I tend to think the way Prince dressed at the height of his success has affected the way many people subsequently perceived him. I beleive a predominantly male crowd has labelled him a queer, and thus are reluctant to admit being a fan or buy his records. Even today as Prince's fashion sense has matured and became more masculine (well somewhat anyway), people still think of him as so weird.

Now I don't think Hendrix or Sly were any less outrageous in costume, but somehow their personality/reputation seemed to be eccentuated by their outrageous dress. I guess I grew up in the eighties and was more aware of perception of Prince than either of the other two. Though I was proud to carry a Prince record, and most of his colleagues (maybe I was a bit private about carrying back Mazarati's 12 of Players Ball, but admittedly I would not be caught holding a Culture Club record, though the songs were catchy.

Any Thoughts?

...men are envious of prince's FINE-AZZ looks...sly and jimmi were not as F-I-N-E....some people just can't stand good-looking people with serious talent...
..mzsexybaby

It doesn't really matter...Some people care more about how they see things, than what they hear with their heart.