In the general human consciousness of what we consider to be great, there is often a common point of view. Great people are those that rise above mediocrity and are distinguished in some capacity for their uniqueness and ability to significantly impact the lives of the people around them. They are people that more often than not possess strong abilities or skill that exceed the average level of knowledge and talent widely accepted as the norm. Great people not only influence and impact our lives but permantly change them. Great artists change the way we see ourselves and experience our lives. They expand our awareness through their individual expression.

In music, who do we consider to be great? What constitutes greatness? And more to the point of this premise, does Prince Rogers Nelson consititute greatness? Is he, one of the greatest music artists of all time?

When you say "of all time," I think you are linmiting it to this particular universe (i.e. *this* space/time continuum) whereas many scientists suspect there might be more than one universe, a so-called "multiverse."

So you might want to qualify your rather modest statement by saying that he is the greatest music artist of the *multiverse." Just a suggestion.

9s you are a multi-fool

2the9s said:

When you say "of all time," I think you are linmiting it to this particular universe (i.e. *this* space/time continuum) whereas many scientists suspect there might be more than one universe, a so-called "multiverse."

So you might want to qualify your rather modest statement by saying that he is the greatest music artist of the *multiverse." Just a suggestion.

Yes Im referring to this time/space continuum.

he aight.

one of the greatest of all time, and probably the greatest musician of the modern era.

theres bn sme great music & bands in my lifetime. But to go & buy a new prince records excites me as it did in the past. sorry 2 dissapoint but he is the greatest artist of all time. Ive enjoyed the journey since 4 u till now.. Keep rockin!!!

For me, definitely yes.

So many songs that I love... nobody else has come close to creating as much music that I love...

Even things I didn't like at first, years later I find myself enjoying...

to count out all those other great artist is not fair....

I think it's unfair to say something like that given the fact that Lady Gaga is only on her sophmore album. We need to give her time to show her right stuff.

Well, HE IS, from an objective point of view you can bet he is. The man has it all: he's a singer, a songwriter, a musician and has a strong sense of style. He even has the right attitude in order to be mysterious and charismatic.

There's no other like him. Dylan, McCartney,Stevie and Bowie come close, but they are no match for Prince (especially the 1980-1987 era)

[Edited 6/4/10 1:49am]

As a fan, it is my God given right to answer: Yes.

And then ask the question: If not, who is?

Personally, I can't think of anyone who deserves that title. There are just too many varying opinions and too many undiscovered artists to say that. What I can say though, that Prince is a sexy beast and very talented musician, songwriter, singer, and a decent actor and a funny, great person all together.

Megas1 said:

In the general human consciousness of what we consider to be great, there is often a common point of view. Great people are those that rise above mediocrity and are distinguished in some capacity for their uniqueness and ability to significantly impact the lives of the people around them. They are people that more often than not possess strong abilities or skill that exceed the average level of knowledge and talent widely accepted as the norm. Great people not only influence and impact our lives but permantly change them. Great artists change the way we see ourselves and experience our lives. They expand our awareness through their individual expression.

In music, who do we consider to be great? What constitutes greatness? And more to the point of this premise, does Prince Rogers Nelson consititute greatness? Is he, one of the greatest music artists of all time?

zaza said:

One of the greatest? Yes. The greatest? No.

He's definitlely one of the greatest, IMO.

In my world YES. The greatest ever. Past, present and future. Noone can touch him.

I have a problem viewing P. as an artist in the true sense of the word. He's a bit on the mercenary side, and gets a bit free when 'adapting' the work of others.

I would say, however he is the perhaps the greatest known musician of the modern era. Not even a perhaps, he's a phenomenal musician.

skywalker said:

And then ask the question: If not, who is?

Nobody: only a fusion of Bowie+Hendrix+Stevie could have a chance against Prince.

And I'm serious.

Megas1 said:

In the general human consciousness of what we consider to be great, there is often a common point of view. Great people are those that rise above mediocrity and are distinguished in some capacity for their uniqueness and ability to significantly impact the lives of the people around them. They are people that more often than not possess strong abilities or skill that exceed the average level of knowledge and talent widely accepted as the norm. Great people not only influence and impact our lives but permantly change them. Great artists change the way we see ourselves and experience our lives. They expand our awareness through their individual expression.

In music, who do we consider to be great? What constitutes greatness? And more to the point of this premise, does Prince Rogers Nelson consititute greatness? Is he, one of the greatest music artists of all time?

shortnsweet said:

you know ppl may go on their feelings about his recent output, but when i think about it; songwriting, originality, trailblazer, covers all genres with ease (ok maybe not country) multi-instrumentalist, prolific output, electrifying performer, vocal dexterity, unpredictability, when such criteria are taken into consideration, for me the answer is yes! bring on on Androgyn9 (or whatever the album will be called, can't wait to add it to the canon!)

If I had 2 narrow my choices down 2 a single individual artist.

No question that Prince is number 1..............and number 2 is a distant 2nd.

without question the greatest music artist of all time, im not going to list his atributes (you already know) untouchable, still to this day Prince is so fecking cool...

For me, YES.

Theres a lot of artist who do have the qualities of being great musicians and have shown it through their moments, there has been some very musical iconic figures that were so untouchable in there time, but a lot of them just burnt themselves out over the years and didn't have the stamina and longevity to carry on.

all time: no, not even in the top 100

our time: he might be in the top 100.

OnlyNDaUsa said:

all time: no, not even in the top 100

our time: he might be in the top 100.

name me ten artists better....mouth

Joyinrepatition said:

OnlyNDaUsa said:

all time: no, not even in the top 100

our time: he might be in the top 100.

name me ten artists better....mouth

all time or our time?

Well if we could look past his flops and blunders... We have to admit, no other artist can touch him "talent wise". Name another artist that has had the output he has in the same amount of time. Name another artist that can play the same amount of instruments and play them as well as he does. Name another artist that has had the longevity he has and still remained contraversial,current and had their last 4 albums in a row debut at the top of the charts...without a major record label pouring millions of dollars into them, and with only a drop of airplay, if any at all!

I do not know of any other artist that make all these claims.

Like him or not...Like his current music or not.... He is, in my opinion, the greatest "artist" of all time.