1978:
From Latoya’s autobio:
Having grown up surrounded by so many brothers, I liked men as friends but was totally unversed in deciphering the nonverbal cues between men and women.
Shortly after Prince released, “Soft and Wet,” he shyly introduced himself to me at a roller skating party. “Hi.”
“Hi,” I said nonchalently.
“I’m Prince.”
“Yes, I know.” There was no mistaking the large broen eyes, downy moustache, and straight black hair. Although I was sitting down to put on my my skates, he was barely my height.
“I just want you to know that I’m madly in love with you,” he whispered passionately.
“Oh.” I thought this was his way of complimenting someone. I had no idea of his real intentions until he said, “I have all your pictures and everything, and I like everything about you.” His voice trailed off as if he had run out of words.
“Oh… that’s nice.”
Most girls would have kissed him or slapped him. Me? I stood up, offered a cheery “Well, hope you have a nice time tonight!” and skated off.
1981:
“In 1981 Prince had a song about mutual masturbation on his ‘Controversy’ album called ‘Jack U Off’.” Byron goes on to say that Michael made comments and asked questions like “What does that mean, exactly? What kind of person writes a song about that? I mean, that’s so private, isn’t it? Maybe I should write a song about something like that,” Michael said, teasing him. “Can’t you just see that?” Byron said, “no.”
– Byron Moore, a former associate of Michael, The Magic and Madness
1982:
Brian Banks: It was late in the evening one night when we were working, and Quincy came to us. We all knew how Thriller was going, they were trying to get Vincent Price, they were doing all this stuff, but he wanted this huge chord sequence – he said, ‘There’s this sound that I’ve got in my head, there’s this underground, this new artist, that nobody’s ever really heard of but he’s great, he’s hot, he’s got this great song.’ And he pulled out the album and it was Prince, ’1999′. And you know the opening sound on that? Duh-da da, Dur-duh-duh? Well that was the sound – that big, bitey chord sound at the opening of ’1999′ – he wanted that, but bigger, for Thriller.”
Source
1983
“Little Red Corvette” (directed by Bryan Greenberg and released in February 1983) was one of the first music videos by a black artist to get regular airplay on MTV. Michael Jackson was the first to break the color barrier with “Billie Jean” in January, and Prince’s hit soon followed. Michael reportedly was a fan of the song.
November,
John Landis: We had a première [for Thriller]- which was a riot – because Michael wanted a première. I’ve been to the Oscars and I’ve been to the Baftas, I’ve been to the Emmys, I’ve been to the Golden Globes, and I’ve never been anywhere like this première. It was incredible. There was everyone from Diana Ross and Warren Beatty to Prince. It was nuts. Amazing… got a standing ovation and all that stuff and they’re shouting, ‘Encore, encore,’ and I said ‘Encore? There is no f—ing encore!’
Then Eddie Murphy got up and shouted, ‘Show the goddamn thing again!’ So they sat and they watched Thriller again. Why not? It was just amazing, it was just amazing…
1984:
Soon after viewing “Purple Rain”, Michael invited Prince over to his home for dinner with Janet and La Toya. Prince is said to have made a few unsuccessful passes at La Toya. At the end of the evening, Prince gave Michael a gift – a box containing leaves, twigs and a cassette of some satanic like chants. “Michael Jackson: The Magic and the Madness” reported a similar event. “At another encounter with Michael, Prince brought him a present in a small box. Inside there were some colorful metal charms and some feathers. Michael closed the box quickly and shot a look at Quincy Jones, who was present. Then Prince left.”
*
While Prince was in Los Angeles, Quincy Jones arranged for him to meet Michael Jackson over dinner at Jackson’s Encino family home. Jones felt the two creative forces should know one another. “It was a strange summit,” according to writer Quincy Troupe. They’re so competitive with each other that neither would give anything up. They kind of sat there checking each other out, but saying very little. It was a fascinating stalemate between two very powerful dudes.”
–From Dance Music Sex Romance
1985
After a show Prince was scheduled to participate in an event that threatened to overshadow the awards itself. He along with more than forty other music stars had been invited to A&M Studios to record…”We Are The World.” The main creative forces behind the song was Quincy Jones, Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson. A line had been written for Prince to sing and a space in the studio blocked out for him to stand next to Michael Jackson. But at some point during the course of the evening, he decided not to show up. Prince later said in interviews that he would have felt uncomfortable around so many entertainment luminaries.
Prince in any situation needed to feel in control, something that would have been impossible as a session dominated by his arch rival Michael Jackson. Prince agreed to contribute a song to the We Are The World album, “4 The Tears In Your Eyes.”
We Are The World, David Breskin, Life Magazine, April 1985
On the other side of Michael Jackson – between him and Paul Simon – is a space marked ‘Prince’. He never shows. He’d offered to play a steaming guitar part, but was asked to do the same as everybody else. (“Fuck him. What is he? A creep” – Bob Geldof.)
Dance Music Sex Romance: Prince: The First Decade
Jackson showed up backstage at a couple Prince shows in 1984. The two icons, whose “Thriller” and “Purple Rain” defined the 1980s, never did work together. Later that decade, when both were recording at the same Los Angeles studio, Prince invited Jackson to play ping-pong. Michael, a star since age 8 who had lived a sheltered life, didn’t know how.
“You want me to slam it?” Prince asked, according to engineer David Z, who was there. “Michael drops his paddle and holds his hands up in front of his face so the ball won’t hit him. Michael walks out with his bodyguard, and Prince starts strutting around like a rooster. ‘Did you see that? He played like Helen Keller.’”
But Bland insists the two icons got along fine: “They’d shoot hoops at Paisley Park,” Prince’s studio/home in Chanhassen. “We used to get packages from MJJ Productions [with] footage of Sly Stone performing in Europe. Prince would pop it in the VCR, and we’d watch it.”
1987:
Reports said that Michael Jackson was still bugged by the success of “Purple Rain”. He wanted more than just his goody, wholesome image. He wanted to show a “badder” side. The plan was to plant false stories in the tabloids (as many celebreties do) that there was a heated rivalry between the two. The plan would continue by having Michael’s manger making a statement in Rolling Stone magazine claiming that the rumors were untrue and that the two were actually good friends. With the controversy in full swing, the musical showdown of the century would begin. The two would finally meet on the single and video of “Bad”. Prince was actually willing to listen to Michael’s offer. But as it turned out, Prince was not satisfied. The “Bad” video ended up with Michael singing alone, facing off against a then little known Wesley Snipes in 1987. In a recent interview by Chris Rock, Prince said, “Well, that Wesley Snipes character, that would’ve been me (laughs). You run that video in your mind. The first line of that song is ‘Your butt is mine’. Now I said ‘Who gonna sing that to who? Cause you sure ain’t singin’ it to me. And I sure ain’t singin’ it to you’. So right there we got, y’know, right there we got a problem.”
*
“Michael Jackson – Bad” was originally supposed to be a duet with Prince and Michael, but Quincy says on the 25th Anniversary Release of Bad that Prince turned it down because he “felt it was a hit without him.”
*
Quincy Jones, Q Magazine, November 1987
How aware was Michael of Prince, and of his rise to prominence?
“Prince was making the biggest thrust right at the peak of Thriller, and Michael’s success had gotten so far out of control, at one point you could just feel it breaking that barrier, in almost a scary fashion. And right after that I think the public freaked out because all the hoopla was going on and here comes Prince with Purple Rain and in my opinion when the backlash started they used Prince to whip Michael with: it’s time for you to get pulled down and Prince is gonna be the one to do it.”
(Jones confirms that the two superstars did meet on one occasion: “a social call.” Nobody is claiming that the pair got along famously. There was, it seems, some polite conversation about vegetarianism.)
[...]
“He’s been in here a few times,” he says of Jackson. “He won’t look you straight in the eye. He’s a shy guy, I guess, but he will sign autographs, which is more than Prince does. If people knew how Prince treated his fans, he wouldn’t be so popular. Michael used to sign with whatever date it was. Now he signs 1998, I don’t know what means. Maybe it’s when he thinks the world is going to end or something.”
According to Bruce Swedian:
Aaron……
Isn’t it terrible how the press just can’t tell the whole story???
I was there for a couple of the meetings with Prince and Michael, Quincy and all. Personaly I think that after meeting with Michael, Quincy, Fredy DeMann and his team, Prince realized that he couldn’t win this duet/duel with MJ, artistically or other wise… And pulled out… He left the building, so to speak…
As far as I am concerned. I want to say that I love Prince’s music…
*
Marva King was initially going to sing duet with Michael in IJCSLY, but was replaced by Siedah Garrett, however her vocals remain in the background. She then performed on tour with Prince from 1997-1999.
Source
1988,
During a short break, Quincy Jones played a practical joke on Michael. He placed a photo of Prince on the seat next to him. Michael nodded his head as to say, “No Way!”
- During taping of the 1988 Grammy’s, Tatiana Thumbtzen’s bio
Bad Tour, Mike’s guitarist Jennifer Batten,
Somebody we know wanted us to ask you if you have ever met Prince.
Yeah, I didn’t actually officially meet him. He came backstage at one of the Jackson shows on the Bad tour, he had Shelia E and Cat with him. I had some friends who were sitting behind him at the show, they said he went nuts when I did my solo on Beat It! [chuckles] But I never met him personally.
1989
In 1989, while still enjoying the success of his “Bad” album, Michael released a home video called “Moonwalker”. In it, a group of kids reenact his “Bad” video, with the Wesley Snipes character played by a member of the group The Boys. At the end of the act, the little Michael is escorted off of the “Bad” subway set by a little entourage member. Little Michael asks about Bubbles the chimp, then asks what he is wearing. “He’s wearing a Prince t-shirt and red sneakers,” he is told. “PRINCE t-shirt?” little Michael asks.
*
29th March
Will the next big battle between the “Bad” manchild and the Purple One be on the big screen instead of the pop charts?
Another interesting coincidence is the fact that Prince’s new law firm is Ziffren, Brittenham and Branca. John Branca is Jackson’s attorney and is said to be handling the superstar while he searches for a new manager.
1990:
“Once More With Feeling,” Tatiana Thumbtzen
Tatiana adds, she met Prince at her birthday party. She was taken at how beautiful he was in person, even more so than on camera. She asked him to dance, everyone in the club stopped to watch. When the party ended, Prince invited her for a ride in his limo. They rode around for a couple of hours, listening to demos of his new music. He asked her to go to his hotel, she did. At one point, while they were talking, Prince reached over and pulled her top down. She was shocked and said, “I thought you were shy!” Referring to my breasts, he said, “They’re so beautiful!”
Next he led me to his big walk-in closet. He had hundreds of suits in every color. It was 4.a.m in the morning; he invited me to stay, promising to take me home in the morning. I agreed and he gave me a pair of silk pajamas and he put on a black Lycra cat suit. We kissed and cuddled as we drifted off to sleep. After that first date, Prince and I went out a few more times. One time, he sent his brother, Dwain in a Rolls Royce to pick me up. I brought him a birthday gift, a belt that spelled out Gemini. Since I knew he didn’t like to be handed gifts, Dwain promised to give it to him later. During the next several months, I shared a few more romantic interludes with Prince. There were moments of passion but he never went too far(they never had sex). The closeness we had, however, was more important than sex.
We talked and talked, there was nothing we didn’t talk about, And we would laugh hysterically.
Prince is wonderful but he is also eccentric. Along with the brilliance, there is a temperamental side and I’ve seen both his Dr. Jekyll and his Mr. Hyde. His mood could change at the drop of a hat. He’d be fine one minute, then dark, dramatic and withdrawn the next.
Prince and I lost touch for about four years. We met by chance one night at a club and started talking about an interview I had given to the Star tabloid during the scandal involving Michael Jackson and the underage boy. Prince was upset that I had spoken to the tabloid; he attacked me for my comments and he was especially bothered by a line that quoted me as saying that Michael would never get married. He shouted, “Did you need the money that bad? Are you that poor – that broke, that you sell your story to the tabloids?”
1991
But Prince isn’t taking any chances: He recently announced that he has hired a new business consultant: Frank Dileo, the management muscle behind Michael Jackson’s successful Thriller and Bad albums.
1992
Lori Werner was a dancer on Prince’s “Diamonds and Pearls,” in 1992 and then was later a TWYMMF dancer for Michael during the 1996 Brunei concert and the 1996/7 History tour.
October 13, 1992:
Prince releases the album “Love Symbol” which includes the song “My Name Is Prince” and the lyric: “You got to be a Prince befo’ yo’ King anyway” a likely reference to Michael’s “King of Pop” status.
1994:
BLACK&WHITE : Bob Jones told us Prince stopped by awhile ago, what’s up with that?!?
Bruce Swedien : This is true, Prince came to the studio. He was passing by, stopped in and wanted to see Michael…he hung around and heard a few songs…
BLACK&WHITE : Did he like them?
Bruce Swedien : He said they were good.
– “Black & White” Magazine
According to Rob Hoffman on Gearsltuz:
For what it’s worth, MJ and Prince did have a meeting during HIStory as well. We were all kicked out of the room however (Prince’s wishes, not MJ’s), so I don’t know what was said.
1995:
1995 was also the ten year anniversary of “We Are The World”. At another televised awards program, Quincy Jones had a group of artists join him up on stage to help sing it. Quincy’s good friend Michael was not there that evening, but his other friend Prince was. It was during Prince’s phaze of always being seen with a lollipop in his mouth. Prince joined Quincy as well as various other artists on stage to sing “We Are The World”. Prince, however was not singing. His mouth was too busy with his lollipop. Quincy placed a microphone towards Prince’s mouth so he would sing. But Prince just playfully placed his lollipop towards Quincy’s mouth. Quincy pretended like he was about to eat it.
Prince releases “The Truth” in 1998
The song “Fascination” includes the lyrics: “So called King gives birth to so called Prince.” Michael named his son Prince (after his grandfather, but I’m sure Prince got the irony).
2000
Link to an interiew (it won’t embed!) where Prince talks about who would win in an arm wrestling match (“Michael’s a lover not a fighter”) and where he tells people to chill out on Michael, “because we don’t really know what’s going on with him and we need to chill on that.”
Around 2000,
During the early 2000s, Prince was being interviewed (radio, I think) and the interviewer played a game with him. He said that he would hold up cards with names on them and Prince had to say the first thing that came to mind. The interviewer held up a card that said ‘Michael Jackson’ and Prince responded ‘Genius’. Later on, the interviewer held up a card that said ‘Janet Jackson’ and Prince responded ‘The genuis’ sister.”
Will.i.am: I don’t know but I know that one time I was in Vegas and [Michael Jackson's] like, “Oh, I heard you’re in Vegas.”
I was like, “Yeah, we have a show tonight. Can you come?”
“What time you guys go on?”
We go on at 9 o’clock. I swear to God, “Oh, rats.” He said rats. “Oh, rats, I can’t. I’ve got to put the kids to sleep.”
All right, well after we perform with the Peas, I’m performing with Prince. You should come to the show. So Prince invited me to perform with him at the Palms. Maybe you can come see me perform with Prince.
So Michael Jackson says, “Oh really? I’d love to. Call Prince and see if it’s cool.” I call Prince’s assistant. She’s like sure. So I’m like, “Yo, Mike, it’s great.”
Come on, dude. This sh*t ain’t real. To me, that that happened, it sounds like a big ass lie, right? Yeah, I’ll just call Prince and then bring Michael Jackson but it’s the realest sh*t. So, I’m late. I’m late. I’m in the cab, like aw, man, what a time to be f*ckin’ late. I’m always late and I’m late for Michael Jackson to see me perform with Prince.
So I hop off the cab and I’m running in Las Vegas. I’m running and people are like, “Wyclef!”
I’m like f*ck you, right? Then I run and I get to the place and I perform for Prince and I walk off stage and Michael’s there.
He’s like, “That was awesome. I didn’t know you rapped.” I was like, “What? You don’t know I rap? I’m in the Black Eyed Peas.”
“I didn’t think it was you that was the rapper. I thought it was the other guy.”
I was like, “No, that’s me, dude.”
“You’re awesome, that was awesome. We need to do something like that on my record where you rap and I sing.” Yeah, but that was a great experience to have Mike see me perform with Prince. It was nuts. That’s great, cool.
German interview with Will.I.Am:
Sp: You’ve also worked with Prince? The man has shocked the recording industry, by giving away his new CD in Great Britain for free with a newspaper.
Will.i.am: A visionaire. I performed with him. A few months ago,I was with the Black Eyed Peas in Las Vegas. Prince calls me, he played in a Casino and asks, “You want to perform with me tonight?” Sure, I say, of course! The next day his assistant called me and said: “Prince would like to know if you want to come along this evening too.” Want to? What’s more cool than to play with Prince? Right, to play with him two days in a row! A few minutes later I get a further call: “Hey, it’s Mike, wat are you doing?” Mike? Michael Jackson? Wow! He had changed studios at that time, from Ireland to Las Vegas. I say: “Hey, I’m playing with Prince here tonight.”
“Prince? That is great!”
“You should come!”
“Really? That would be cool!”
“That would be really cool!”
“Okay, I’ll come.” Imagine that: I’m playing with Prince, and Michael Jackson sits in the audience! Holy ish! What chance is there to get a call from Prince and then one from Michael Jackson within ten minutes?
Sp: that chance is zero.
Will.i.am: Right. Okay, I head for the concert in the early evening and – get stuck in traffic! I think by myself, @#$%, this is the worst time to be stuck ! So I jump out of the car and start to run. I make it at the last second into the club. Everything goes smoothly, after three minutes I ‘m back from the stage, Prince still yells in the microphone “Give it up for Will.i.am!” I creep into the hall and sit down to the table of – Michael Jackson. So he really came!
“What did you think of me?”, I ask him.
He answers: “I did not know you rapped.”
Now I ask you? The man lets me fly to bloody Ireland for a few photographs, and he doesn’t even know that I am not only a producer, but also a rapper!
I say: “Have you never heard my music, or looked at my videos? I @#$#%’ am the main rapper of the Black Eyed Peas!” Anyways. Besides Michael Jackson sits the actor Chris Tucker, and then Prince comes down from the stage to us…
Sp: … and sees Michael Jackson sitting at the table with you?
Will.i.am: Yo. He had his bass still strapped on and stops at our table. So there we sit : Michael Jackson, Chris Tucker and I. Prince stands directly before Michael Jackson and improvises on the bass: Slap! He does nothing- nothing! – and says nothing! Simply plays . What a scene! When Prince is again back on stage, Michael Jackson says to me: “Prince played his bass in the middle of my face! What’s up with that?” Now now, I say: “you are finally incognito here! Imagine that Prince would have said: ‘and by the way Michael Jackson is sitting here.’ The people are already excited because of Prince, let alone knowing you’re also here!” Yep, that was it then, the craziest night of my life.
Sp: And when you tell this story, nobody believes you.
Will.i.am: I would not even believe it! But I have to say: It is true. Each word. The next morning I had breakfast with Michael Jackson, we worked a bit on songs together – and that was the last time that I saw him.
2007
July 23rd
Michael Jackson is being advised on how to save his career by former chart rival Prince.
The eccentric star has reportedly turned to Prince, who he battled for pop supremacy in the 80s, for help with his comeback.
The ‘Purple Rain’ singer is said to have told Michael to play a series of acoustic shows in Las Vegas to prove to the world he is still an amazing talent.
A source told the New York Post newspaper: “Prince has been suggesting that Michael play a sequence of unplugged concerts in Las Vegas – just Michael and the microphone. No gimmicks, no costume changes, no smoke or mirrors, just his voice.”
It seems Prince has had a change of heart towards his one-time rival.
Earlier this year, the diminutive star snubbed Michael’s offer of a joint tour to help him re-launch himself on the world stage.
Prince was said to be concerned that the hype surrounding Michael’s comeback would over-shadow the concerts, and he wasn’t prepared to be the ‘Beat It’ singer’s support act.
Michael, Ebony, December 2007
“Billie Jean, you know, they said, we don’t – we won’t play it. And when they played it, it set the all-time record. And they were asking for everything we had. They were knocking our door down because it brought the audience. Then they – then Prince came, it opened a door for Prince and all the other black artists.”
2009
Michael’s choreographer Kenny Ortega was concerned about Michael’s insomnia because he knew he’d need a lot of stamina for the upcoming O2 concerts. Apparently Michael told Kenny that he’d wake up in the middle of the night with song ideas that were being given to him “from a higher power” and that he just had to write them down. Ortega wondered if Michael couldn’t make a deal with his “higher power” to give him these ideas at another time (instead of in the middle of the night). Michael responded, “no, I can’t ignore the ideas. Because then He might give them to Prince.”
June 27th,
Prince and Michael Jackson were friendly rivals? Seriously? According to former band members of the Purple One, it’s true.
A report in the Startribune, Bobby Z., Prince’s drummer for the Revolution, remembers watching the 1984 Grammys with Prince as Michael Jackson swept the Grammys.
“We were watching rough cuts of [the movie] ‘Purple Rain,’ and we knew that’s where Prince wanted to be the next year,” Z said Thursday.
Michael Jackson even showed up to 2 Purple Rain shows backstage. Although Michael Jackson did want to work with Prince a few years later, Prince declined due to lyrical differences.
Michael Bland insisted they got along fine. “They’d shoot hoops at Paisley Park,” Prince’s studio/home in Chanhassen. “We used to get packages from MJJ Productions [with] footage of Sly Stone performing in Europe. Prince would pop it in the VCR, and we’d watch it.”
Prince even defended Michael at a press conference in 2000 where he said something along the lines of “we don’t really know what is going on with him and maybe we need to chill on that.” (I can’t find the original transcript so paraphrasing people.)
Personally speaking, I did see Michael Jackson attend one of Prince’s shows at 3121 Las Vegas in 2006 with Wil I Am of the Black Eyed Peas and Chris Tucker. Michael did not make the after show as planned where he was to be seated with Michael Jordan.
Recently, Prince has been performing Michael Jackson songs in his sets, “Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough” and recently “Dancing Machine” by the Jackson 5
It’s nice to know my favorite artist Prince had an interesting connection with Michael that many of us did not know, beating him in hoops I am sure. -Dr.FB
15th October, 2009
At your concert at the Grand Palais, you’ve performed a song the Jackson 5 Shake Your Body (Down To The Ground). Was it a tribute?
My singer Elisa has the same timbre as Michael when he was young. And a good song is a good song.
How did you feel at the death of Michael Jackson?
(Prince, obviously reluctant, does not want to dwell on the subject.) It is always sad to lose someone you loved.
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