Do you think that Prince's height has been an advantage or disadvantage to him musically? In other words, he could have been an even better drummer, bassist, dancer etc if he were taller or perhaps his stature actually enhances his agility and speed?

bigbrother said:

Do you think that Prince's height has been an advantage or disadvantage to him musically? In other words, he could have been an even better drummer, bassist, dancer etc if he were taller or perhaps his stature actually enhances his agility and speed?

Prince's height probably had little affect on his musical ability, and probably assisted his stage act. One could never imagine somebody picking up MJ the way the gameboyz did and tossing him in the air to watch him land in the splits---Prince could do this.

However, I do think that Prince's height had a real affect on his career by the fact that Prince obviously has LMS (Little man syndrom) where he has certain personality quircks that can be attributed to his short stature. For example, his refusal to 'be himse'f or to take constructive criticism. Folks with LMS sometimes have this Napoleon complex where they are extremely confident and overachieving, yet very very sensative towards being the butt of the joke for ANYTHING, let alone for their size.

MORE than anything else, I think this has affected his music, his dealings with people, and the way that he approaches his own stardom. At age 53, I think Prince is still building a mystery for himself.

It's not his height that counts it's his voice

luv4u said:

It's not his height that counts it's his voice

Yes.

He kinda has to jump a little when he's playing the drums. I think it's cute

imago said:

bigbrother said:

Do you think that Prince's height has been an advantage or disadvantage to him musically? In other words, he could have been an even better drummer, bassist, dancer etc if he were taller or perhaps his stature actually enhances his agility and speed?

Prince's height probably had little affect on his musical ability, and probably assisted his stage act.

MORE than anything else, I think Prince is a mystery.

luv4u said:

It's not his height that counts it's his voice

This.

Didn't he say he used to always feel ridiculed as a child because of his size? And he went on to say that's probably the reason why that another persona (the feminine side of him) got created, to have someone to care of him and not ridicule him. I think his height definitely played a roll in his career, personality and really, why he became who he is, someone who constantly creates music.

Prince only cares about $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$£££££££££££££££££ he got over his small stature many years ago...Why cant i be like my brother handsome and tall........was a long time ago.

I miss 2001-2004 soooo much

davetherave6767 said:

Prince only cares about $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$£££££££££££££££££ he got over his small stature many years ago...Why cant i be like my brother handsome and tall........was a long time ago.

???? He's been a good looking babe since June/7/1958 hasn't he ????

Emancipation89 said:

davetherave6767 said:

Prince only cares about $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$£££££££££££££££££ he got over his small stature many years ago...Why cant i be like my brother handsome and tall........was a long time ago.

???? He's been a good looking babe since June/7/1958 hasn't he ????

Prince has always been handsome and sexy...Eye think he has a great body...

Height has nothing to do with his musical abilities or success at all. It would not matter if he was shorter or taller (or at least it shouldn't matter, but people always want to find something to make fun of people about...).

purplemajesty23 said:

Height has nothing to do with his musical abilities or success at all. It would not matter if he was shorter or taller (or at least it shouldn't matter, but people always want to find something to make fun of people about...).

Height does matter to a lot of female fans, it's the reason why in Purple Rain all the camera angles make Prince look taller. You truly can't grasp how little the guy is until you see him in person.

Pokeno4Money said:

Pokeno4Money said:

purplemajesty23 said:

Height has nothing to do with his musical abilities or success at all. It would not matter if he was shorter or taller (or at least it shouldn't matter, but people always want to find something to make fun of people about...).

Height does matter to a lot of female fans, it's the reason why in Purple Rain all the camera angles make Prince look taller. You truly can't grasp how little the guy is until you see him in person.

About 2/3rd of the way through that interview he did with Scary Spice at Paisley Park, after they had moved to the oudoor playground, the camera pulled back for a minute and I got a fairly good look at his size. Yes, he's very small. The best part? At the end of the interview, when he said to Scary (Mel B, rather), in that deep voice: "I'll walk you out to your car." All man!

To answer the OP, I think his size is an advantage, because, like his talent, it's distinctive and sets him apart. The very fact that he looks the way he does is a talking point. Look at us, decades later, still talking about his height. It is part of the fascination.

Regardless, he's an incredibly self-assured entertainer. There's no one like him.

I wouldn't put it all on his size, but he certainly is comfortable with his body and has been for a very long time. Prince's natural talent on the stage for being interesting to look at would likely look impressive no matter his size. Of course, who knows if he would've manifested his talents in different ways had he NOT been so short and had something to prove.

It is better that Prince is(what society considers) small. Because it is an example of what belief in oneself can do. Prince in his mind never gave up and believed continuosly in his *star*.

Pokeno4Money said:

purplemajesty23 said:

Height has nothing to do with his musical abilities or success at all. It would not matter if he was shorter or taller (or at least it shouldn't matter, but people always want to find something to make fun of people about...).

Height does matter to a lot of female fans, it's the reason why in Purple Rain all the camera angles make Prince look taller. You truly can't grasp how little the guy is until you see him in person.

Women really care about height? I wonder if 5'11 is ok lol

Getting back to the original question, I think his height was neither an advantage nor a disadvantage musically.

Paul Simon & Paul Williams are an inch shorter than Prince

Sammy Davis Jr & Davy Jones are/were the same height as Prince

Beethoven was 3/4 of an inch taller

Elton John & Igor Stravinsky are/were one inch taller

Lou Reed 2 inches taller

Phil Collins & Bob Dylan & James Brown are/were 3 inches taller

I do think his size was an advantage when it came to dancing, as it's more difficult for taller people to be agile.

luv4u said:

It's not his height that counts it's his voice

And his voice is very high!

RodeoSchro said:

luv4u said:

It's not his height that counts it's his voice

And his voice is very high!

imago said:

bigbrother said:

Do you think that Prince's height has been an advantage or disadvantage to him musically? In other words, he could have been an even better drummer, bassist, dancer etc if he were taller or perhaps his stature actually enhances his agility and speed?

Prince's height probably had little affect on his musical ability, and probably assisted his stage act. One could never imagine somebody picking up MJ the way the gameboyz did and tossing him in the air to watch him land in the splits---Prince could do this.

However, I do think that Prince's height had a real affect on his career by the fact that Prince obviously has LMS (Little man syndrom) where he has certain personality quircks that can be attributed to his short stature. For example, his refusal to 'be himse'f or to take constructive criticism. Folks with LMS sometimes have this Napoleon complex where they are extremely confident and overachieving, yet very very sensative towards being the butt of the joke for ANYTHING, let alone for their size.

MORE than anything else, I think this has affected his music, his dealings with people, and the way that he approaches his own stardom. At age 53, I think Prince is still building a mystery for himself.

Going beyond that, I think it might have pushed him to work even harder at his music, because it was something where physical size didn't matter. By all accounts, Prince loved to play basketball - and wasn't too bad at it. But obviously, no matter how much effort he put into that, he was never going to be an NBA star. Music was something he had a natural talent for - and his height didn't matter a damn.

I'm reading a book right now called Outliers (by Malcolm Gladwell) and a lot of what it discusses puts me in mind of Prince. In the book, Gladwell talks about the Beatles - and how they eventually made it so big. Yes, they were talented. But they were lucky to be among several musical groups chosen to play in clubs in the redlight district in Hamburg, Germany in 1957. Because of the hours the clubs were open, and because they used live music, the Beatles were able to work and work and work at one thing. They didn't have to work other jobs to support themselves while playing music on the side.

Gladwell talks about the "ten thousand hour rule" - that it takes 10,000 hours at something to really make you great at it. Doing something full time, you can spend about a thousand hours a year at it. Which means it takes 10 years to achieve expert status. In the case of the Beatles, they started playing in Hamburg in 1957. They released what are generally considered to be their greatest albums starting 10 years later - Sgt. Pepper (1967), the White Album (1968) and Abbey Road (1969).

Gladwell's premise is that natural talent only goes so far in making someone a success. The people who really hit it big also have a lot of luck and, in general, work much, much harder than the rest of us at just one thing.

In Prince's case, he was naturally talented, sure. But it helped that he had a music teacher who let him use the practice rooms at school whenever he wanted. It helped that Chris Moon hired him at his studio and gave him studio time in return. All these things (plus his tender age) meant that Prince didn't need a regular job and could focus on his music. And by all accounts, it was all he did. How many times have we heard that while his musical contemporaries in Minneapolis were sleeping, Prince was working?

Prince started playing guitar when he was 14 (so, in 1972). Think about what happened 10 years later.

RodeoSchro said:

And his voice is very high!

His voise has very wide diapazon, he just sings very high, but talking baritone...

kuzenka said:

RodeoSchro said:

And his voice is very high!

His voise has very wide diapazon, he just sings very high, but talking baritone...

You mean BARRY-tone

davetherave6767 said:

Prince only cares about $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$£££££££££££££££££ he got over his small stature many years ago...Why cant i be like my brother handsome and tall........was a long time ago.

i don't believe that !!! where's your evidence? no wishto be ahater of anyone but I think it would be more truthful to say he only cares about the music. We aint lived his life so we can't judge.

Genesia said:

imago said:

Prince's height probably had little affect on his musical ability, and probably assisted his stage act. One could never imagine somebody picking up MJ the way the gameboyz did and tossing him in the air to watch him land in the splits---Prince could do this.

However, I do think that Prince's height had a real affect on his career by the fact that Prince obviously has LMS (Little man syndrom) where he has certain personality quircks that can be attributed to his short stature. For example, his refusal to 'be himse'f or to take constructive criticism. Folks with LMS sometimes have this Napoleon complex where they are extremely confident and overachieving, yet very very sensative towards being the butt of the joke for ANYTHING, let alone for their size.

MORE than anything else, I think this has affected his music, his dealings with people, and the way that he approaches his own stardom. At age 53, I think Prince is still building a mystery for himself.

Going beyond that, I think it might have pushed him to work even harder at his music, because it was something where physical size didn't matter. By all accounts, Prince loved to play basketball - and wasn't too bad at it. But obviously, no matter how much effort he put into that, he was never going to be an NBA star. Music was something he had a natural talent for - and his height didn't matter a damn.

I'm reading a book right now called Outliers (by Malcolm Gladwell) and a lot of what it discusses puts me in mind of Prince. In the book, Gladwell talks about the Beatles - and how they eventually made it so big. Yes, they were talented. But they were lucky to be among several musical groups chosen to play in clubs in the redlight district in Hamburg, Germany in 1957. Because of the hours the clubs were open, and because they used live music, the Beatles were able to work and work and work at one thing. They didn't have to work other jobs to support themselves while playing music on the side.

Gladwell talks about the "ten thousand hour rule" - that it takes 10,000 hours at something to really make you great at it. Doing something full time, you can spend about a thousand hours a year at it. Which means it takes 10 years to achieve expert status. In the case of the Beatles, they started playing in Hamburg in 1957. They released what are generally considered to be their greatest albums starting 10 years later - Sgt. Pepper (1967), the White Album (1968) and Abbey Road (1969).

Gladwell's premise is that natural talent only goes so far in making someone a success. The people who really hit it big also have a lot of luck and, in general, work much, much harder than the rest of us at just one thing.

In Prince's case, he was naturally talented, sure. But it helped that he had a music teacher who let him use the practice rooms at school whenever he wanted. It helped that Chris Moon hired him at his studio and gave him studio time in return. All these things (plus his tender age) meant that Prince didn't need a regular job and could focus on his music. And by all accounts, it was all he did. How many times have we heard that while his musical contemporaries in Minneapolis were sleeping, Prince was working?

Prince started playing guitar when he was 14 (so, in 1972). Think about what happened 10 years later.

thank you very interesting very thought provoking and itlligent response

michael11000 said:

It is better that Prince is(what society considers) small. Because it is an example of what belief in oneself can do. Prince in his mind never gave up and believed continuosly in his *star*.

He also said he does not see himself through other people's eyes (the Mel B. interview). I like the way he thinks. It's an intoxicating blend of cerebral and the irrational. He's very special. And he fascinates endlessly.

Genesia said:

imago said:

Prince's height probably had little affect on his musical ability, and probably assisted his stage act. One could never imagine somebody picking up MJ the way the gameboyz did and tossing him in the air to watch him land in the splits---Prince could do this.

However, I do think that Prince's height had a real affect on his career by the fact that Prince obviously has LMS (Little man syndrom) where he has certain personality quircks that can be attributed to his short stature. For example, his refusal to 'be himse'f or to take constructive criticism. Folks with LMS sometimes have this Napoleon complex where they are extremely confident and overachieving, yet very very sensative towards being the butt of the joke for ANYTHING, let alone for their size.

MORE than anything else, I think this has affected his music, his dealings with people, and the way that he approaches his own stardom. At age 53, I think Prince is still building a mystery for himself.

Going beyond that, I think it might have pushed him to work even harder at his music, because it was something where physical size didn't matter. By all accounts, Prince loved to play basketball - and wasn't too bad at it. But obviously, no matter how much effort he put into that, he was never going to be an NBA star. Music was something he had a natural talent for - and his height didn't matter a damn.

I'm reading a book right now called Outliers (by Malcolm Gladwell) and a lot of what it discusses puts me in mind of Prince. In the book, Gladwell talks about the Beatles - and how they eventually made it so big. Yes, they were talented. But they were lucky to be among several musical groups chosen to play in clubs in the redlight district in Hamburg, Germany in 1957. Because of the hours the clubs were open, and because they used live music, the Beatles were able to work and work and work at one thing. They didn't have to work other jobs to support themselves while playing music on the side.

Gladwell talks about the "ten thousand hour rule" - that it takes 10,000 hours at something to really make you great at it. Doing something full time, you can spend about a thousand hours a year at it. Which means it takes 10 years to achieve expert status. In the case of the Beatles, they started playing in Hamburg in 1957. They released what are generally considered to be their greatest albums starting 10 years later - Sgt. Pepper (1967), the White Album (1968) and Abbey Road (1969).

Gladwell's premise is that natural talent only goes so far in making someone a success. The people who really hit it big also have a lot of luck and, in general, work much, much harder than the rest of us at just one thing.

In Prince's case, he was naturally talented, sure. But it helped that he had a music teacher who let him use the practice rooms at school whenever he wanted. It helped that Chris Moon hired him at his studio and gave him studio time in return. All these things (plus his tender age) meant that Prince didn't need a regular job and could focus on his music. And by all accounts, it was all he did. How many times have we heard that while his musical contemporaries in Minneapolis were sleeping, Prince was working?

Prince started playing guitar when he was 14 (so, in 1972). Think about what happened 10 years later.

Thank you for this. Gladwell's premise vis-a-vis Prince makes perfect sense. Never read Outliers (which is on my list), and now I have the Cliff Notes version.