Ive not even been a fan for 1 year yet!! But it will be next month. I first really saw P on the UK music hall of fame. And i knew he was something special, and that i had to look in to his music! And now he is my favourite artist.

How and when did u discover prince?

Have been a fan now for 23 years. Heard Irresistible Bitch as the b-side to Lets Pretend We're Married and was hooked.

That's a story for a book.

I had older sisters who really got into Prince in the early days. So when I was in 2nd and 3rd grades, they were playing him non-stop (1981-1982 era). ATWIAD was the first CASSETTE I bought of P's and Parade sealed the deal for me...

I became a fan somewhere between '82 and '84 when I was between 7 and 9 yrs old. I used to watch MTV all day just so I could see the videos for "1999," "Little Red Corvette," "When Doves Cry," and "Let's Go Crazy." Watching these videos, along with the "Purple Rain" movie just instantly hooked me at that young age since I had never seen any person or any band look and sound so damn cool, plus the fact that Prince ends up with Appolonia in the movie didn't hurt either.

"u got the look" got me curious, "alphabet st" got me hooked. 1988....

Seeing the video for 1999. It just looked and sounded so different from anything else at the time. Bought the Album and been a fan ever since.

When Doves cry and his F U attitude at the 1985 BPI awards.

1984 - I was 11. Heard When Doves Cry on the radio, went and bought the single, then the album. I was already learning drums and keyboards then, so tried learning his stuff too. (I've probably jammed to Purple Rain more than any other record, with Led Zep and Floyd coming close)

Though it wasn't until after ATWIAD that I got intensely in to Prince, getting the back catalogue, searching out everything, you know?!

I Feel 4 YOU

Been hook ever SINCE!!!

it was approx. 1983. my cousin brian had a cassette of 1999 i think i heard one song and said i liked it, so he gave it to me...and i was absolutely hooked!

All uneed 2 know

http://www.prince.org/msg/7/160814

From the time he released 1999. The first time I heard it I loved it and tried to find everything he did after that. Then I watched Purple Rain and I was totally lost forever.

muirdo said:

My mum ordered me never to buy Prince records after seeing him at BPI awards.

Still here!

10 years.
listened to my sister's copy of dirty mind, thought it was cool...the rest is history.

ok...i'm old...but I remember reading an article in Right ON! mag before I even heard Soft n Wet..so that had to be 1977-1978ish.it seemed Cynthia Horner had a thing for Prince because he got much print in the mag back then.....

The centerfold pic was the hottness....


I was a fan ever since....

...I've always liked Prince, but about 4 years ago when I discovered my

brother's Hits 1 and 2 cds hiding behind the Wu-Tang anthology I insisted he

make me a copy cause I loved When Doves Cry and Diamonds and Pearls.

I got them home and was shocked that Prince had so many great songs that I knew

nothing about. After that I began hunting for his other stuff and I fell in love

Now, my brother's like "God, I've created a monster! but too bad you didn't take

to the Wu-Tang"

wow, I feel like the baby of this thread

maybe 1983? can't really remember. Controversy was the first album I bought, but I really dug the whole Purple Rain look. The lace, the fishnets, the mystery. Of course I was a mere babe in arms at the time.

zennabell said:

I was in U.S when I was 4, my parents wanted to leave Paris and settle down in the States. So I heard For You and I was speakin' to the stars above. Back to France, I was 12, I made a dancing show with my friends on Raspberry's beret.
My brother bought all the albums before and after Purple Rain, I know them by heart. There's no minute that I don't have one of his tune in my head !
I succeeded to go to 1 show of sign, I was close to the scene and received a rose and a purple tambourine (I was very young and very stonished), 3 days at Bercy for Love SEXY, next to JL Aubert Singin loud and Rita Mitsouko. Now I now less about his songs and show but crazy for his music. His songs bring me peace.

1984. I heard of him a few months before with the 1999 stuff but when I heard When Doves Cry, I became a fan. My Mom brought Parade for me when it came out and I started getting more of the albums. It wasn't until 1991 with Diamonds & Pearls that Prince beacme my favorite singer.

Batman started it all in 1989 ..... Vicki Waiting, Scandalous & Batdance ..... then i bought Lovesexy & that was it ..... I wish U Heaven & Alphabet ST are still 2 of my all time favourites

Just recently, 1-2 years. Altough, I always loved "When Doves Cry" and "1999", never imagine how good P. really is, and how extensive and great his discography is. First. I "accepted" that 1999 (the album) was excellent, then came SOTT, and after I heard The Hits (without the B sides) one year ago (travelling in Greyhound from Washington to Pittsburgh) I understood...

I have been a fan of Prince since I was nine years of age. I remember seeing the Prince album at K-Mart and saying to myself (at that young age): "Now that's a strange looking man." I picked the album up and have jammed Prince since (much to my father's disgust - clash of the generations, but he loved James Brown (hmm)). I became a huge fan of Prince during his Controversy and 1999 periods because by than I was 11-12 years of age and being in a musical family, I could spot true talent (not to mention that he was the original Diddy with the strong musical family and proteges). My mom was even sold on him when she heard International Lover. I remember her saying: "Who is that man singing with such great range." I am still a big, big Prince fan. There are many musical legends, but his talent outshines (IMO) most others. Michael is not far behind and in some categories ahead, but I enjoy P in a different way - his musical talents are just fun to observe and I am inspired by his dedication to his craft regardless of how "hot" he is in the eyes of the public. As a entrepreneur, I akin myself to Prince: If you have a vision, go for it and let no one deter you. True Prince fans all agree.

First album 1978 and have been on the ride since.

When MJ's "Billie Jean" & then "Beat It", came out, I remembered thinking, "Man, surely I have been taken to school with this stuff."
I honestly thought that music couldn't get any cooler than this, that there was no higher plateau.
Now, 1999 had been released by this time but I didn't pay it no mind.
Then, when the "Purple Rain" album was released, I was so awestruck by the music, I went and picked up "1999".
'Tween these two albums, I realized that MJ, while still an ass-kicker, his music was like graduatin' from high school & Prince was like graduatin' from college.
Keep in mind, I was a kid back then. Since then, I've discovered much music from the past & the current that's expanded my palette, but Prince still holds the #1 spot.

The first time I ever heard of Prince was "I Wanna Be Your Lover" on the radio and skating rinks during the disco era. Then I saw him on "American Bandstand" a few months later and loved his look and "fuck you" attitude. I saw things in Prince that I saw in myself.

I bought the 45 of "I Wanna Be Your Lover" and later "Uptown" from his next album. Then, I heard "Head" for the first time on a local television dance show called "Black Gold" which was Jackson's answer to "Soul Train" but much "blacker", funkier, and ten times better. Then, I started hearing "Head" all over the radio and thought it was the funkiest thing I ever heard. I bought the "Dirty Mind" album, loved it, went back and bought the previous "Prince" album and went forward from there.

I didn't find Prince, Prince found me.

My Mother got into him from the very beginning, and I'm pretty sure she was listening to him on headphones while pregnant with me.
[Edited 9/20/05 23:38pm]

I remember "I Wanna Be Your Lover". I remember hearing it on the radio and skating around the roller rink. I remember "Little Red Corvette", "1999", and remember HATING them both!! I didn't even like "When Doves Cry"!! But I can remember the exact place & time the first time I heard the words...."Dearly Beloved..." and that very same day every Michael Jackson poster I had up on my wall came down!! The very next day I bought every LP from "For You" to "Purple Rain" and have been faithful ever since!!!