In the 80s, he became a superstar, yet was regarded as dangerous, in the 90s, he was thought of as weird because of the whole "Artist" thing and now he is an icon, someone everyone loved. Did this happen with his comeback in 2004 or what?

He has?

He has been an icon to me since Purple Rain. But, that's just me.

I think Purple Rain was what did it.

I mean that's when the whole world pretty much figured out who he was.

Aside from the "1999" video, it was the first time I had been exposed 2 Prince.

When most people think of Prince, they think of Purple Rain. That movie and the soundtrack were what made him an icon.

He's been an icon since For You was released,2 me anywayz.

Purple Rain did it for him I think. Critics say that's when he reached "superstar" staus. But I don't think any one event in his history made him an iocn... over time when several milestones were made, maybe that's when he became an "icon". I don't think I could give an actual time or event.

Purple Rain without a shadow of a doubt.

Hence why any non-fan reference to Prince, even after all this time, will involve the word Purple somehow (Purple Pain, Purple Pixie, The Purple One, His Royal Purpleness - take your pick).

liberation said:

when he did purple rain so like 1984
[Edited 4/18/07 11:37am]

Prince was regarded as "dangerous" in the 80's? Hmm...I don't know. I think he was icon after Purple Rain and has always been considered "weird."

i would put purple rain as the time that happened. A read a comment recently that stated that his worst business move was not dying after SOTT.

lwr001 said:

lwr001 said:

This shit just made my day.

I think 2004 is when I first heard the media referring to him as a "legend". At first I thought, "What? I didn't think the general public even liked Prince, now they're calling him a legend????" All of a sudden, I wasn't such an outcast for liking Prince, and folks at my college would say, "You're going to see Prince in concert? You're so lucky!" Of course, I was utterly confused, because I had no idea any of them ever had a desire to go to a Prince concert!

UCantHavaDaMango said:

Agreed. Around 2004 there was this shift in public consciousness and how Prince was/is percieved. It was startling how, once Prince started playing nice, the media shifted it's take on him and everyone started being "hip" by digging Prince.

I think his RRHOF induction played a big role in it too.

Also the Beyonce thing at the grammys helped him. The media got behind him in a renewed way in 2004. It's almost like people suddenly realized what a treasure he is.

But how exactly did it come about that the media, who has never really been Prince friendly came to lionize him in 2004?

skywalker said:

You're right. Startling and depressing.

General public = zombies

UCantHavaDaMango said:

true, after that it was okay for the media to start refering to him as such, and every1 else too

I think it was the Beyonce duet. He did a duet with someone who was at their absolute peak and they did a pretty good job together. He reinvigorated the old songs and I guess people kinda rememebered him.

Purple Rain without a doubt. The album sold over 10 million copies in the US alone, spent 24 weeks at #1. In the 80's, a much different time in the music industry than today, that really meant something. He would have never gotten the amount of attention he did afterwards, esp. through the "odd" years, without it.

purplesweat said:

um, no- imo anyway. People who are not fans of her (or him) didn't even know that happened. Not an "icon" making moment.

paisley16 said:

WTF are you talking about? That was THE most talked about Grammy Moment in recent history and was the next day was THE front page picture of many Newspapers ---including USA Today.....it added to his legend..../b]
[b][Edited 4/18/07 18:54pm]

paisley16 said:

Lol, someone needs to do their research. Last year I watched one of those E! lists, it was something like best live performances or whatever and that duet was number 4 even though it had only happened 2 years before.

purplesweat said:

I'm sorry, don't get me wrong, I wasn't trying to say it wasn't a great performance, just not what made him an icon. He was an icon long before that. In fact, his existing "icon" status contributed to the general discussion of that performance.

skywalker said:

eww... I don't think I'd want Prince to become that popular. I hate the idea of conformity (thanx to the fact that almost everyone on my campus is into mainstream garbage)... then again, Prince is a bundle of contradictions...

I dunno... something just sounds wrong about it. Prince is not somebody you get into by jumping on the bandwagon, he's above that.
That would just mess with my head. I don't want to be part of the "ocean of despair" (aka: the pool of conformists)

paisley16 said:

I guess we need to define what an "icon" is. I agree that the 2004 Grammy's wasn't what made him an "icon". However, it did further is legend, as did the Superbowl.

scriptgirl said:

If memory serves correctly, Prince put some time and effort into wooing the media, starting with the press conference announcing his name change back to Prince.

He started hanging out in LA and there were reports of parties at his house and small jam sessions way before 3121 became more "official". I remember folks on this board speculating as to what he was up to and wondering if another movie was in the works or some such.

Then with 2004 he started giving them stuff to actually report on. DirecTV offered Rave Un2 the Year 2000 or Live at the Alladin (can't remember which) on free, repeat play for a month at the end of 2003. Then BAM -- the Grammys with Beyonce, Jay Leno interview, lots of magazine covers and interviews, RRHOF induction, Musicology tour with the CD giveaway/Soundscan controversy....He did the work to mend fences with the gatekeepers and give the media a reason to talk.