Also, even if you go total career, Def Leppard only have 10 albums, so you can say that's a better sales ratio than Prince's 30+ releases.

MickyDolenz said:

Also, even if you go total career, Def Leppard only have 10 albums, so you can say that's a better sales ratio than Prince's 30+ releases.

Easily, you can say that Prince flopped more times if you want.

CharismaDove said:

Again, I think some people are pitting Prince's career against Whitney's, which is why she's coming off extra successful. If you really do look at the '80s stats, like the OP asks, Prince edges ahead. The '90s is a whole different story.

If Whitney's debut sold more than Prince's biggest album, and then her 2nd Whitney sold a little less than Purple Rain, how does he win? Both of Whitney's albums were in the 1980s, not the 1990s.

Even artistically, Whitney made an impact. If Prince had truly been bigger, maybe there would be more funk out there, and not big showy solo female singers.

Odd comparison at first glance but WH and P kind of have everything the other doesn't / didn't. Minus huge commercial success with Purple Rain / singles off 1999 / major radio play and movie stardom, Prince was always UNDERRATED commercially.

Whitney:

So many No 1s / Top 10s

HUGE international album sales

Adult Contemporary radio superstar

Prince:

more 'cred'

critical acclaim

a 'musician's' musician

Both absolute megastars in their own right(s). Hard to say who is actually bigger...in the long run, I'd say P, though no one can touch Whitney in the early 90s (commercially) with Bodyguard + Grammys + album sales + box office draw (Waiting to Exhale, etc)

Who is bigger in my collection: P R I N C E

Cinny said:

Easily, you can say that Prince flopped more times if you want.

Well, Whitney, Madonna, Michael, Phil Collins, Lionel Richie, etc were more consistent in charting with singles on the Top 10 in the 1980s too. Many of Prince's singles didn't do well in the charts. Whitney hit right out the box. All of Whitney's 1980s singles went Top 10 on the pop chart except maybe her 1st with Teddy Pendergrass and that went Top 10 on the R&B and AC charts. Prince didn't really become popular until 1999, his 5th album. Beforehand, Prince had a few R&B hits and one single that crossed over. Those early albums didn't sell well either. Most of the sales of those came after Purple Rain hit and some people went and bought them.

Well, they both looked pretty thin and spindly back then, so it's kinda hard to choose ...

MickyDolenz said:

CharismaDove said:

Again, I think some people are pitting Prince's career against Whitney's, which is why she's coming off extra successful. If you really do look at the '80s stats, like the OP asks, Prince edges ahead. The '90s is a whole different story.

If Whitney's debut sold more than Prince's biggest album, and then her 2nd Whitney sold a little less than Purple Rain, how does he win? Both of Whitney's albums were in the 1980s, not the 1990s.

Hit singles and overall influence. But I'd like to say that I know Whitney was fantastically successful, and moreso than Prince. I'm just saying that he had a shitload of hits in the '80s. And that PR may have been his only 20mil+ selling album, but he had a lot more successful after 1985

Cinny said:

Even artistically, Whitney made an impact. If Prince had truly been bigger, maybe there would be more funk out there, and not big showy solo female singers.

I know Whitney has been a huge influence for a lot of artists, but your post makes no sense. "no funk out there"? After Purple Rain, plenty of acts were inspired by Prince, his image, and his Minneapolis Sound. He's influenced several dozens of acts, from Justin Bieber to Timbaland, etc. And I don't know what you're talking about, there was a lot of funk on the radio after Purple Rain... I mean, I know Whitney is more successful, but who's gonna deny Prince's influence on pop culture? There was a lot of funk, and artistically, Prince made a HUGE impact.

badujunkie said:

Odd comparison at first glance but WH and P kind of have everything the other doesn't / didn't. Minus huge commercial success with Purple Rain / singles off 1999 / major radio play and movie stardom, Prince was always UNDERRATED commercially.

Whitney:

So many No 1s / Top 10s

HUGE international album sales

Adult Contemporary radio superstar

Prince:

more 'cred'

critical acclaim

a 'musician's' musician

Both absolute megastars in their own right(s). Hard to say who is actually bigger...in the long run, I'd say P, though no one can touch Whitney in the early 90s (commercially) with Bodyguard + Grammys + album sales + box office draw (Waiting to Exhale, etc)

This is a great post

MickyDolenz said:

Cinny said:

Easily, you can say that Prince flopped more times if you want.

Well, Whitney, Madonna, Michael, Phil Collins, Lionel Richie, etc were more consistent in charting with singles on the Top 10 in the 1980s too. Many of Prince's singles didn't do well in the charts. Whitney hit right out the box. All of Whitney's 1980s singles went Top 10 on the pop chart except maybe her 1st with Teddy Pendergrass and that went Top 10 on the R&B and AC charts. Prince didn't really become popular until 1999, his 5th album. Beforehand, Prince had a few R&B hits and one single that crossed over. Those early albums didn't sell well either. Most of the sales of those came after Purple Rain hit and some people went and bought them.

Agreed. Some of his singles did flop, especially ones such as IIWYG. Personally, I think he still did have a lot of success. Afterall, besides Madonna, Whitney, and Michael, he's had more hits than Lionel and Phil. That website I linked above analyzes the hits ^^^^

CharismaDove said:

MotownSubdivision said:

CharismaDove said:

Hit singles and overall influence. But I'd like to say that I know Whitney was fantastically successful, and moreso than Prince. I'm just saying that he had a shitload of hits in the '80s. And that PR may have been his only 20mil+ selling album, but he had a lot more successful after 1985

Wasn't trying to say Prince wasn't successful post-PR but he peaked commercially with that album.

Cinny said:

Even artistically, Whitney made an impact. If Prince had truly been bigger, maybe there would be more funk out there, and not big showy solo female singers.

Yeah, no Whitney, then no Mariah Carey, Yolanda Adams, Deborah Cox, Toni Braxton, American Idol, etc. Maybe not even Michael Bolton, although he came out before Whitney. Even on R&B radio, Prince later 1980s records were eclipsed by hip hop, New Jack Swing, and quiet storm R&B like Luther Vandross, Freddie Jackson, & Anita Baker. Bobby Brown's Don't Be Cruel and Licensed To Ill by the Beastie Boys did more business than Sign O' The Times or Parade. I'm not saying Prince wasn't popular, but his albums didn't sell as much as some other acts.

CharismaDove said:

I know Whitney has been a huge influence for a lot of artists, but your post makes no sense. "no funk out there"? After Purple Rain, plenty of acts were inspired by Prince, his image, and his Minneapolis Sound. He's influenced several dozens of acts, from Justin Bieber to Timbaland, etc. And I don't know what you're talking about, there was a lot of funk on the radio after Purple Rain... I mean, I know Whitney is more successful, but who's gonna deny Prince's influence on pop culture? There was a lot of funk, and artistically, Prince made a HUGE impact.

Funk was never really a huge seller though. As far as sales go, there's no funk equivalent of acts like The Beatles, Michael Jackson, Boston, Pink Floyd, The Eagles, Whitney Houston, Journey, Garth Brooks, etc. Influence doesn't sell records, and neither do critics as generally it seems to me that the stuff they don't like tends to be the most popular like New Kids On The Block, Barry Manilow, or Journey.

[Edited 7/9/15 14:03pm]

CharismaDove said:

Cinny said:

Even artistically, Whitney made an impact. If Prince had truly been bigger, maybe there would be more funk out there, and not big showy solo female singers.

I know Whitney has been a huge influence for a lot of artists, but your post makes no sense. "no funk out there"?

Who are you quoting? I didn't say that.

I personally have a much higher opinion of Prince, but we are answering who was bigger in the 80s.

Miles said:

Well, they both looked pretty thin and spindly back then, so it's kinda hard to choose ...

badujunkie said:

Prince was always UNDERRATED commercially

Cinny said:

CharismaDove said:

I know Whitney has been a huge influence for a lot of artists, but your post makes no sense. "no funk out there"?

Who are you quoting? I didn't say that.

I personally have a much higher opinion of Prince, but we are answering who was bigger in the 80s.

OK, "more funk out there", my point is the same. There were a lot of commercially successful funk artists. And yeah, I get you. I also recognize that there are many acts bigger than him, but I had some disagreements with some points made in the thread, in general

Miles said:

Well, they both looked pretty thin and spindly back then, so it's kinda hard to choose ...

Whitney was super attractive in the '80s, imo

Prince had sex appeal back then too. Since 2004, he's been way too skinny

ScarletScandal said:

ScarletScandal said:

Whitney-hands-down. Prince can't much her Commercial success...Whitney was the Bankable Full-Package...Moving into the 90's her Movies & TV Projects were Blockbusters (Minus Sparkle).

Madonna and MJ were bigger than WH, even Janet as well

Chancellor said:

Whitney-hands-down. Prince can't much her Commercial success...Whitney was the Bankable Full-Package...Moving into the 90's her Movies & TV Projects were Blockbusters (Minus Sparkle).

Lol.......this is like comapring Honda sales to Ferrari sales.

Prince didn't become a mainstream Pop artist until his "1999" album. Prior to that, Warner Brothers promoted him as an R&B/Funk singer and that's where he received the majority of his support on radio. Yes, he blew in up internationally in 1984 with "Purple Rain" and that continued in 1985. But, he was never able to match it's success.

Nippy, on the other hand, was a different story. Clive Davis introduced her to the world as a Pop singer. R&B was her secondary music. She took the music world by storm right away. Everything was so carefully calculated. From 1985 thru 1989, she was unstoppable. No other black female singing artist could touch her (even though there were far better singers than her). Despite the massive, mega success of both "Whitney" and "Whitney Houston", we all know she peaked, commerically and vocally, in 1993 with "The Body Guard". And Lord knows, from day #1, Clive took ever opportunity to drill into our heads that Nippy was alledgedly the "greatest singer in the world".

So with that being said, Prince really had one mega album, which happened to be in the 80's. Nippy had three, two of which were released in the 80's. I think Nippy had more influence also. Most of the female acts that came along after her named her as an influence. Prince influenced many artists who came after him also but it just seems like his name didn't come up as often as Nippy's when the newer acts spoke about their influences.

It's a close call but I would have to say Nippy probably was bigger in the 80's than Prince and her influence is still felt more than Prince.

[Edited 7/10/15 6:21am]