I sat there watching the Grammys in complete awe.the hair was standing on my arms..Close friends of mine (some of whom arent Prince fans were just enjoying the performance.)watched the man rock out.

I then get on the org waiting to see others reactions. Its funny, Prince spends the past several years as a "hermit" recording music the majority of people on here bitch about on a daily basis. Then he finally for whatever reason decides to show up on the biggest stage in music with a performance worthy of a standing ovation, and those same people bitch.Call him a sellout, call him whatever you want. But Prince has always done the unexpected. With all of the success this year of Outkast and other Prince inspired artists. It was nice to see his Royal Badness remind everyone who has the throne.With the 20th anniversary of Purple Rain upon us, it seems Prince may have broken out of his Larry Graham circle of all that is self indulgent.

During that performance it looked as if he was genuinely happy, something we havent seen in years. Be glad that the industry with all of its faults, wanted Prince to open the show. Be glad that there is a place and a demand in 2004 for Prince. So now, when people see my Prince tattoo, instead of laughter, maybe the response will be, man he still kicks ass.

p,s. Wasnt it great to see Beyonce riding shotgun during his performance, on the same right arm as Vanity,Carmen,Mayte and all the other countless women.

I think there was no Need for Beyonce to even be onthe same stage as Prince but she is the It girl right now. Prince was fabulous but Beyonce was bad.

Does Prince dance anymore?

I also enjoyed the performance but would have loved to have seen him cut the rug and throw in a split.

I can see the NPGMC years being a phase like the Gold years or the "golden age" of PR/ATWIAD/etc - I'd love to see a full-on comeback where the quality of the work equals the ambition of its promotion, when maybe we can look back on his so-called recent "fallow" years and appreciate the quirkiness of what's come out in the past few years...it might not be his absolute best stuff, but I was thinking about it recently...a piano album, a live set, an instrumental album...not my favorite albums of his, but they're definitely damn interesting and they've been albums I've been waiting for, for a long time. I think it's all about interpretation, taste and hindsight. Sure, he's done some lame, crappy, supremely questionable things in the recent past, but I don't think they've been wasted years by any means.

There was a need for Beyonce. She IS the current "IT" girl, the star of the Grammys.

On Rave, Prince worked with some pretty good names in the business: Gwen Stefani, Sheryl Crow, Eve, Chuck D, Ani DiFranco . . but NOBODY HEARD IT! "Nobody" being the general public . . .

I think Beyonce's presence on-stage gave Prince more "relevance" - and the fact that he OPENED the Grammys is also a plus.

If Prince would've performed alone, it wouldn't have had that splash of "NOW". Even the Funk-tribute segment would've seemed "old".

Now, hopefully Prince will take this momentum, play nice, and have a great year! If he behaves at the R&R Hall Of Fame, who knows what can happen!

Anxiety said:

Doing lame, crappy and supremely questionable things are all part of hitting home runs from time to time.

I don't think the NPGMC have been wasted years, either. I think they were a necessary evil . . .

Some of the music has been sub-par, but Prince needed to try the Internet thing . . .

Anyone can find the negative or positive in something if you look for it. When I got on the Org, my general belief was that people were generally happy with the performance, Beyonce and all. If you are a positive person, continue to be positive and don't let us naysayers get you down. You might rub off on us.

I agree - he is damned if he does and damned if he doesn't - either he goes for mass appeal playing hits at the Grammys or he does something that only a few like ie NEWS - just be thankful that we like an artist that can span such wide ranging landscapes - can't think of anyone else who can - although Bowie tried with Tin Machine

I guess some people are never happy/ grass is always greener etc


be happy that we might even get some good videos, radio and TV coverage - and have the man genuinally appreciated rather than having the piss taken

Anxiety said:

Anxiety, you make such a GREAT POINT. This is what being an artist is all about. Look at my avatar. That dude has influenced every walking musician on earth, and he didn't do it by pleasing everybody or releasing a blockbuster every time out. We should be grateful that musicians as gifted as Prince, Coltrane & Miles were generous enough to take some chances. Sure, it's not always going to result in a home run, but when it does look what we get (insert landmark album here). Prince has taken some time to think about his legacy, and has in turn provided all of us with a wide variety of interesting music to choose from. Nobody said it would all be fabulous, but it's there for anyone to enjoy and learn from.

the cat had the hohner. that's all that mattered to me, really.

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

Yeah and then the lil fucker threw it away... Sacriledge...

Neversin.

Despite being nominated for it, if he'd done something from NEWS the world at large would have gone "huh?". Prince had to perform what he did to reclaim a bit of the spotlight.

He's a media darling once again it seems. Having Beyonce on stage with him was good PR, infact it may prove to have been a masterstroke in the coming months. I applaud him for getting it right in that respect.

It wasn't the best performance maybe, i don't think that really matters. It was headline grabbing and that is probably what he was after.I hope he can continue the momentum at the R&RHOF next month.

Neversin said:

that's not really sacrilege, he's tossed it like that so many times for gawd knows how long...

Prince is a media darling. He has been an icon for over 20 years. He hasnt been busted on drugs (George Clinton), beat up his wife (James Brown), molested any kids (Micheal Jackson), been invloved or implicated in a shooting (P Diddy and most every other rapper), been arrested on DUI (Diana Ross), exposed himself (Janet Jackson), or just been a straight up fake ass punk (Justn Timberlake).

His history is remarkably clean for a superstar of his age and magnitude.

NPGFACE said:

NPGFACE said:

That IS funny!!
and OdysseyMiles, I like the points that you made.