Thanks, its nice to see this

I never really thought they had a rivalry even back then. I never understood why they were pitted against each other instead of anyone else.

It's known that Prince locked himself in his room/living quarters at PP after MJ died, for a few days and mourned his passing. Then he almost immediately started incorporating "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" and a J5 song into his set (including one with Tamar).

I am sad they never had a duet or worked together, but the stories of them in person with each other are hysterical. Prince being aggressive & competitive in ping pong, and egging MJ on. Chris Tucker tells a funny story about MJ asking "Why is Prince playing bass in my face?"

In short, Prince highly respected MJ. And I quite love that.

yeah,I never believed that MJ and Prince had any kind of rivalry.It was the media that was suggesting a rivalry and unfortunately,many of their fans bought into it.Prince and Michael met up and played ping-pong together.Wish there was a photo of that

TrivialPursuit said:

I never really thought they had a rivalry even back then. I never understood why they were pitted against each other instead of anyone else.

It's known that Prince locked himself in his room/living quarters at PP after MJ died, for a few days and mourned his passing. Then he almost immediately started incorporating "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" and a J5 song into his set (including one with Tamar).

I am sad they never had a duet or worked together, but the stories of them in person with each other are hysterical. Prince being aggressive & competitive in ping pong, and egging MJ on. Chris Tucker tells a funny story about MJ asking "Why is Prince playing bass in my face?"

In short, Prince highly respected MJ. And I quite love that.

Love that one.

TrivialPursuit said:

I never really thought they had a rivalry even back then. I never understood why they were pitted against each other instead of anyone else.

It's known that Prince locked himself in his room/living quarters at PP after MJ died, for a few days and mourned his passing. Then he almost immediately started incorporating "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" and a J5 song into his set (including one with Tamar).

I am sad they never had a duet or worked together, but the stories of them in person with each other are hysterical. Prince being aggressive & competitive in ping pong, and egging MJ on. Chris Tucker tells a funny story about MJ asking "Why is Prince playing bass in my face?"

In short, Prince highly respected MJ. And I quite love that.

VIBE's oral history of Prince and MJ reveals some competitive tension there, but the overriding current of their relationship was respect.

The NPG's oral history of Prince in the 90's, featured in a Rolling Stone piece last year, recalls how Prince stopped a tour rehearsal at Paisley Park so the whole crew could watch footage of Sly in concert . . . which MJ sent him.

The media has printed some crazy stores over the years. This might be the worst one...

TrivialPursuit said:

I never really thought they had a rivalry even back then. I never understood why they were pitted against each other instead of anyone else.

It's known that Prince locked himself in his room/living quarters at PP after MJ died, for a few days and mourned his passing. Then he almost immediately started incorporating "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" and a J5 song into his set (including one with Tamar).

I am sad they never had a duet or worked together, but the stories of them in person with each other are hysterical. Prince being aggressive & competitive in ping pong, and egging MJ on. Chris Tucker tells a funny story about MJ asking "Why is Prince playing bass in my face?"

In short, Prince highly respected MJ. And I quite love that.

He was doing this before MJJ died- "Don't Stop..." and (Janet's) "What Have You Done..." were in the Tamar set in Spring '06.

namepeace said:

VIBE's oral history of Prince and MJ reveals some competitive tension there, but the overriding current of their relationship was respect.

The NPG's oral history of Prince in the 90's, featured in a Rolling Stone piece last year, recalls how Prince stopped a tour rehearsal at Paisley Park so the whole crew could watch footage of Sly in concert . . . which MJ sent him.

An important point, that's also often been proven by folks like Quincy Jones, etc. It's one people seem to want to ignore.

Isn't Wendy on record stating that Prince had little respect for Michael?

One of the people working with MJ on the This Is It concerts (think it was Kenny Ortega) said that MJ would call everybody in the middle of the night with ideas for the shows. When he asked if MJ really had to call during the middle of the night, MJ said he had to jump on an idea as soon as it came to him, "otherwise God may give it to Prince"

Whether they liked each other or not, they definitely respected each other's talent.

[Edited 5/3/17 9:58am]

In a story Lisa Robinson wrote for Vanity Fair on the day Prince died, 4/21/16, she recalled that the two artists were constantly asking her about the other, and that they kept track of how many Madison Square Garden shows the other would hold. She described them as being in a "silent" but "obvious" competition.

I would have liked to have seen Prince's reaction watching Michael on Motown 25, and Michael's reaction to watching the climax of Purple Rain.

There was a competition there, if not a rivalry.

And we ALL benefitted.

[Edited 5/3/17 10:25am]

namepeace said:

They respected each other but they definitly were competitive with each other as well. I think there competitiveness toward each other had to do with the high degree of admiration they had toward each others talent and work. They knew they were the best so they wanted to beat the best. Although the rivlary was exaggerated by the media, I like that they didn't publicly kiss each other asses like so many of the pop stars do nowadays, its pathetic. The lack of a competitive attitude is marginally why music is so crappy now. Its too many artists kissing each other asses and being buddy buddy instead of kicking ass in the studio. Music and entertainment sucks now.

CoolMF said:

TrivialPursuit said:

I never really thought they had a rivalry even back then. I never understood why they were pitted against each other instead of anyone else.

It's known that Prince locked himself in his room/living quarters at PP after MJ died, for a few days and mourned his passing. Then he almost immediately started incorporating "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" and a J5 song into his set (including one with Tamar).

I am sad they never had a duet or worked together, but the stories of them in person with each other are hysterical. Prince being aggressive & competitive in ping pong, and egging MJ on. Chris Tucker tells a funny story about MJ asking "Why is Prince playing bass in my face?"

In short, Prince highly respected MJ. And I quite love that.

He was doing this before MJJ died- "Don't Stop..." and (Janet's) "What Have You Done..." were in the Tamar set in Spring '06.

Yea, Prince has always covered MJ, J5 and Janet songs in his sets way before Michael passed. When Rebbie attended his show, he invited her up on stage to dance. I think he respects the whole Jackson family and the Jacksons respect him too.

Prince has defended Michaels character on a few rare occasions, that lets me know he not only respected his talent but also liked him as a person and I will always respect Prince for that because everybody turned their back on MJ when he really needed support.

purple05 said:

Seen this on another board.... https://mobile.twitter.co...1113554945 https://mobile.twitter.co...9362787328 https://mobile.twitter.co...9227747328 https://mobile.twitter.co...7667814400 https://mobile.twitter.co...6277501952

Prince would say "this is what i grew up on"....then go right into I Want You Back. He had nothing but respect for Jackson. Never forgot that moment at paisley..even did What Have U Done 4 Me Lately

naturally the two best dudes (at their peak) were going to compete..

that's a LOT of EGO!

two megastars/legends in their 20's!

Beautiful no truer words have been spoken. Love both.

I misread that as Morrissey

Prince Jackson vs Michael Nelson

(We Need Each Other)

As I was thinking a little I was thinking about both Prince Roger Nelson and Michael Joseph Jackson and how each person went through hard times that the average person calls "Rich People Problems".

But at the end of the day, a bad problem is a problem. My reason for this post is to not put both talents against each other but to fine some way with you all help to bring both prince and jackson fans together respectfully. Prince and Michael never had as much hate as both fanbases have at each other. I believe both artists watched one another and had a close private bond as both artists was VERY private. If you want to know what a real artist feud look like follow Hip-Hop and how many died from feuds. I've never heard Prince say "I want that hospital glitter glove jheri soul glo curl boy dead tonight OWWWWA" and never heard Michael say anything like that neither. I believe Prince watched how fans, enemies, money hungry people treated Michael in the media and within his camp. That's why Prince later on probably stopped the fan interaction and letting people in his personal space. Trust me if you watched somebody that you know is ALWAYS giving back and helping, then get dragged into the dirt, it would make you put up your walls. What most people always talk about is how both artist changed when they got money and didn't care about their music much no more and only fed into their ego. Let me tell if we all got $100 million dollars right now you wouldn't believe how many people would be calling for a hand out and then if you say no they get mad and say awful lies about you. So now instead of focusing on music only they are watching their backs and always thinking somebody is out to get them for their money including family members.

Anyhow, I wish there was a way to bring us together like Prince and Michael was when both was trying to get on MTV and when media outlets had you thinking they hated each other when that wasn't true. The media did their best to destroy both artists after they realized that 2 non-caucasian artists was controlling both their Pop and Rock billboard charts, I mean just destroying them. If you think Prince and Michael wasn't down together with that then go back and look. I really believe they talked in the 80's about how to tear down the musical walls and limitations put on colored artists. That's my reason for the Prince Jackson, Michael Nelson naming lol, I truly believe they worked together with that. And I just want all of us Prince and Michael fans to get together and remember each person without us fighting one another. When MJ passed I clanged over to Prince even more, now that Prince gone I don't have no artist to fill that hole. Also if you made it this far I love you all and tell your love ones you love them every chance you get because we never know the next time we will see each other.

CynicKill said:

Isn't Wendy on record stating that Prince had little respect for Michael?

I never saw anything where she said Prince didnt respect MJ...I do remember her stating that after Prince heard the Bad demo that MJ wanted to duet, Prince didnt like the song, didnt think it was funky. She also referred to MJ as "Disneyland" and Prince as a "subversive 1940s WB cartoon". Or something like that..

UncleJam said:

CynicKill said:

Isn't Wendy on record stating that Prince had little respect for Michael?

I never saw anything where she said Prince didnt respect MJ...I do remember her stating that after Prince heard the Bad demo that MJ wanted to duet, Prince didnt like the song, didnt think it was funky. She also referred to MJ as "Disneyland" and Prince as a "subversive 1940s WB cartoon". Or something like that..

Good one.

purplethunder3121 said:

It was a latter 90s interview where Prince said he was never check for Michael, that he was only checking for other guitarists/shredders

OldFriends4Sale said:

It was a latter 90s interview where Prince said he was never check for Michael, that he was only checking for other guitarists/shredders

I'd believe that as soon as I'd believe Magic saying he never checked for Bird, only other point guards.

(never)

They represented, in my lifetime, the pinnacle/summit/zeitgeist of pop artists. Easily my biggest idols in any field of sports/entertainment/politics/etc.

Michael: supernaturally gifted entertainer and seemed to command the charts at will for a long time.

Prince: the consumate musician and prodigal talent.

When they were on, the media and some misguided fans painted a picture of them being bitter rivals. Competitive? Sure, bu as another poster stated, that competition drove them to musical one upsmanship during the 80's.

Did their stars wane in the subsequent decade? Perhaps, but if you look at the tail end of the careers/lives, both were arguably the hottest tickets in town with the This is It and the Piano & Microphone tours and I believe that although the the competition was there, there was ample room for both to impact fans of music years past their heyday.

Much love to both, though.

namepeace said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

It was a latter 90s interview where Prince said he never check for Michael, that he was only checking for other guitarists/shredders

and yet Prince had no problem supporting and raving over talentless female artists who couldn't sing

...

[Edited 5/6/17 19:31pm]