I've always wondered why there never was. As far as I know, there have only been two public events where the two were there at the same time -- the infamous James Brown show in 1983 and the infamous Grammy ceremony in 1988 where they both lost to U2. Unfortunately, Michael is gone by the time Prince comes up onstage in the '83 video, and in the '88 ceremony, they're sitting at different places. But when Michael is crooning at the end of "Man in the Mirror" -- for a split second -- you can see Prince rise up with the rest of the crowd to give him a standing ovation (albeit with a very straight face). I heard that at the original ceremony, the camera actually FOCUSED on Prince's face during Michael's performance (probably because the Prince vs. Michael media rivalry was in full swing at the time), but this isn't shown in any video I've seen.

I think the two had a strange relationship. Their interactions are literally too many to even talk about them all, but I think that while they were friendly and definitely not hateful towards one another in the '80s, there was a rivalry there. ex: Michael reading the article about Purple Rain, being paranoid, the We Are the World incident, quiet dinners, Latoya, ping pong, the "Moonwalker" reference (which was responded to in "Partyman" video), disagreement over 'Bad', Michael pulling a face after Quincy suggested he sit next to Prince at the Grammys, becoming angry after finding out Prince had hired his lawyers, and several other incidents covered in various blogs and articles (and let's not forget the fact that they were both slender, attractive light-skinned feminine black guys in the '80s who looked somewhat similar and were both huge pop icons). Everything I've read about the two of them interacting (which is a lot) implies that they seemed kind of awkward around each other. I think they were just different, and both developed a rivalry which made "friendship" kind of unrealistic. But I do think they respected each other (since they have both on-record made positive comments about the other's work), but clashed and probably didn't care to be in the other's company much.

But I think they might have become closer after the '80s, at which point they both aged and weren't the "cool" thing anymore. In that "Vibe" article with interviews amongst both of their colleagues, they used to meet up in the '90s, play basketball, watch each other in the recording studio, send tapes, and even planned a duet in 1996 (with Prince willing this time ). Add that to Michael's supposed "I love Prince, but why don't people look at me as a songwriter like they do him?" (is this a real quote? I know I read something along these lines), Prince calling him a genius and telling reporters to lay off him in 2000, and a weird mixture of digs and respect, I'd say they were pretty cool with each other in the 90s and 00s. Michael even came to his 3121 show, iirc, with will.i.am.

Overall, I don't think the two were bestest friends, but not enemies. Very competitive rivals, but still friendly and sharing some pretty funny moments together (well, at least for fans). Michael could have benefitted from Prince, learning how to stop letting commercial pressure overtake him and cause him to take 3 million years to release an album, and Prince could have learned a few tips from Michael about how to properly promote an album so you don't have to complain about its sales later. But it's cool that these 2 guys -- who I really do believe were similar, the biggest male black stars of the past 30 years, and who have BOTH had a tremendous impact on artists in the '90s, '00s, and today -- had an interesting relationship.

Oops sorry, rant over. Now where 'them pictures at?

CharismaDove said: