He said in an early interview he wasn' signing and that he had just recently "taken up singing". Well dang, he sure was great for someone who just decided to take it up. Was he naturally gifted, or did he take lessons? How did he have so much range, etc. in his voice so quickly?

maybe they mean he didn't sing outside of falsetto, he really didn't but for a few occasions. How'd he become so good? same way he became a good dancer after moving like a spastic on AB, he worked his ass off.

morningsong said:

What do you mean early on? He sang on his first record so you can't mean then. You mean during his first band days?

What I meant is that it seems when he first started musically, he wasn't singing at all, just playing musical instruments. I think in his pre teen years or maybe even a year or two later, he began to sing but it sounded to me that he just began singing and voila, he was great at it. I guess it was just natural God given talent.

Bernadette Anderson says that she'd hear him singing in the middle of the night, so I'm sure he practiced. Also, not everyone like/d his falsetto, the reviews on the first album were mixed on his vocals, I think it was something like "smokey robinson on helium" according to one writer. Even now, not everyone likes his falsetto, it's either a love or hate it kind of thing.

Also, I remember watching a pbs show about healing from childhood trauma and they had a psychologist from Minneapolis who said there was an unnamed musician who was having trouble with his throat because of being molested. I always wondered if it was Prince because he rarely sang in his adult male voice until his fifth album. I know that's a projection and a longshot but I always wondered if it were him. Just didn't make sense for him to use the falsetto exclusively, some songs it would have been better with his full voice.

mrdxw1213 said:

what he means is that the he wasn't singing when he was on those early bands and recently started so around 1976 probably is when the interview came out.Prince was just a natural at it.

Yeah, I was reading something a few months back about him starting out around the age of 13 writing instrumentals for his (or was it Andre's?) band Grand Central (later named Champagne). Though they performed cover songs by Sly and the Family Stone and others back then too, so I'm assuming he sang at least background on covers, giving him opportunities to work on his singing skills.

PeteSilas said:

FUNKNROLL said:

PeteSilas said:

an unnamed musician who was having trouble with his throat because of being molested

I'm lost. How does being molested as a child affect an adult throat / voice? . [Edited 6/17/16 15:18pm]

I don't know, some kind of mental block I'd guess. And it most likely was not Prince. Trauma effects people in strange ways.

FUNKNROLL said:

PeteSilas said:

an unnamed musician who was having trouble with his throat because of being molested

I'm lost. How does being molested as a child affect an adult throat / voice? . [Edited 6/17/16 15:18pm]

It is said that when adults have a child-like, high-pitched speaking voice, the odds that they were molested are extremely high. Something to do with how it impedes their development. IMO that doesn't apply to Prince because he had a normal speaking voice; we're not talking about an ability to sing in falsetto.

jkrumes said:

FUNKNROLL said:

PeteSilas said: I'm lost. How does being molested as a child affect an adult throat / voice? . [Edited 6/17/16 15:18pm]

It is said that when adults have a child-like, high-pitched speaking voice, the odds that they were molested are extremely high. Something to do with how it impedes their development. IMO that doesn't apply to Prince because he had a normal speaking voice; we're not talking about an ability to sing in falsetto.

i think i heard that too. maybe MJ was molested, that's always been the rumor. Hopefully not.