Militant said:

purplerabbithole said:

You know I think Tommy Barbarello's comments in his St.Paul interview (written version) is what triggered this sadness. (and the Leeds seem to agree with him.)

He said that no one who claimed they were close to Prince was telling the truth. That is awfully sad to imagine. Living your entire life without one close friend. Not one. Money, fame, and sex don't mean shit if you don't have connections to your fellow man or woman--even if they are fleeting or temporary or even somewhat limited, those connections must be there. It made me question every nice comment I read about Prince from his associates.

It's worth remembering that Tommy spent no time with Prince in the last 20 years, neither did Alan Leeds. I don't think it's fair to take their opinions as gospel. Prince mellowed out a LOT. Especially in the last decade.

That's what a P collaborator once told me in a PM: the Prince they met again in the early 2010's was a very different, much warmer man that the Prince they knew in the 90's.

Lianachan said:

paisleyparkgirl said:

He performed to a sold out crowd until he died, so I'm not sure of that "decline" situation this writer is talking about.

He remained an outstanding live performer, but (and it's highly subjective) the quality of his recorded work had been in decline for a long time. HNR2 is probably his best album for years, but it isn't a patch on anything he released in the first 10 - 15 years of his career.

It's kind of hard to make an album that is better than Purple Rain or Sign O' The Times, or Diamonds and Pearls. (I know that not everyone on here likes D&P, but I LOVE it!). The fact that Prince was able to keep making good music full-time 25-30 years after his peak says something about how great he was.

[Edited 12/12/16 17:01pm]