OK, this has probably been a topic posted before but I'm curious. I've heard that Prince eschewed listening to music so that he would only be influenced by himself. But now he's giving us musicology lessons. I've heard that Purple Rain was written in response to music by Bob Seger. Who does/did Prince listen to and who influenced his music?

On Jay Leno he said he listened to the people he mentioned in Musicology. So James Brown, Sly & The Family Stone, and Earth Wind & Fire are obvious influences. But he probably listened to many different artists and genres.

heartbeatocean said:

Don't believe that crap.

DATskinnyMFwifdaHIGHvoice said:

Joni is amazing she is a great song writer

Definitely Marvin Gaye...go back and listen to Marvin's early stuff...dead on.

Carlos Santana is one of Prince's musical influences too.

Carlos Santana, Joni Mitchell (prince dixit)
George Clinton, Larry Graham (obvious)
Queen (suddenly it made sense to me)

Supernova said:

Yeah, I don't really. It's impossible to make art without closely studying other great artists.

fmarco said:

That's cool.

Stevie Wonder. The more I listen to Stevie's 70s stuff, the more I think Prince might've been influenced by him more than anyone else.

I've often wondered if he listened to Frank Zappa.

Other than sharing an interest in complicated musical arrangements and sobriety, they seem to share moustache styles--check out the cover of Controversy.

andyman91 said:

Really? Prince can barely grow a moustache and i usually think of Frank Zappa with a very thick one. When did their facial hair styles align?

jacktheimprovident said:

Sure, not fluffiness, but the shape of it on the cover of Controversy is pure Frank, including soul patch. It's a tenuous connection for basing belief of musical influence, I know!

The more I listen to James Brown, Carlos Santana, Sly Stone and Stevie Wonder, the more Prince I see. I can only imagine what clues will emerge if I begin listening to Joni Mitchell.

I would like to know what are his rock influences besides led zeppelin and hendrix, tht we all know he digs.

man prince grew up in a great time for music, his influences are all over the place especially when you consider every important funk band utilized horns. Man i've heard prince in avrage white band , Ohio players, Rose Royce, so many bands i can just see him sitting in a room with a big fro working this stuff out. Plus this town (MPLS) was crawling with opportunity for kids like prince, andre and jimmy jam to play and create their own sound.