Prince's mother was the first Celebration in 2000.

And I know she had a body guard watching out for her, because she was sitting on the raised dais in the Love4OneAnother room, and I needed to elevate my leg. I didn't know who she was, but I asked her if it was okay if I sat beside the dais to elevate my leg on the step and she was okay with it. She and I talked about Social Work some, too, when we realized we both had that in common. The security guard started to come remove me and she told him to let me stay. It wasn't until someone else (I'm assuming from the family because they sat on the couch beside her) called her Mattie that I realized it was Prince's mom and politely made my apologies for not knowing who she was and she was very okay with that, but I thanked her for letting me sit there and put my leg up and got back to "celebrating" right after.

[Edited 7/20/16 15:05pm]

dysfunction junction.

That degree of damage keeps a child (and, later, that adult) perpetually pining for the same parental involvement, approval, and "normal relations" to no avail.

Selfish, narcissistic "parents" make me sick. And, they inevitably keep popping out babies to subject the same to over and over again to boot. Ugh.

wavesofbliss said:

tyka said in a radio interview that she didn't get all the talk about her mom being a JW. tyka said her mom was a baptist her whole life. this was around 08/09.

++

around the time of her death, it was reported that prince didn't attend her funeral. that could mean anything but it's worth mentioning. he always said that his flashy peacock tendencies came from his mom. he always said that she loved to accomplish things and tell everyone about it.

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i never doubted that mattie and prince overcame their personal wierdness from prince's childhood,the step-dad et al. but it was always clear that the damage had been done to both p and tyka. it's kinda like when you accidentally runover the nieghbor's pet; you can say your sorry and eventually speak again but the pet's dead and the pain is real for them, forever.

++

prince's treatment of the women throughout his life sure points to an inability to trust women and and inability to believe that one of them would find him loveable. those things come from trouble with mom, not dad. i believe that the way he treated his band and business associates was the way his dad treated him; all hard driving SOB and back- handed compliments. autocratic and extremly rigid.

+++

i wanna hug him. i'm glad he is at rest now.

Quoted for emphasis because I heard the same interview. His mom was NOT a witness nor was it her dying wish that he become one...that is nothing more than org mythology. Miss Mattie's service was even held at Zion Baptist Church but once misinformation gets entrenched on this site people keep repeating it.

Your other observations of the family dynamic are similar to what Tyka describes in her book although she avoids mentioning Prince by name.

I've seen pics of Prnce and his dad but never any of him and his mom even though they seem to have reconciled somewhat.

Agree with most the comments, people get over shit and grow up. Prince may have been angry with Hayward and John back in 1981 or whenever all those early interviews date from, but he was like 22/23 and not really a huge star yet.

.

Prince's relationship with his stepfather was like mine with my stepfather, although they never saw eye to eye, they respected each other, as Prince was a good son, and Prince knew that Hayward was a good husband to Mattie, something John was not. Same with me, my father was a homophobic old coon stuck in his ways, yet he raised my brother and I up good and he treated my Mum like a queen and looked after her as she died of cancer, and for that I will be forever grateful and respectful, when he died last year I was the chief mourner. On the other hand my real daddy, cheated on my Mum, abused her mentally and physically and treated her like shit, running off with a drug whore (My background is very ghetto).

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Stepdad on the other hand, only had eyes for Mum and never laid a finger on her, they fought occasionally and one time he was on the couch, but in the middle of the night she got up and bought him back in. Same with my relationship, any shit that starts, ends before bedtime. The story about Hayward demanding a bigger house is hardly signs he hated them, every family has its issues and like Rachel (Telma Hopkins) said in Family matters (It wasn't always peaches and cream, families have struggles).

[Edited 7/20/16 15:44pm]

dalsh327 said:

sonshine said:

Living near Mpls over the years you hear things from people who knew the family etc. How accurate this stuff is idk. There was a lot of turmoil in his younger years. That affects you for rest of your life even if you find a way to mend fences. It's very hard having blended families. If he's like everyone else in those situations it wasn't always a rose garden. Lots of us have issues from our childhood. But as an adult you look back and realize for the most part your parents at least tried. You take the good with the bad. You only have one mom and one dad. You accept no one is perfect. I'm sure it wasn't easy to forgive and forget but if Prince felt his parents were sincere folks he would have found a way to keep them in his life. I agree tho that he seemed broken from his early years and after becoming a mom myself my instinct was always that he needed a nurturing hug.

Have ya'll seen his performance of Motherless Child? That is the most powerful performance I have seen. It is amazing, powerful, poignant (could go on and on) and you can't look away. He also directs his band during this performance which is so interesting to watch. If you haven't seen it, look for it. I have watched it more than any other of his videos.

ceilidh said:

Adorecream said:

FunkiestOne said:

In one of the recent articles by someone who worked for Prince, they told a story of being backstage or somewhere and Prince's mother was there and he was really sweet to her and the person could tell how much he cared about her, etc. P was such a sensitive soul and I"m sure he loved his Moms, even though I'm sure some issues with her not standing up for him and being fine with him getting kicked out of the home at 13. But he probably eventually figured out she was messed up and not all her faut.

going with this

AbstractPoetic91 said:

I read somewhere that his step-father was bitching at Prince to buy a bigger house for him and Prince's mom and Prince hung up on his ass and then threw the phone. I'm not surprised, especially when that very same step-father used to lock him in his room for hours. And his mother...she was wrong for even allowing that shit to go down, especially being a social worker and all.

sad story...my thing has always been why would a mother choose a man over her child?

destinyc1 said:

What year did the mom and dad pass?Very good looking parents

I think they passed within a few years of each other...I think the mom died in like the early 2000's and the dad was maybe late 1990's or so

I'm not sure about hIs relationship to His mom but I do know that He got a answer He wanted from His Father ... before He's left

And ....... I beleif It was the best feeling P could have ever received in knowing the Truth of ... this heart matter, He always dreamed to know.... and hear... from His father.

I believe also that as Prince got older and seen more of the muisc biz side of things he understood his father more better ........... they were so much alike ...

I do Know that P loved loved love His Father and wated to very best for Him to the end...

And the that fact that the Purple house was destoryed in one drop was because thats where his Father was and there was some sick times there ....

He didn't want to remember ........

He loved his Father and always wanted ... His Parents approval, I think specailly His Mother in action ... and His Father words ....

Honeybabe.. Honey'sSweet...

nursev said:

NinaB said:

nursev said:

I think they passed within a few years of each other...I think the mom died in like the early 2000's and the dad was maybe late 1990's or so

Dad, Aug '01. Mom, Feb '02. Poor Princey Pooh.

And Mattie's twin sister passed away a few months after her.

Sameyear58 said:

NinaB said:

morningsong said:

“Once my mother remarried,” he explained to Rock, “it was during the time period in my life where she had to teach me about the birds and the bees. And I’ve never asked her about this, but I think there was some sort of plan to initiate me heavy and quick. I was given Playboy magazine, and there was erotic literature laying around. It was very easily picked up. It was pretty heavy at the time. I think it really affected my sexualty a great deal.”

http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/04/prince-interviews-and-mystique