I was something like 10 or 14 when i got introduced to prince. It was "Sexy Mf" music video on MTV, I might have known him before but I can't recall anything before that. After something like 5 or 6 years after that I really got interested in his music, at first I didn't know what to make of his music but soon I understand that he was special and above all he was the greatest, and still is. Of course I listen all kinds of music but prince is definitely one of the best who ever did it.

I don't know if this thread has been done before.

Tell everybody your story!

This type of thread has been done many times before but always seems to be a popular subject.

It was my older sister who brought home the 1999 and Purple Rain albums when they were released, I liked what I heard, but it was not till 1986 when I began really appreciating his music and what he was all about. My sister fell for Prince as a pretty guy, I fell for the music.

I first started hearing him on the radio in junior high ('79-'80...), but I didn't like him.

PR came out my senior year of high school, but I wasn't really into it like some of my classmates.

In college, I had a friend who would always try to get me to listen to him, and we'd debate.

THEN I got placed with a roommate who was a fanatic- collecting bootleg cassettes back in the day...

She played him so much that I started to hear what the big deal was. I didn't like most of the songs on the radio, but she showed me a whole new side.

When "Sign O' the Times" came out, I was hooked. The rest is history...

chocolate1 said:

I first started hearing him on the radio in junior high ('79-'80...), but I didn't like him.

PR came out my senior year of high school, but I wasn't really into it like some of my classmates.

In college, I had a friend who would always try to get me to listen to him, and we'd debate.

THEN I got placed with a roommate who was a fanatic- collecting bootleg cassettes back in the day...

She played him so much that I started to hear what the big deal was. I didn't like most of the songs on the radio, but she showed me a whole new side.

When "Sign O' the Times" came out, I was hooked. The rest is history...

awesome story!

Huge MJ fan. Heard about the planned duet between MJ and Prince. Thought I might listen to a song of his. First heard Darling Nikki, Controversy, and Erotic City and feel in love from then

well, i have been a HUGE michael jackson fanatic Since i was little, and my mom always told me that i would like prince etc.. i didnt take it to seriously the only artist i listened to was michael, in late 2010 i was basically just bored on the enternet and decided to look up prince (i remembered how everyone always said him and michael were alot alike) so i decided to take a look.. i listened to the song kiss... and that was it.. i was hooked.. i played the song constantly, then went out and bought his hits cd... since then i have became a HUGE prince fanatic..

I remember loving 1999 on the radio when it was out.

At 12 I was too young when Purple Rain was going on,

but I was really in to a couple of the hits, WDC, LGC.

So the next year when MTV premiered the Raspberry Beret video

and played it on the top of every hour for like 2 days strait, I

thought it was super cool and ran out to get the single.

Then of course I got the album, and then the 12 inches and

the whole thing totally snowballed from there.

I think things like the America 12" being 21 minutes long,

& seeing the killer live performance on the UTCM Premiere

showed me that Prince was doing some very impressive stuff.

Eventually I started back tracking to check out 1999 & Controversy

A couple of years later when I could go in to the city I started finding

the bootlegs and discovering all of this amazing music that no one

knew about!

I was 11 years old (only 15 right now) and i was sitting on my couch with my big sister flipping through the channels on tv when i came accross a movie called purple rain, i had no idea what it was all i knew was i liked purple and it sounded cool. so i decided to watch it. The first time i saw and heard prince's music i thought he was the greatest thing ever, i probably watched purple rain 10 times that week. And as i got older i discovered all of his other music and now i think he is even more amazing. I am so greatful for prince, he has taught me so much about God, music, love, and life, i kno this probably sounds cheesy but its true so thankyou Prince, i hope to meet you some day!

<3

The Electrifying Mojo.

I'm 19, started likeing the song guitar after the phone commercial he did with "guitar" i was like 14yrs old.

I of course knew of purple rain and kiss. Then i saw purple rain for like the 5th time, but that time i actually payed attention and loved all the songs from the movie. I loved his superbowl performance. Then my first year in college (last year) I heard "I would die 4 u" blasting in this clothing store i was in and loooooved it, and was grooving to it, I knew it was prince because of the voice. It became one of my favorite songs of all time. And I still love Prince

I wonder how many such stories Prince himself has heard? These are the kind of things an artist lives for, I think. How your music has come into and become a part of people's lives. Amazing.

I love these stories.

oh yeah! and his cover of betcha by golly wow. my dad likes the original and plays it, aand one day i was on youtube and was searching for a live performance of it, and saw one of the search results say betcha by golly wow by prince, listened to it, loved it. In fact I think its better than the original.

smokeverbs said:

The Electrifying Mojo.

Ditto!!! Well first it started when I was 10yrs old with hearing I Wanna Be Your Lover on WLBS in Detroit. A few years later, The Electrifying Mojo got me liking the Controversy album...I thought it was creepy at first. Also, Mojo and his Prince/ Prince Protege hours played "Irresistable Bitch" uncut at midnight...I thought Prince was musically sick & brilliant...been a huge fan of his ever since then.

I'd also like to give a special shout out to Nat Morris & The Scene for having the Time & Vanity 6 as guest & showing Prince's early videos and Dirty Mind concert clips.

[Edited 12/5/11 6:06am]

Hearing When Doves Cry in mommy and daddy's car sometime in 86' I think when I was 3, and the video sometime around then if not a year later. I also liked I Would Die 4 U and Jungle Love, had all these videos on tape and played them for years. Since then I liked Prince from afar if he was played very occasionally, though at other times I wasn't completely getting him, like in the 90's, it was hit and miss to me, but in about 2002 I was suddenly really enjoying him and went out to get The Hits and would play them often and after enjoying Musicology, I was slowly buying a Prince CD every now and then and joined the org in 2007. I'm more into MJ, Janet and Madonna, but I have had periods of playing Prince more at different points in my life.

I must have been about 7/8 years old. We were living in New York for a couple of years and a way for me to learn American (I'm from Denmark) was to watch television. So I watched a whole lot of The Muppets. I loved the muppets - and one day was on the show and he sang Starfish and Coffee.. And I fell in love with the man - screw Spice Girls, Backstreet Boys and Aqua - was IT!

Haven't lost the feeling yet and after the NPG Festival it is greater than ever.

[Edited 12/5/11 7:00am]

Well, I'm a really new fan when I compare myself with all you old school folks. I'm 20 and I've been a huge fan of Michael Jackson since I was about 5 years old. I've been a Prince fan since 2008. I'd always heard of the comparisons between Prince and Michael Jackson, although I'd never heard anything by Prince (not consciously knowing it anyway). So one day I just wanted to listen to something new, I guess I was intrigued. I remember torrenting his discography and I listened to a few tracks of 3121. I wasn't really that impressed, and the only reason I kept listening to the music was because it was so different from anything I'd heard before, and in my mind there still was this mystique about this artist, who I wanted to find out more about. But then I heard (in no particular order): When Doves Cry, 1999, Controversy, Little Red Corvette and I had those songs on heavy rotation. I proceeded to purchase the Ultimate album sometime after that and my fandom just grew and grew.

Interestingly, when I was first starting out as a Prince fan, I listened to his 90s work a lot. I kept playing Diamonds And Pearls, My Name Is Prince, 7, The Holy River, Saviour, Gold, The Most Beautiful Girl In The World, I Hate U, P. Control, etc. And the reason that I find that to be interesting is that nowadays, for some reason, I tend to not listen to the 90s era material as much.

Some older kids watching Lovesexy live video. Blew my 12 year old mind.

By Tamar.

i remember liking 1999, little red corvette etc when they came out but it was a few years later before i became a nut. i was at 6th form with a friend who was into him and he put a tape of sign o the times on in the common room. the 1st song to come on was "the cross", "who the fucks that?" i asked, "it's prince" he replied. "prince doesn't make music like that, lend me the tape". that was it for me, i couldn't believe the range of music, the creativity i was listening to. soon after this, i remember watching def 2, which was a half hour edited version of the sott movie, which inspired me to buy lovesexy tickets. although my fanaticism has diminished to a trickle since '98, prince was a massive influence on me, not just musically, he taught me to be true to myself and to celebrate individuality.

I came across the cassette of Purple Rain while at a school jumble sale when I was 14 and bought it ( I think I paid a £1 but can't be sure). Whoever had donated it didn't rewind so the first track I heard when I played the cassette was Darlin Nikki (although that is not the first Prince track I had ever heard) - been hooked every since.

1984. My older brother (who was and is a metalhead) called me to the radio to hear this weird new song called 'When Doves Cry', with a gleam in his eye that suggested maybe this was the kind of thing you don't get to hear in polite society.

The inherent violence and internal strife in the lyric really struck me. Prior to this, most songs I was familiar with were of the "bay-bee, ah luuuuhvv yeeew" variety. I never knew someone could express themselves so raw and honestly like that. Not to mention, that groove...

Pop Life! I first heard that and was amazed! Also remember seeing his performance on Ellen performing 'Crimson & Clover'! That really pushed the envelope for me. Haha

79 - I remember I Wanna Be Your Lover and kinda diggin it (I was 9)

82 - Little Red Corvette on the radio reels me in. Sis later buys 1999 album and I became a minor fan.

84 - When Doves Cry, Purple Rain album, movie, Erotic City, Let's Go Crazy 12", any and everything purple on the radio. I officially became a fan.

85 - Around the World in a Day...threw me a little at first, but by the end of 85 I was a complete mega-fan, wanting anything and everything Prince and Prince-related. It really never stopped after that.

I was reading about Ke$ha in magazine (I kinda liked her at this time - December 2009), when I read that she snuck into a Prince's house. I was like 'who's that old prick?!", I looked for his songs on YT and I found it. I found Kiss and since that day I totally obsessed with him.

I was 14 years old. Walking down the street with my boombox on my shoulder.

The radio had just played my favorite song, "Coolin Me Out" by the Isley Brothers.

The next song up was Soft and Wet. I don't know why, but as it was playing I sprinted 2 the record shop, which was a block away while the song was still playing. I ran home as fast as I could.

One listen 2 the 1st track For You..................and I was done. I listened 2 that one track about 15 times before even getting 2 the rest of the album.

The rest is purple history.

I did my 1st remix 2 Soft & Wet. This was the 1st album I purchased where I purposely learned every lyric of every song. I was hooked 2 say the least.

[Edited 12/5/11 14:17pm]

My intro to Prince was seeing the "1999" promo clip on New York Hot Tracks. I felt very dirty watching it. There was no denying the sexual energy emanating from him. That the clip was shot on video instead of film made it look even seedier to me.

I didn't become a fan until the summer of 1984 when the first trailers for the Purple Rain movie started appearing on TV. I bought the soundtrack based on those trailers alone and after seeing the movie, got his entire back catalogue before Around the World In A Day was released the following year.

Kiss was the first song I remember from Prince. I liked it as an 80's classic since I loved 80's songs dispite me being 11-13 at the time.

I saw the Black Sweat music video and the song was so funky to my taste. I loved his vocals.

In my mind I'm like, "this guy is still making kickass music".

I found my mom's The Hits/B sides (cassette) and stole it, fell in love with those songs.

As my interests grew, I asked for Prince CD's on my Xmas list--

Chrismas came and I got Purple Rain and Planet Earth.

Then I became a fan and collected the rest of his discography.

I was 7 years old in 1981. Riding with my dad to visit my uncle and cousins and "Controversy" came on the radio. The groove was stuck in my head as we were playing football in the street...I was singing "Count Your Blessings" (thinking that was what he said). My cousin overheard me (she was 15 or 16 at the time) and corrected me. When we went inside, she said "You like Prince?" I said "Who's Prince?" She pulled out the "Controversy" vinyl and I remember thinking "He looks weird." She said I could borrow the record...I took it home and wore it out. I liked it, but I was still thinking he was just too weird.

When he dropped "1999" I was hooked.

When I saw "Purple Rain" at the theater in the summer of 84...it was ALL OVER.

Through an odd guy who dresses as a bat at night instead of smoking his bloody millions

I was 12, I was a comics fan, I wanted the soundtrack just for the sake of it. I happened 2 love it and it changed my life

I have had the experience of being a hardcore fan then going through the wilderness and back again!

I heard Partyman on a mix tape and loved it as it's funky as hell! So I got Grafitti Bridge and was hooked as I was amazed how versatile the boy was.

But I was involved in my local church and they told me he was evil as he had a backwards message in Darling Nikki and that I should throw away my beloved Prince tape (shock, horror), but being a very naive christian I did what they asked as I thought it would please God! Sad but true.

The following year was a very dark wilderness musically. I tried a lot of other popular artists but nothing, NOTHING could compare to our boy! There was something about his music and his sheer talent that shone above all others.

So when I stopped being a dick I got Diamonds & Pearls and the rest is history