My Mom: Only likes the chorus of Purple Rain. The fucking chorus.

She did cry when I told her that he died though, that really touched me. I didn't know she would do that as she barely gives a shit about anything and doesn't really express emotion. She also told me that she's had Purple Rain stuck in her head since I told her of the news. When I first became a fan though she was very nasty about Prince, calling him an "ugly, gay weirdo" and saying he can't sing. I showed her the magazine my dad got me a month ago (Newsweek) and she said he was very handsome. Also said the same thing when I showed her the 1985 Grammy's performance of Purple Rain.

My Father: Ignores me and says "okay, okay" every time I talk about Prince. He does like 1999 (the song) though, but only because it reminds him of Phil Collins' song Sussudio.

He also called him a "gay weirdo" when I first became a fan and anytime he saw someone that was gay or gave off gay vibes he'd say "Oh look there's another Prince"

I've always asked my parents if they ever heard Prince's music or at least knew who he was in the 80's and both of them have told me that they never heard his music but my dad knew who he was. My parents would also repeatedly ask me how I came to know of Prince at such a young age and become such a huge fan of someone that was from their "time" (they're only a few years younger than P) and I always tell them that "Some things are just meant to be "

My parents have always thought I was weird for not being like other kids my age and my parents even wanted me to get into Justin Bieber because he was "normal" and that's what girls my age were doing.

I have the most ignorant, close-minded parents.

[Edited 6/3/16 3:00am]

DoItAllNight4U said:

MattyJam said:

No offence, but your folks sound horrible!! [Edited 6/3/16 3:05am]

None taken. What more can you expect from people who have been listening to the same music since the 70's? They stopped paying attention to new music after '82-'85 and had never heard a Prince song in their lives until I started digging him. They're old versions of people who listen to Top 40 radio today basically. They also say that music became shitty after Disco died...

My mum liked him , my dad did not care for him but never said anything bad and did not mine me playing his music. My mum liked his ballads D&P was her fav video of him and she liked the film Purple Rain. Add i remember my mum watching the Lovesexy dortmund show on VHS and my mum was in awe with his dancing and doing the splits

[Edited 6/3/16 4:31am]

My dad said "Don't they call him the Prince of Darkness?" I said "I think that's Ozzy" "they call him His Royal Badness" he said "That's just a bad" I said "But "bad"means good"

He once caught me watching MJ's Thriller and he really freaked out!

Later I made him watch Purple Rain on the AMA's and he was almost convinced.

Then a bit later he saw "Raspberry Beret" and he was surprised... he said something like "That's Prince? Is this an older song?" I said no it's brand new.." he watched it and said it reminded him of the songs when he was a kid...

Then he saw Kiss! and he was really surprised! He said something like "he keeps changing....." he could not believe it was the same guy...


Now My MOM! Oh boy! when i was 12 or 13! I got a copy of Controversy! I got it because of Sexuality! I did not even get Do Me Baby much less Jack U Off! But my brother did! Son of a Gun showed my mom! She took it to our pastor that called it homosexual propaganda! and basically called for an album burning that night! But my dad said no way!

Then when i was 18 almost 19! I out of high school and 5 months from going into the Army... my mom freaked out and made me listen to these tapes and watch videos called "Why Knock Rock" and they spent a ton of time on Prince. And she took the lyrics to U Got the Look and was appalled by "let's get to ramming" but then I said "what about "the cross" "4 the Tears in Your Eyes" God" ? and she did not really seem impressed... as to the tapes they got so much of his lyrics wrong that it was crazy! I did a report on it (yes at 18 I still did it!) but I did it to debunk most of what it said! *it said Sister was about him raping his sister! It also blasetd "I want a New Drug" by huey lewis and the news). And them at one point by brother's girl friend was with us and we were all going to have a camp out and my mom was woried we might all have sex! LOL and I (at 18) said "it is okay mommy Prince told me to cut my penis off!"

And over the years evey now and then one would ask me if i still liked him and i aways said "of course"

I became a fan in the 90s and he had his most freakish looks back then. I remember watching "The Most Beautiful Girl In The World (Mustang mix)" video on VHS and my mom called him a "travesty of a man". I think she warmed up to the music later on, but not as much as to the artists that weren't singing in falsetto and so on.

Eh, "if your parents like it, it's not really rock'n'roll", you know?

novabrkr said:

Eh, "if your parents like it, it's not really rock'n'roll", you know?

My mum's always had a deep respect and admiration for Prince and all his achievements. Without being a hardcore fan she's always preciously kept newspapers and magazine articles about him for me and was very sad when he passed away (although not as much as I was). Purple Rain is on her list of favourite songs of all time.

My dad thought he was a weirdo, my mum loved his voice and my dog used to crash into household objects whenever Jughead came on.

My mother loved Prince almost as much as me. I definitely got her genetics in the music appreciation dept because we both heard Prince's funky grooves the same way. My father likes Raspberry Beret and that's it but he isn't artsy and not into any music really.

How wonderful to see two generations love Prince- the parents digging him and in turn the children grow to love him - now their children (the next generation) will hopefully grow to love him too. How awesome it would be to be in a family where three generations were bopping along to Prince !!!! (I wish my daughter loved him though - would make my life easier now as I am still grieving........and she dont understand it)

My family has always cracked jokes about me being Prince fan ever since Purple Rain. I was a lowkey fan before but that movie and album turned it into an obsession. My parents bought me the Purple Rain VHS for Christmas 84 and I played it to death. My mom bought me a ticket to the Purple Rain tour from one of her co-workers but she only had one. So she dropped me out at the train station before and picked me up after. She has never been able to really get past Prince's clothes and feminine mannerisms to really appreciate his music. But my dad (who's the real music fan) has certain songs he loves. One time we were driving home when Purple Rain came on the radio. We got home before it was over but he sat in the car and cried listening to the entire song.

I remember, being too young to understand, what "head" was. I was singing it one day at the dinner table, very innocently in my mind, and I distinctly remember my father getting up from the head of the table, calmly walking over to me, and slapping the shit out of me. I was confused as fuck. That night he explained why he did it, but still not getting the whole sexual innuendo thing, I was like, damn. My father hated that I bought his albums and thought Prince was a freak. He didn't admit to his obvious musicinship until Diamonds and Pearls came out. Then they liked him.

DoItAllNight4U said:

My Mom: Only likes the chorus of Purple Rain. The fucking chorus.

She did cry when I told her that he died though, that really touched me. I didn't know she would do that as she barely gives a shit about anything and doesn't really express emotion. She also told me that she's had Purple Rain stuck in her head since I told her of the news. When I first became a fan though she was very nasty about Prince, calling him an "ugly, gay weirdo" and saying he can't sing. I showed her the magazine my dad got me a month ago (Newsweek) and she said he was very handsome. Also said the same thing when I showed her the 1985 Grammy's performance of Purple Rain.

My Father: Ignores me and says "okay, okay" every time I talk about Prince. He does like 1999 (the song) though, but only because it reminds him of Phil Collins' song Sussudio.

He also called him a "gay weirdo" when I first became a fan and anytime he saw someone that was gay or gave off gay vibes he'd say "Oh look there's another Prince"

I've always asked my parents if they ever heard Prince's music or at least knew who he was in the 80's and both of them have told me that they never heard his music but my dad knew who he was. My parents would also repeatedly ask me how I came to know of Prince at such a young age and become such a huge fan of someone that was from their "time" (they're only a few years younger than P) and I always tell them that "Some things are just meant to be "

My parents have always thought I was weird for not being like other kids my age and my parents even wanted me to get into Justin Bieber because he was "normal" and that's what girls my age were doing.

I have the most ignorant, close-minded parents.

[Edited 6/3/16 3:00am]

That's shitty I'm sorry that that was your experience. But luckily you've got the org and most importantly you've got the music. Anyone else's approval isn't really necessary

My parents were both fans, that's how I became a fan. He and MJ were in my ears when I was wearing diapers.

My mom let me watch Purple Rain as a 5 year old. She said I only cared about the music.

My Mom's most often said sentence to me in my lifetime - "Put on those headphones!"

BlackandRising said:

I remember, being too young to understand, what "head" was. I was singing it one day at the dinner table, very innocently in my mind, and I distinctly remember my father getting up from the head of the table, calmly walking over to me, and slapping the shit out of me. I was confused as fuck. That night he explained why he did it, but still not getting the whole sexual innuendo thing, I was like, damn. My father hated that I bought his albums and thought Prince was a freak. He didn't admit to his obvious musicinship until Diamonds and Pearls came out. Then they liked him.

lol

I'm sorry, that story made me laugh, it's kinda funny in hindsight.

*

My parents liked him, never said a bad word about him. Sure they understood the lyrics alright, but they probably though I didn't, so there's that. Then I grew older and it became obvious that i understood the lyrics (let's not forget some of the raunchy videos) and they were still pretty alright with it. My dad used to listen to Frank Zappa, so...

My father was a Prince fan too. Until that day, I was in the 12th grade, that I brought "Erotic City" home. I was playing it on the stereo and he ran down the stairs yelling, "IS HE SAYING WHAT I THINK HE'S SAYING?!" He could be somewhat of a prude at times...

MMJas said:

BlackandRising said:

I remember, being too young to understand, what "head" was. I was singing it one day at the dinner table, very innocently in my mind, and I distinctly remember my father getting up from the head of the table, calmly walking over to me, and slapping the shit out of me. I was confused as fuck. That night he explained why he did it, but still not getting the whole sexual innuendo thing, I was like, damn. My father hated that I bought his albums and thought Prince was a freak. He didn't admit to his obvious musicinship until Diamonds and Pearls came out. Then they liked him.

lol

I'm sorry, that story made me laugh, it's kinda funny in hindsight.

*

My parents liked him, never said a bad word about him. Sure they understood the lyrics alright, but they probably though I didn't, so there's that. Then I grew older and it became obvious that i understood the lyrics (let's not forget some of the raunchy videos) and they were still pretty alright with it. My dad used to listen to Frank Zappa, so...

Yeah, I laugh to. He told my wife one day when discussing shit like moving into a white neighborhood in the 80's and having kkk-level shit thrown at us; he used this to add a little laughter to the discussion. She still laughs about it. my parents were old school...chi-lites, steve, aretha, etc. I think their intro to Prince was literally the song "Head", and the cover of the album that was prominent in my room didn't help. They were like "what the fuck"? Add to that, I was also into Kiss, Led Zepplin, the Rolling Stones, Heart, etc. I think they were just confused as to how I came to listen to types of music that were just not in any way, shape or form, into. DM actually made me open up to many more genres that I just didn't gravitate towards early on.

My parents are huge Prince fans. They went to more concerts than me. They saw 10 concerts. We were talking about this yesterday.

My mom was worried - I was into Bowie, Kiss, Prince and was into Rocky Horror lolololol I was 12 when I first heard Prince - but I didnt know what he looked like yet...

I love a man in womens underwear and makeup!

My parents were okay with him. My sister was indifferent to him. Strangely, none of my friends cared for his output or musicianship. People would get annoyed if I mentioned him once in a while. I should add most of my friends listen to genres like alt rock, metal and in some cases EDM. Only one friend of mine listens to any funk at all, for example.

that was funny how the lady said her dad slapped the shit out of her. prince would probably have had some sympathy with the dad over that one. I do think he regretted a lot of that stuff later on. My best friends brother used to listen to dirty mind, his dad would come in his room and call prince the F word and make him turn it off. But my parents were cool with him. funny thing is, black people kinda treated Prince as the outsider that he was, i'd say, all the way up to the 2000's, you can see it in the comedy shows of the late 80's, a comedian would bring up prince and the audience would just make all kinds of dissaproving noises, but with time, I think prince got closer to his roots and black people treasured him as well.

Layzie said:

My mom was a Michael Jackson fan all thru the 80s/90s. I was waving the Prince flag from 83 on, and she wasnt with it. I would try to explain why Prince deserved to be on just as high a pedestal as MJ (or even higher), but no...she never wavered. To her, Prince was "disgusting"...but she still financed my Prince addiction (concert tickets to Lovesexy and Act I, half of my bootleg collection was purchased by my mom).

-

My dad hated both MJ and Prince, thought they were both "fags". Whenever I would say "Prince", my dad would say "cess" (Princess)...drove me crazy! His favorite scene in Purple Rain was when Francis L slapped The Kidd and knocked his ass across the room. His favorite scene in Under the Cherry Moon? When Prince got shot. But when I grew up, my father told me, "There's no denying that the motherfucker is talented...he actually has songs that I like...but every time I hear him, I can see him in my mind and I want to throw up." And dont get him started on how much Prince "ripped off" James Brown...my dad could go for hours!

-

My grandmother lived with us during my teen years, and she always told me the same two stories...seeing Prince on the Midnight Special in his underwear (1979? she was beyond disgusted), and laughing at him when he was booed off the stage opening for the Rolling Stones in LA (apparently it was all over the LA news when it happened). She was not a fan, called him "sweeter than a 10 pound bag of Winn-Dixie!"

that HEAD story: HAHAH! that is HILARIOUS. even imagining a kid singing that ALONE is enough to make me giggle, let alone at the dinner table.

priceless!

My mom isn't that much of a music head. If a song wasn't on heavy radio rotation, she didn't know it. She did loved I Wanna Be Your Lover tho and that's how we had the Prince album in the house when I was 7 yrs old. Actually, my aunt, who lived with us, bought it. I was in love with him from jump, but my mom and aunt swore he was gay. I wasn't hearing it.

But it was my aunt who kinda kept me up on Prince until I was old enough to buy stuff for myself. In fact she introduced me to LOTS of music outside the Motown/R&B I was used to hearing. She informed me that he also did Soft and Wet and that Prince wasn't his first album. She was crazy about the slow stuff like Still Waiting, How Come You Don't Call, Do Me Baby, Int'l Lover....she kept me aware of the slow jams but at ages 7-11, I gravitated toward the faster stuff. My mom liked Controversy, probably because it was a radio hit. They both thought he was a James Brown/Little Richard knockoff which infuriated me. He was an original dammit But overall, my aunt was definitely more responsible for keeping my ear open to P than my mom was. My aunt used to rock 1999 constantly...explaining to me what the song was about. BTW the year 1999 seemed light years away

By the time PR came out, I had enough pocket change to buy a 45 rpm single of Lets Go Crazy and I was on my way to loving P forever. My aunt took me to see PR and tried to covered my eyes during the love scene, but I peeked...I was 12. She was even on board for Erotic City and the Sheena Easton stuff and she loved The Time. She kinda fell off the P bandwagon after SOTT, but she stayed aware of him. She was the first person to call me when he passed.

my very first memory of prince was him getting out of that bathtub and everyone in my house and there were other people there besides my family immediately said ewwwwww. i didn't like prince at all on that early material. never listened to him till he died.