I'd say clearly Prince is the best of all time and here is why... He is the only artist that is a True Musican as well as being a True Pop Star! No other person can say that!

Most have a little more of either or.. but Prince has both! Pop Acts call him amazing and then in the same breath Musicans call him amazing! You never hear that from both groups.

Everyother choice leans either way, sure Prince to me is more of a Musican, but come on now the guy has influience pop culture as much as anybody!

Now add singing, writing, creating an original look, style, performing, etc... Now add where is his peak? We haven't seen it yet! We haven't seen his ceiling yet! Everyone else peaks in their youth, we just saw Prince on Jay for 4 days, Ellen on 1, SNL & The Superbowl, 21 concerts in 21 nights all in the last year or so. ALL great performances.

You don't have to think far back to see remember/see a amazing performance.

If its measured in musical ability then yes, think of all the instruments he plays. arrangement, song writing ability, etc, No diss to wolfgang but he was limited to what he played, and no diss to MJ, but a percentage of his fame etc came from NON musical issues as well, he was one hell of a singer and performer, dont get it twisted...I think Prince is the best of all time, and its just my opinion

mj MIXED ROCK,POP AND SOUL???

funny.....i thought his songwriters and producers did that.....

The Immortals: The Fifty Greatest Artists Of All Time!



1) The Beatles

2) Bob Dylan

3) Elvis Presley

4) The Rolling Stones

5) Chuck Berry

6) Jimi Hendrix

7) James Brown

8) Little Richard

9) Aretha Franklin

10) Ray Charles

11) Bob Marley

12) The Beach Boys

13) Buddy Holly

14) Led Zeppelin

15) Stevie Wonder

16) Sam Cooke

17) Muddy Watters

18) Marvin Gaye

19) The Velvet Underground

20) Bo Diddley

21) Otis Redding

22) U2

23) Bruce Springsteen wne

24) Jerry Lee Lewis

25) Fats Domino

26) The Ramones

27) Nirvana

28) Prince

29) The Who

30) The Clash

31) Johnny Cash

32) Smokey Robinson and the Miracles

33) The Everly Brothers

34) Neil Young

35) Michael Jackson

36) Madonna

37) Roy Orbison

38) John Lennon

39) David Bowie

40) Simon and Garfunkel

41) The Doors

42) Van Morrison

43) Sly and the Family Stone

44) Public Enemy

45) The Byrds

46) Janis Joplin

47) Patti Smith

48) Run-DMC

49) Elton John

50) The Band

[From Issue 946 - April 15, 2004]


Source:
http://www.rollingstone.c...irst_fifty

Yeah, just because Rolling stone made a list, does not make it true. Plus everybody knows how prejudice and racist they have been throughout the years, although that's gotten a 'little' better.

thedance said:

Dayclear said:

Rolling Stone Magazine are racists? com'on I don't believe that, just a bad excuse ?

all these black artists are in the top 10....


Chuck Berry
Jimi Hendrix
James Brown
Little Richard
Aretha Franklin
Ray Charles

I think that Rolling Stone list is bullshyt.

To answer the question: I wouldn't say anyone is the best of all time, but for me, Prince is the best entertainer of his time. Of all the concerts I've seen, no one tops him. And I've seen MJ three times at his peak--the "Bad" concerts and was surprised at how anti-climatic it felt to finally see him in person. The greatest part of the show was simply seeing this living legend right in front of me, sweating on me as he flew over the crowd in a crane. He moved like liquid, but he did the same steps over and over again. He didn't appear to be singing live in parts and there was not a lot of interaction with the crowd. Maybe it was because I saw his three shows back to back to back, but somehow it felt a little canned. By the third show? I was pretty bored.

But I soaked it all in and enjoyed the spectacle of it all. It was like being able to shake the President's hand or something. I didn't get a glimpse inside his personality or have any meaningful exchange or anything, but I got my picture to show I was there, damn it!! I saw him!! Ya know?

Then I won tickets to see Prince's "Lovesexy" concert. I almost felt like, why bother? Prince was cool, sexy etc., but "Purple Rain" had come and gone and although I still liked Prince, I felt I had seen the biggest star in the universe already (I was around 15 or so, ok?). Prince felt small by comparison. But, I went anyway and.....Holy snap! The difference was like night and day. Prince was raw, funny, and had a slightly mischievous or dangerous air about him. His show felt organic, spiritual, spontaneous. It was just a richer and more satisfying concert experience for me. I had to give it up and I didn't want to. And, I've since seen Prince 6 other times since then and I think he's gotten better with age.

I think of songs like "Adore" and "Slow Love" "Purple Rain" "The Beautiful Ones".."If I Was Your Girlfriend"..jeez...so much passion and grit....personality. I believe Prince when he sings about God, love, sex, etc. so much so that I almost get embarrassed listening to him sometimes. He's really opposite of MJ in this way and in almost every other aspect. Apples and oranges. In terms of songwriting ability and musicianship, I only see Stevie as his peer. But something about Stevie doesn't excite and engage like Prince, though.

People will call Michael Jackson the "greatest entertainer in the history of the galaxy". He'll loom even larger in death than he did in life, I'm sure. And that's fine. He has the numbers, the stature, the popularity and the tragedy...He was one of the best dancers to ever grace the stage and was one of the most influential artist in the realm of video, especially. So, I am fine with the world crowning Michael King. But, Prince will forever be that dude for me--I learned this the hard way. lol

3232 said:

The reason why I came at you like that is because you came across like you were speaking in general terms as if you spoke for everyone when you don't. I laughed when you tried to call me arrogant for saying my initial piece because I gave an opinion which is something you didn't do which made you sound arrogant. This wouldn't have happened if you did that, so don't mix me up with your crap. Now THAT's the truth.

Considering talent and success Michael Jackson is the G.O.A.T in popular music.

The fact that people are taking this thread seriously is mind boggling!

We are talking about music. Music is an art form; and art is completely subjective. There is no such thing as an objective best.

One could be forgiven for thinking this is a thread about sport!

I think people cheering for Prince, MJ etc... to be the best, says more about those people than it does the artists they are cheering for.

Take a deep breath, go away and listen to YOUR favourite (best) artist, and let others listen to theirs.

It may grind people's gears that there are those that think that Justin Timberlake might be better than MJ, for example. Well, get over it! To them that's right, to you it may not be. The truth is, neither of you are right or wrong.

curioso said:

I highly doubt you would've given that answer 3 weeks ago when MJ was alive.

Hell no! To say "best of all time", you'd have to factor in Mozart, which we all know, is waaaaayyyyy out of Prince's league. So no, he is not the best of all time. Michael Jackson was definitely a more international figure/pop icon. I doubt that a billion people will be watching Prince's funeral. Not that many people even know he exists.

It's sad jus how much people appreciate someone after they've passed.
I wonder how many ppl here would've said MJ to answer the question if he didn't die?

The answer is: Yes.

And let's hope it doesn't take a memorial service to realize that.

Revolution said:

As good as Prince is he has always been and will ALWAYS be inferior to Michael Jackson. In fact without MJ, James Brown and Hendrix Prince would have no act of his own. That's not a slam but a reality. Even Joni Mitchell denied Prince was an innovator but more of a terrific hybrid of other people's styles.

Folks seem to overhype the fact that prince plays instruments, etc... But in sheer terms of artistic output Prince doesn't measure up as an entertainer or as an artist.

The fact that people are taking this thread seriously is mind boggling!

We are talking about music. Music is an art form; and art is completely subjective. There is no such thing as an objective best.

One could be forgiven for thinking this is a thread about sport!

I think people cheering for Prince, MJ etc... to be the best, says more about those people than it does the artists they are cheering for.

Take a deep breath, go away and listen to YOUR favourite (best) artist, and let others listen to theirs.

It may grind people's gears that there are those that think that Justin Timberlake might be better than MJ, for example. Well, get over it! To them that's right, to you it may not be. The truth is, neither of you are right or wrong.