Prince was in his early 30s in the late 1980s/ early 1990s, which, of course, is not old. But I read that he was struggling to keep public interest because he was experimenting and not putting out a "Purple Rain 2". Hence, why he chose to do the soundtrack for Tim Burtno's Batman and also released songs like "Thieves In The Temple" and "Cream" to stay relevant.

To be honest, I don't know what was going on in Prince's life at the time, or how he perceived his public persona. He was still making money, and did a successful tour in 1990. He was always ambitious, if a little obsessed with grandeur. Of course, age proved not to be a barrier to success, when he released and promoted "Musicology" in the mid-2000s in his 40s.

Maybe in 1989-1993, he didn't care what people thought of him, or maybe he was pushed by his management team to keep relevant?

Wasn't 1999 and Purple Rain a sharp turn from his initial punk indie demo "Dirty Mind" days that left those fans in the dust?

No

Good grief NO

A public meltdown? Lols. No, that didn't happen. Seems op is conflating issues here: age and relevance. Sure, he wanted to stay relevant. There's no question. That has more to do with the length of time a popular artist has been around. Hell, plenty of teen acts in both rock and pop struggle with relevancy by the time they are 20.

He had huge critical success before Batman....

I don't recall people worrying about his age, but some of the music he was putting out sounded dated.
Singing about Crack and Horse in 1987 sounded funny to us in a city with a crack epedmic in it. It didn't feel ahead of it's time (which it was) it felt corny and out of touch. He didn't think so, nor did the critics or most fans.

Plus it was the opposite of tantrums, he was indicating that he had more hits, but either we weren't ready for them, or he wasn't ready to give them to us.... that's not a meltdown or early mid-life crises. The New Jack Swing in Grafitti Bridge playing The Kid again, is another story, but that got completed after Batman. Thieves in the Temple is just a good song. What's age got to do with it? The man was ageless. When he was corny, it wasn't because of his age.

You could also say the Black Album into Lovesexy chapter was something, but it wasn't a public meltdown, it was in private and you could argue represented growth.

thedoorkeeper said:

Where do you get these ideas?

Crack.

I do think he struggled with coming to terms with aging. I'm sure a lot of us can relate to that. For him it was much more challenging because he was in the public eye, didnt seem to age with his physical looks, and was famed for his physical performances and hyperactivity. Age is a trick. It's all in the mind. There's something to be said for his approach to it.

milesb said:

I do think he struggled with coming to terms with aging. I'm sure a lot of us can relate to that. For him it was much more challenging because he was in the public eye, didnt seem to age with his physical looks, and was famed for his physical performances and hyperactivity. Age is a trick. It's all in the mind. There's something to be said for his approach to it.

age is not a trick, as time goes on your skin physically ages and detoriates

I don't know in this post if you are talking about what music he produced in those times, or just the aging process going on with him physically, or both. Yeah, he was human, wearing high-heeled boots so he would appear a little taller, creating all this mystery about himself, proably dyeing his hair in his 50's, but.....

When it came to his music, He Was Fearless! He did not care one bit about what U thought about it. He knew he had real fans out there, and that someone, or many someones would get IT. He knew he had talent, and that if he coupled it with dogged hard work, his passion would bring the music alive.

So, for some that don't understand the lyrics or pacing or timing of every song he put out there, it's OK. We get to listen again and again until we do, 'cause he wasn't going to explain every bar of it and ruin it for us. Put on an album & unwind your mind...........................

milesb said:

I do think he struggled with coming to terms with aging. I'm sure a lot of us can relate to that. For him it was much more challenging because he was in the public eye, didnt seem to age with his physical looks, and was famed for his physical performances and hyperactivity. Age is a trick. It's all in the mind. There's something to be said for his approach to it.

I agree that a lot of us can relate to aging, and so will almost everyone else, because aging is just a part of life, something most humans have to go through....there's just no way to avoid it. Being a man like Prince whose looks played a big part in his career, I'm sure that he didn't like seeing himself getting older, especially knowing how handsome he was during his younger years. I mean who doesn't wish that they could stay looking as good as they did when they were in their teens, 20's, 30's, even 40's? Watching yourself aging is tough, at least for me it is ....and I'm sure that Prince didn't like seeing himself getting older either.

Everyone has to come to terms with it. Especially in the entertainment industry which is driven by an audience demographic that they aim for. But it's just something that people deal with in general.

As to meltdown? no one knows for sure obviously, but wearing a mankini with roller skates while the music was dumbed down in the 90's kinda points in that direction.

v10letblues said:

As to meltdown? no one knows for sure obviously, but wearing a mankini with roller skates while the music was dumbed down in the 90's kinda points in that direction.

Bikinis and rollerskates don't point to a mental meltdown. Where do you folks come up with this????

Dilan said:

milesb said:

I do think he struggled with coming to terms with aging. I'm sure a lot of us can relate to that. For him it was much more challenging because he was in the public eye, didnt seem to age with his physical looks, and was famed for his physical performances and hyperactivity. Age is a trick. It's all in the mind. There's something to be said for his approach to it.

age is not a trick, as time goes on your skin physically ages and detoriates

Yeah but Prince didn't think about time, or birthdays as he aged. He also must have felt more pressure than most men to stay pretty.

lavendardrummachine said:

Dilan said:

age is not a trick, as time goes on your skin physically ages and detoriates

Yeah but Prince didn't think about time, or birthdays as he aged. He also must have felt more pressure than most men to stay pretty.

Age and time are two different things. Aging is physical. Time is a construct. They aren't interchangeable.

If Prince felt pressure from the outside, he would have lived his life very differently. Be logical. No one in a visual and aural industry is going to go out looking like hot garbage. Y'all act like he was 24/7 fretting over who was saying what about him and schemeing to counter every argument against him. No real Prince fan would believe any of that.

lavendardrummachine said:

Dilan said:

age is not a trick, as time goes on your skin physically ages and detoriates

Yeah but Prince didn't think about time, or birthdays as he aged. He also must have felt more pressure than most men to stay pretty.

He may have tried to not think about time or birthdays, but that doesn't mean that they didn't exist. And I bet that he knew exactly what day it was every year that June 7th rolled around.