I don't remember the first time. I only saw him in concert once - Mohegan Sun (Third Night) 2013. But I recall that an appearance by him on TV was an extraordinarily special event I never tried to miss.

Dibblekins said:

I first became aware of Prince during the Purple Rain era, when I was about 11.

I remember being quite SCARED of him. He had wild eyes, wild hair, did strange facial expressions - and looked somehow GRIMY, sweaty, and like he could do with a good scrub, lol...There was something 'dirty' about him - both in terms of his physical appearance and demeanour and, as an innocent 11 year old, I felt a bit 'dirty' and repelled, just looking at him! He was also fascinating - so I experienced strange, conflicting emotions watching him perform.

As I say, I think my primary emotion was one of fear...Of course, that changed over time as we both grew older and I started to find him much more attractive (I love his older pics / vids now too, of course) - but he remained a source of fascination and someone who I believed was intense - and rather intimidating.

I'm curious to know what YOU all felt on first encountering him!

Grimy, dirty (his mind maybe) and disgusting! How could you?

He was cute back then:

Mind you, I do know what you mean

sunset3121 said:

Dibblekins said:

I first became aware of Prince during the Purple Rain era, when I was about 11.

I remember being quite SCARED of him. He had wild eyes, wild hair, did strange facial expressions - and looked somehow GRIMY, sweaty, and like he could do with a good scrub, lol...There was something 'dirty' about him - both in terms of his physical appearance and demeanour and, as an innocent 11 year old, I felt a bit 'dirty' and repelled, just looking at him! He was also fascinating - so I experienced strange, conflicting emotions watching him perform.

As I say, I think my primary emotion was one of fear...Of course, that changed over time as we both grew older and I started to find him much more attractive (I love his older pics / vids now too, of course) - but he remained a source of fascination and someone who I believed was intense - and rather intimidating.

I'm curious to know what YOU all felt on first encountering him!

Grimy, dirty (his mind maybe) and disgusting! How could you?

He was cute back then:

Mind you, I do know what you mean

LOL! That third pic perfectly encapsulates what I'm talking about - he was SCARY - and he looked like he needed a cold shower!

Funny how one's perceptions change...Now when I look at him, well...

Pretty sure my first exposure to Prince (pun intended) was the 1999 video. When he said he had a lion in his pocket with that leer of his, I absolutely believed him. Yeah...I was pretty much done at that point.

SheLovesMeNot said:

He was cute. [Edited 6/12/16 20:56pm]

He most definitely was

icequeen78 said:

At 6 I was mesmermized...by him and around the same time El debarge... I never had the same concern with Michael jackson...

Mike was cool c'mon now

I guess I was 7 or 8 and just saw him as another guy doing Disney-esque ballads that were everywhere at the time (1991 - Diamonds & Pearls is my earliest memory of him). The Most Beautiful Girl in the World a few years later sealed that idea in my head for a long time.

[Edited 6/14/16 5:23am]

"Can I keep him?"

Is he gay?

Why does he dress like THAT?

He's not really playing that guitar though is he?

HAHA he's wearing high heels

Why does he sing in that high pitched voice

Holy shit he has a deep voice.

He play's how many instuments?

AND he writes his own songs?

... There might be more to this guy than meets the eye.

Interesting many of you bring up the idea that he was gay in your first impressions. Being a gay man myself I did not know what gays were properly until I was 12 or 13 and only got suspicious about myself around 15. When I was 8 or 9 I had noidea what a gay was, I thought it was some one who liked ice cream as we had a brand of ice cream and cones here called Gaytime.

.

Yet it shows the images of homophobia and anything less than 100% Teddy Pendergrass, macho. Barry White, me Tarzan you Janewa sinstantly labelled gay, because all gays were seen as women like men. The gay stereotype has stuck with Prince forever, it was worse in the 80s I guess as you had this raft of British androgynous, gay looking and actual gay artists. This encounter period with Prince in the early 1980s was a time when people like Boy George, Pete Burns (The fish lipped drag queen thing was almost a man back in the 80s), Erasure, Soft Cell, Hayzi Fantassee, Duran Duran (Yeah straight boys, but still glammed up), Adam Ant, and they were all English. For Americans the long haired metaller look, discofied black guys and post punk rock group look (Devo, B52s the Knack etc) was the look.

,

Prince kind of looked like these androgynous British artists and it shows the difference between the progressive, mostly secular British and the hung up over Christian, overhomophobic Americans. In my first impressions of Prince, I never suggested he was gay because he was weird looking and I have noticed most people from outside America have also not bought up his possible homosexuality, yet nearly every American orger has and in the wake of Orlando.

.

I have to ask, why do so many (And not all, so don't get that shit twisted and put words in my mouth) Americans hate gays and express homophobia, are gays and Isis the same to you or something? and even more contriversial, why is that the churched up Americans and Blacks hate them so much too. Seriously when you say in this thread, that you thought Prince was a homosexual the first time you saw him, its like being gay is an insult or being inferior to yourself and society at large - homophobia.

.

And I find this org is homophobic too, when ever I complain about hate speech on gays by usually a churched up black person or a Muslim like hausofmoi7, it stays and never gets snipped, yet if I mention race or religion, I get warned and snipped. Do gays not have rights over Jeebisus.

Just so sick of, oh he looked weird and wore make up and heels, so he is gay.

.

NEWSFLASH Jesus jones type posters - Not every gay wears make up and high heels. We are not all drag queens and we are not looking for anal sex 24 hours a day. I have no pink, purple or lace frilled garments in my closet and wear NO make up or say darling, sweety or Faaaabbbuuulous all the time. I can't stand Judy Garland and have no desire to march down the street in jodhpurs whipping my boyfriend with a vibrator.

.

How about we mention Prince without instantly resorting to the gay stereotype.

[Edited 6/14/16 15:56pm]

Adorecream said:

Interesting many of you bring up the idea that he was gay in your first impressions. Being a gay man myself I did not know what gays were properly until I was 12 or 13 and only got suspicious about myself around 15. When I was 8 or 9 I had noidea what a gay was, I thought it was some one who liked ice cream as we had a brand of ice cream and cones here called Gaytime.

.

Yet it shows the images of homophobia and anything less than 100% Teddy Pendergrass, macho. Barry White, me Tarzan you Janewa sinstantly labelled gay, because all gays were seen as women like men. The gay stereotype has stuck with Prince forever, it was worse in the 80s I guess as you had this raft of British androgynous, gay looking and actual gay artists. This encounter period with Prince in the early 1980s was a time when people like Boy George, Pete Burns (The fish lipped drag queen thing was almost a man back in the 80s), Erasure, Soft Cell, Hayzi Fantassee, Duran Duran (Yeah straight boys, but still glammed up), Adam Ant, and they were all English. For Americans the long haired metaller look, discofied black guys and post punk rock group look (Devo, B52s the Knack etc) was the look.

,

Prince kind of looked like these androgynous British artists and it shows the difference between the progressive, mostly secular British and the hung up over Christian, overhomophobic Americans. In my first impressions of Prince, I never suggested he was gay because he was weird looking and I have noticed most people from outside America have also not bought up his possible homosexuality, yet nearly every American orger has and in the wake of Orlando.

.

I have to ask, why do so many (And not all, so don't get that shit twisted and put words in my mouth) Americans hate gays and express homophobia, are gays and Isis the same to you or something? and even more contriversial, why is that the churched up Americans and Blacks hate them so much too. Seriously when you say in this thread, that you thought Prince was a homosexual the first time you saw him, its like being gay is an insult or being inferior to yourself and society at large - homophobia.

.

And I find this org is homophobic too, when ever I complain about hate speech on gays by usually a churched up black person or a Muslim like hausofmoi7, it stays and never gets snipped, yet if I mention race or religion, I get warned and snipped. Do gays not have rights over Jeebisus.

Just so sick of, oh he looked weird and wore make up and heels, so he is gay.

.

NEWSFLASH Jesus jones type posters - Not every gay wears make up and high heels. We are not all drag queens and we are not looking for anal sex 24 hours a day. I have no pink, purple or lace frilled garments in my closet and wear NO make up or say darling, sweety or Faaaabbbuuulous all the time. I can't stand Judy Garland and have no desire to march down the street in jodhpurs whipping my boyfriend with a vibrator.

.

How about we mention Prince without instantly resorting to the gay stereotype.

[Edited 6/14/16 15:56pm]

As I remember it, most people in the beginning thought he was gay, in the early years I did.

RJOrion said:

honestly?...first impresssion of Prince while watching him on American Bandstand:

"look Renee! (my sister)...that guy that sings "I Wanna Be Your Lover" is on TV...this boy looks like a homo...hurry up, come look at this shit..."

Homophobia, glad you got your insults of gays out in the open. What's a homo look like?

morningsong said:

As I remember it, most people in the beginning thought he was gay, in the early years I did.

Well I didn't, beause I did not resort to narrow minded stereotypes, just because a guy wore bondage gear and make up and sang in falsetto, he must be gay? Yeah my wardrobe is full of bondage gear, bikinis, eyeliner pencil and I speak like a chipmunk all the time.

Adorecream said:

morningsong said:

As I remember it, most people in the beginning thought he was gay, in the early years I did.

Well I didn't, beause I did not resort to narrow minded stereotypes, just because a guy wore bondage gear and make up and sang in falsetto, he must be gay? Yeah my wardrobe is full of bondage gear, bikinis, eyeliner pencil and I speak like a chipmunk all the time.

It was what it was back then, a man in heels, bikini briefs and a high pitched voice was weird as hell back then. But dammit in a lot of circles people knew exactly who you were talking about when you said Prince, that's for sure.

* I need to correct that. Insert "a black man"...blah blah blah. *

[Edited 6/14/16 16:18pm]

Adorecream said:

morningsong said:

As I remember it, most people in the beginning thought he was gay, in the early years I did.

Well I didn't, beause I did not resort to narrow minded stereotypes, just because a guy wore bondage gear and make up and sang in falsetto, he must be gay? Yeah my wardrobe is full of bondage gear, bikinis, eyeliner pencil and I speak like a chipmunk all the time.

Well I will counter that with saying "I knew he was Black because he sang about muh dick all the time. and as you know Blacks love sex without commitment" You know that when the charts are full of songs by rappers and R and B singers that sing all the joys of getting laid and chasing girls, yet none sing about staying around to raise the kids or using protection "I hope u took tha pill, because I won't pay the bill BITCH!" - "Bitches ain't shit" "Give me 10 bitches and I will fuck all 10". But no gays are more offensive because our sexuality produces so many unwanted children.

.

Yeah the gay stereotype is hilarious, but that one is not as the shit just got real.

.

Yet I never heard him sing about gay sex, or wanting to do a man, yet he is gay to you jackasses.

.

See really offensive, but mods before you go buckwild banning my ass, realise that statement will have the same impact on your Black orgers, as their remarks about Prince being homo has on my community the gays.

.

Ban me or punish, thats a sign your community is homophobic and ready to punish racism yet you can insult gays, whites and the well off until the cows come home.

[Edited 6/14/16 16:22pm]

Adorecream said:

Adorecream said:

Well I didn't, beause I did not resort to narrow minded stereotypes, just because a guy wore bondage gear and make up and sang in falsetto, he must be gay? Yeah my wardrobe is full of bondage gear, bikinis, eyeliner pencil and I speak like a chipmunk all the time.

Well I will counter that with saying "I knew he was Black because he sang about muh dick all the time and as you know Blacks love sex without commitment" You know that when the charts are full of songs by rappers and R and B singers that sing all the joys of getting laid and chasing girls, yet none sing about staying around to raise the kids or using protection "I hope u took tha pill, because I won't pay the bill BITCH!" - "Bitches ain't shit" "Give me 10 bitches and I will fuck all 10". Never hear a white group singing about unprotected sex, but no gays are more offensive because our sexuality produces so many unwanted children.

.

Yeah the gay stereotype is hilarious, but that one is not as the shit just got real. I thought the dude might be white as he had light skin but when every song was about sex or wanting to root some chick, I knew he would have to be another oversexed black man.

.

Yet I never heard him sing about gay sex, or wanting to do a man, yet he is gay to you jackasses.

.

See really offensive, but mods before you go buckwild banning my ass, realise that statement will have the same impact on your Black orgers, as their remarks about Prince being homo has on my community the gays.

.

Ban me or punish, thats a sign your community is homophobic and ready to punish racism under the guise of the truth (79% of Black Americans live in a solo parent home, 23% of whites of do), yet you can insult gays, whites and the well off until the cows come home.

I think you're taking it waaaaay too personal. You wouldn't be considered enlightened if majority of the population felt like you do, so take a breathe, and chill, you had one up on most people, pat yourself on the back for being ahead of the game. A lot of attitudes have changed since then. Now it's the norm.

morningsong said:

Adorecream said:

Well I will counter that with saying "I knew he was Black because he sang about muh dick all the time and as you know Blacks love sex without commitment" You know that when the charts are full of songs by rappers and R and B singers that sing all the joys of getting laid and chasing girls, yet none sing about staying around to raise the kids or using protection "I hope u took tha pill, because I won't pay the bill BITCH!" - "Bitches ain't shit" "Give me 10 bitches and I will fuck all 10". Never hear a white group singing about unprotected sex, but no gays are more offensive because our sexuality produces so many unwanted children.

.

Yeah the gay stereotype is hilarious, but that one is not as the shit just got real. I thought the dude might be white as he had light skin but when every song was about sex or wanting to root some chick, I knew he would have to be another oversexed black man.

.

Yet I never heard him sing about gay sex, or wanting to do a man, yet he is gay to you jackasses.

.

See really offensive, but mods before you go buckwild banning my ass, realise that statement will have the same impact on your Black orgers, as their remarks about Prince being homo has on my community the gays.

.

Ban me or punish, thats a sign your community is homophobic and ready to punish racism under the guise of the truth (79% of Black Americans live in a solo parent home, 23% of whites of do), yet you can insult gays, whites and the well off until the cows come home.

I think you're taking it waaaaay too personal. You wouldn't be considered enlightened if majority of the population felt like you do, so take a breathe, and chill, you had one up on most people, pat yourself on the back for being ahead of the game. A lot of attitudes have changed since then. Now it's the norm.

Well I can't because you guys assume that because some one looks and acts weird they must be gay, so now Gays are all weird?

.

When People like RJOrion say he looks like a homo, that is hardly enlightened, maybe for the 1820s

Adorecream said:

morningsong said:

I think you're taking it waaaaay too personal. You wouldn't be considered enlightened if majority of the population felt like you do, so take a breathe, and chill, you had one up on most people, pat yourself on the back for being ahead of the game. A lot of attitudes have changed since then. Now it's the norm.

Well I can't because you guys assume that because some one looks and acts weird they must be gay, so now Gays are all weird?

.

When People like RJOrion say he looks like a homo, that is hardly enlightened, maybe for the 1820s

Do you seriously think he wanted to look like the norm? Or maybe he wanted to stand out? So if people didn't have these attitudes then how he dressed wouldn't have gotten him any attention because nobody would have cared and maybe, just maybe they wouldn't have looked at him closer, been curious about him. You know that whole pushing the envelope thing, he talked about. It's getting harder now to stand out, because everybody's pushing the envelope.

I'm 2 years older then him and I don't remember him from AB but saw him from the beginning on MTV. Honestly the first time I saw him I was so confused. Sort of like his song controversy. But the more I watched, all his movements, a combination MJ, Chuck Berry, Little Richard and James Brown, I realized this was someone special. And what a beautiful face.

morningsong said:

Do you seriously think he wanted to look like the norm? Or maybe he wanted to stand out? So if people didn't have these attitudes then how he dressed wouldn't have gotten him any attention because nobody would have cared and maybe, just maybe they wouldn't have looked at him closer, been curious about him. You know that whole pushing the envelope thing, he talked about. It's getting harder now to stand out, because everybody's pushing the envelope.

You are completely missing the point, its like you are Venus and I am Pluto here. I am getting annoyed not because he was daring (Actually something I grew to like as I appreciated him later on) but the fact a whole bunch of jackasses are instantly labelling "weird" and "different" with being a homosexual. The fact the gay stereotype is resorted to way too quickly, not just in this thread but many others.

.

I have never ever seen Prince as a gay man and only ever thought of 2 of his songs as being even mildly gay (Do Me Baby and Jack u off) and both of those were defended to death by the Straight as hell Jesus militia when I suggested Do Me baby was gay sex all those years ago and when some one else asked how do you Jack off a girl. When I misinterpreted the lyrics to the Stick back in 200something, boy I was shot into burning pieces by the militantly straight guys for Jesus brigade.

.

What I am saying is how annoyed I get when some of the orgers here and Joe Public always say Prince was gay first. Has it ever occurred to you all we don't want his Jesus saluting, gay bashing ass in our community. I always saw Prince as a master musician and a genius with funky as heck music, but never ever as a gay man or a gay icon, because he was not. In fact he is not even that popular in the gay community, there are maybe 5 gay or lesbian orgers I know off and all of my Prince friends are 100% straight (Yet all of them are very tolerant of gays). He was never a gay icon like say Barbra Streisand, Judy Garland, Madonna or even Lady Gaga and Mcklemore were. So why associate him with being gay all the time, just because in the 70s and 80s he wore bikini briefs, make up, high heels and sang in falsetto. Is that our fucking uniform or some shit?

[Edited 6/14/16 17:04pm]

Adorecream said:

morningsong said:

Do you seriously think he wanted to look like the norm? Or maybe he wanted to stand out? So if people didn't have these attitudes then how he dressed wouldn't have gotten him any attention because nobody would have cared and maybe, just maybe they wouldn't have looked at him closer, been curious about him. You know that whole pushing the envelope thing, he talked about. It's getting harder now to stand out, because everybody's pushing the envelope.

You are completely missing the point, its like you are Venus and I am Pluto here. I am getting annoyed not because he was daring (Actually something I grew to like as I appreciated him later on) but the fact a whole bunch of jackasses are instantly labelling "weird" and "different" with being a homosexual. The fact the gay stereotype is resorted to way too quickly, not just in this thread but many others.

.

I have never ever seen Prince as a gay man and only ever thought of 2 of his songs as being even mildly gay (Do Me Baby and Jack u off) and both of those were defended to death by the Straight as hell Jesus militia when I suggested Do Me baby was gay sex all those years ago and when some one else asked how do you Jack off a guy.

.

What I am saying is how annoyed I get when some of the orgers here and Joe Public always say Prince was gay first. Has it ever occurred to you all we don't want his Jesus saluting, gay bashing ass in our community. I always saw Prince as a master musician and a genius with funky as heck music, but never ever as a gay man or a gay icon, because he was not. In fact he is not even that popular in the gay community, there are maybe 5 gay or lesbian orgers I know off and all of my Prince friends are 100% straight (Yet all of them are very tolerant of gays). He was never a gay icon like say Barbra Streisand, Judy Garland, Madonna or even Lady Gaga and Mcklemore were. So why associate him with being gay all the time, just because in the 70s and 80s he wore bikini briefs, make up, high heels and sang in falsetto. Is that our fucking uniform or some shit?

What can I tell you? Make peace with it or let your head explode everytime you find out what people actually think. I've seen you on here a many of time, and you have some interesting sterotypes about various groups of people that you yourself are not a part of nor are around, so I say build a bridge and get over it, everybody doesn't think like you.

When I first heard and saw Prince sing "I Wanna Be Your Lover" when it first came out I thought he ws getting his Sylvester on...

morningsong said:

Adorecream said:

Well I didn't, beause I did not resort to narrow minded stereotypes, just because a guy wore bondage gear and make up and sang in falsetto, he must be gay? Yeah my wardrobe is full of bondage gear, bikinis, eyeliner pencil and I speak like a chipmunk all the time.

It was what it was back then, a man in heels, bikini briefs and a high pitched voice was weird as hell back then. But dammit in a lot of circles people knew exactly who you were talking about when you said Prince, that's for sure.

* I need to correct that. Insert "a black man"...blah blah blah. *

[Edited 6/14/16 16:18pm]

In the UK, he was one of the more masculine looking guys in 1982. High heels were unusual then but make up, ruffles and lace clothing were all the rage.

80s

70s

purplethunder3121 said:

When I first heard and saw Prince sing "I Wanna Be Your Lover" when it first came out I thought he ws getting his Sylvester on...

That's what people say. And I see that Sylvester was gay, soooo...what can I say, people thought Prince was too back then.

I first remember seeing Prince when I was around 3 years old. I watched Live in Syracuse until the video wore out, same with Purple Rain. The 1999 LP was released the year I was born and was already in the house when I arrived. So, having grown up with Prince around he was always pretty normal to me. It's everyone else in the world I find weird

.

My older brother was playing "Dirty Mind." I heard the gay disco on the turntable, picked up the album cover, saw the gay photo of the singer and asked my brother, "What the fuck is this shit?"

.

True story.

.

[img:$uid]http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61xtRW9mxZL._SX300_.jpg[/img:$uid]

.

P.S.

When my brother wasn't around I played that album, loved it, and bought every single Prince release after it.