for what reason do you think prince shies away from major collaboration? and when he does one he prefers to stay in the background? for instance his fantastic guitar for stevie wonder on 'what the fuss'. is it because he would lose artistic control? is it because he feels that the song may be 'sabotaged' for commercial success? is it because he simply doesn't want to be in the full beam of the press? it just seems strange to me that there are so many artists who would cut off their right arm for a duet with him and so much exposure he could get for himself to a new generation of consumers yet he doesn't. in some ways i totally love that about him, in other ways it makes me so frustrated as when looking at the calibre of some of his most talented famous fans, for instance alicia keys, it seems such a shame that opportunity for some potentially brilliant music is never fulfilled. more and more artists as time goes on cite prince as being an inspiration or influence, or simply just as having a major appreciation and love for him and his work, you can bet your bottom dollar that so many would love to do a studio duet with him, for instance, i am not a particular fan of hers but beyonce and prince made a brilliant live duet together and could probably make a fantastic studio one too.. fair enough prince isn't bothered by chart positioning, but working on a few studio tracks with a few high profile artists couldn't hurt his finances, and if it was the right person, his reputation. it just seems so strange! understandably he turned down doing bad with michael jackson, a brave and very canny decision as it would have made him appear almost in submission being the 'guest' artist --but 23 years on, as fully established as he is, he couldn't look like the 'guest' even if it were him guesting on a high profile artist's single and not vice versa, so reputation-wise he has nothing to lose! i would love an official prince/alicia keys collab, or prince and a current male artist.. prince has the capacity to look classy and cool all of the time, so his image wouldn't be a problem in the music video sense..

(i sit in hope of a prince/justin timberlake collab, i think jt borrows from prince quite often with his music and as two of the most beautiful men in music the video would be a treat!)

I only got through the first sentence, but sharing the control is not something Prince gets into.

Ego.

Prince & Erykah Badu = WOW!! but that will never happen...