Wendy Melvoin, guitarist in Prince & the Revolution from 1983-86, used to refer to the normal Prince as 'Steve.' The girlfriend of Revolution keyboardist Lisa Coleman, she said she had an instant connection with the royal rocker from Minneapolis.

“We found each other intellectually and spiritually stimulating,'' she said recently. “It's really kind of basic. It's an attraction. I'm so kind of androgynous in every way, shape or form that I don't really threaten anybody when I'm starting a relationship with them. Both Lisa and I were so supportive of him intellectually and creatively that I think he responded to it. We were attracted to each other's brains.''

Unlike others in Prince's court, Melvoin was not intimidated by him.

“I'm born and raised in Hollywood, and my life was similar to that film Almost Famous . There were huge stars in and out of my house like Bette Midler, Streisand, Peggy Lee; my father [keyboardist Mike Melvoin] was doing stuff with Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys.

“At times I was scared of Prince because he had anger stuff. When he was pissed, you wanted to avoid his eyes. His eyes could burn you. There were moments where you were scared of him as a human being; he looked like he was going to ***** kill somebody. And a lot of times that would be me.''

Melvoin's most recent — and perhaps strangest — encounter with Prince came in February of this year. She and her twin sister Susannah (Prince's ex-girlfriend and co-lead singer of his 1986 side project, the Family) wanted to see his post-Grammys concert at the House of Blues nightclub in West Hollywood.

“I had to call his guitar tech to let Prince know that the Revolution wants to be there,'' she said. “We got this phone call to [drummer] Bobby Z, saying ‘Everybody can go, Bobby can go for free, but everybody else has to pay.' What the hell is this? So we get there; none of us have to pay, but it was incredibly difficult to get in there. There's Steven Tyler and Beck walking by us and all those other people. It was an odd place to be in. We finally got shuffled off to this room where there wasn't a seat for us and we all just had to stand there.

“He played the show. He called a whole bunch of people onstage, but he didn't call any of us. I thought, ‘Well, that's it.' His wife came up to me and introduced herself, and I told her to thank him for the tickets and goodbye.

“Then the next day, I get this call from [the guitar tech] saying, ‘Prince would like you to come down to the recording studio and rehearse with him on acoustic guitar for a benefit he's doing for the Tavis Smiley Show . I'm like, ‘What the hell?' I haven't talked to him since the [Revolution] reunion tour we tried to put together in 2000, and he declined doing it because of me and my homosexuality and I'm half Jewish. It came back: ‘Go have a press conference denouncing your homosexuality and that you're converting to Jehovah.' I was like: ‘I guess we'll never hear from him again.' And I had to kind of mourn him. And I've got to be honest with you: It was devastating to think we've kind of lost him.

“Then he called out of the blue, and the curiosity got the best of me. I'm irreverent and resilient emotionally. I went down, and he was remarkably kind and open and gave me huge hug. He had me sit in with his band while they were rehearsing. I just hung with him for two hours, learned the song he wanted to do, got the information about the show. I got there the next day and met him on the set. It was just him and me, and he was gorgeous. He was the guy I knew when I first met him. He was the guy who spent the night at my and Lisa's house on our pullout bed. It was beautiful to see him. I held on to him and kept kissing him and hugging him and telling him I loved him. I don't know what to think of it. He knows we all love him; we're all his loyal friends.''

Wow...I thought this was just a rumor?

He sounds such an idiot if that is true ...but looks like he was sorry for his behavior....''to err is human, to forgive is divine''

peppeken said:

Actually, whenever I read this sentence, "Go have a press conference denouncing your homosexuality and that you're converting to Jehovah.' I hear Larry Graham's tone and voice. I've often wondered if he was intercepting Prince's mail.

SexyBeautifulOne said:

Do people even talk that way?

"Go have a press conference denouncing your homosexuality and that you're converting to Jehovah."

This has always sounded like Prince's dry sense of humor more than something he meant seriously. But, in context, they certainly took it seriously, and they probably know Prince better than I do...

What a load of shit...

This can't be true. Pince said he's AOK with ho$bisexuals. I know he;s into God but I don't think he'd dog other religions.

I could sorta understand is he wastelling wendy to be straight for their image.
This is scary. He won't get a hip replacement because Jehovah's Witness doesn't allow blood transfusions, he doesn't cuss cause that's cursing God, now he's on Wendy. We need to get help for him we need our old Prince.
[Edited 10/27/05 6:57am]

This can't be true. Pince said he's AOK with ho$bisexuals. I know he;s into God but I don't think he'd dog other religions.

I could sorta understand is he wastelling wendy to be straight for their image.
This is scary. He won't get a hip replacement because Jehovah's Witness doesn't allow blood transfusions, he doesn't cuss cause that's cursing God, now he's on Wendy. We need to get help for him we need our old Prince.
[Edited 10/27/05 6:57am]

the irony: on another thread,people are asking why Prince never became a gay icon

He sounds such an idiot if that is true ...but looks like he was sorry for his behavior....''to err is human, to forgive is divine''

Maybe the other person that lives inside of him, that he isn't sure what sex is, made the remarks.

This can't be true. Pince said he's AOK with ho$bisexuals. I know he;s into God but I don't think he'd dog other religions.

I could sorta understand is he wastelling wendy to be straight for their image.
This is scary. He won't get a hip replacement because Jehovah's Witness doesn't allow blood transfusions, he doesn't cuss cause that's cursing God, now he's on Wendy. We need to get help for him we need our old Prince.
[Edited 10/27/05 6:57am]

"...He was the guy I knew when I first met him. He was the guy who spent the night at my and Lisa's house on our pullout bed. It was beautiful to see him. I held on to him and kept kissing him and hugging him and telling him I loved him. I don't know what to think of it. He knows we all love him; we're all his loyal friends."

This made me cry!!!

booyah said:

I don't see what other context you could take this in.