Lionel took time off after his dad died,MJ would go years between albums, and the molestation period when he was in his mid 30's was really the start of his complete decline, which, i guess some folks would say started earlier. John Landis called michael "quite mad" by the time he'd directed the black or white vid. prince, as he always did, just kept working.

but was a he afriad of going to the white parties?

luvsexy4all said:

but was a he afriad of going to the white parties?

huh? what do you mean?

Although this doesn't seem like a direct reference to the 27 club, it is not improbable that something like this crossed Prince's mind as he wrote Sometimes It Snows In April, aged 27. The snow in April could be seen as both a reference to dying (winter) at a young age (April=Spring=youth) or drugs (like the 'snow' reference in 'Old Friends 4 Sale') at a young age sometimes leading to the premature death of young talented artists.