Prince on His Rivalry with Michael Jackson! Candidly In His Own Words | the detail.

people might believe it was never somebody who was my contemporary it was always if any rivalry between you and Mr Jackson oh not to me you know what happened is right after I graduated from college I was able to get my job at right on magazine I started out as an assistant though but it was a great job it was a great opportunity and I became the editor about six months later right on magazine started out in the early 70s with the Advent of the Jackson 5. friends used to call the job all the time he called he would call like two and three times a day we would just ignore his calls we didn't know who he was never heard of him so then what happened was out of desperation he called and said can you come the sir recording studios and I will play you some instruments and you will see that I have talent and after that I will have to be in the magazine went down there he started playing all these different instruments drums all these instruments I was like amazed I said you know what you're the most talented person I've ever met as a musician so I agreed to put them in the magazines I contacted record company they were like laughing because I found out he was on Warner Brothers and they said look this guy can and we can get rid of more posters of them than we can sell records because he was so new his music was different so no one really understood what it was that he was trying to do so you know he had a lot of trouble but after getting in the magazine it became a lot easier because he was really gorgeous looking and even Michael Jackson would say who is he I had read somewhere that in the 80s you dated Prince is that true Prince did like me yes he did we've gone roller skating but not just with me but I think Kathy Hilton was there my brother Michael was there my sister was there so it was like a group but but principal Carter would be like he's like he's like Latoya see we all went together and Prince was there we met there that was my first time meeting but we all met up together I think it was like that I'm like who is this yeah oh my God okay click foreign brought up Michael sang for about 30 seconds and everybody went preserved so Michael went up there and he deciding inside for about 15 seconds to pick them to Temple and you see Michael whispering in James's here James finally says the prince is here bring up the prince or something you know I don't think he knew who he was yet he didn't know what he looked like he didn't know anything about the Prince James has known Michael since he's five years old he's like a stepson like a godson Michael used to come to her shows and sit in the wings and study James Brown played big influence on my style when I was about 10 years old my step dad put me on the stage with him and I danced a little bit until bodyguard took me off mind you this is a period of time when Prince is starting to challenge Michael they were already saying is Prince the new Michael Jackson the Press was building up a rivalry it was the Beatles And The Rolling Stones you couldn't invent something better it was just perfect I have no idea that he was going to be called up he was just sitting there like oh God they thought print was weird but before he even got on the stage put the name alone because there were so many negative things about him so they weren't necessarily that supportive they were old and in like polyester shoes so it was just the wrong crowd it was the wrong audience no everybody was more Pro Michael just jumped on the back of The Bodyguard [Applause] [Music] let me see thank you I was really pissed off because Michael set him up so friends gets up there and he doesn't know what the hell to do and he hated the fact that he was up there Michael Jackson is just freaking worked the stage you don't follow Michael Jackson and the thing that Prince can do that Michael can't do is play a guitar but the song is just a riff it's just a vamp all he could do was play Rhythm I mean it ain't purple ring Prince was at a loss he really didn't know what to do [Music] just got on stage and knocked over that light pole and really really messed up badly and embarrassed himself Prince used to watch that videotape uh Prince knew exactly what Michael was up to I said don't you guys just want to be viewed as friends because I had seen them together I said no don't don't want people to know your friends I'll never forget the look Prince gave me and he just kind of turned around and he just said don't be naive asking me because he wants me to be his friend this is competition Prince was one of the labels Rising Stars his album 1999 was selling very well for us it was a big start his goal was to surpass Michael's success as he told the executive team that in a number of meetings I attended one day in 1983 he showed up he told me he wanted to talk about something looking out of sorts he said I have to find a way to knock Michael out of the number one spot it was driving him crazy that Thriller was breaking all sorts of sales records you really want to top Michael in on it yes get Quincy Jones to produce your next album his eyes got wide he sprang out of his seat for a second I thought he might hit me he'd become unglued I produce my own records he stormed out still yelling he was gay at work the best way I can describe to provide between Prince and Michael there was this phenomenon where you know one of the Marquee artists came out with a record in that descendo or the album whatever it's going to hit the number one spot but there's someone blocking you there's someone sitting at number one and you just can't dislodge them and I respect a person's success but I don't like a lot of popular music the big male rivalries where Michael Jackson and Prince it was a perfect time for Prince to say uh-uh he was going to get bigger than that extremely competitive extremely driven guys that want to be number one period they can't both be number one a kind of friendly competition I can go there you know I'm a fighter I'm very competitive working billboard at the time and billboard does this huge Michael Jackson special he sold all these records but the last page was a giant ad for Purple Rain it says the Purple Rain will begin Thriller it was also the setup for Purple Rain you know you had Michael making that mini movie Prince was very competitive I mean he really took it to everybody oh Thriller oh I'm doing a movie Purple Rain became a runaway success he produced it himself and I came with the Thriller and every time I was trying to always outdo myself right Billie Jean yeah they said we don't we won't play it and when they played it it said the all-time record knocking our door because it brought in back then Prince came it open their door for Prince and all the other black artists you know Michael Jackson is always put on a pedestal but around the Purple Rain time Prince or Michael Jackson were kind of neck and neck you know Michael had Thriller yeah Prince had Purple Rain and he had the movie on top of that exactly movie star and Purple Rain the sails were up there with Thriller and I guess the two of them had like a rivalry they did I remember Prince told me that he went and met with Michael at some point and I guess they talked about some stuff um you know I always thought that was an interesting comparison I think that they were on the same level as artists but I think Michael was he was straight Entertainer well Prince did it all you know Prince was the Entertainer the writer the producer everything the Purple Rain tour nothing like that I'd ever done before in black music the only other thing him right open of course was Michael Jackson who was blowing up at the same time setting up something that Young America was looking for so we went to see the Jacksons on the victory tour in Dallas Texas Prince wanted to go to the show we said whatever we do we couldn't have chick around Prince the chicken got so famous that if you've seen chick from where Prince was so we had chicken Incognito as well we put him in a hoodie he was very devious at times do we want to go out there and cause a scene or are you just trying to go enjoy the show because if you want to cause the scene we can do that I don't know how Michael them are going to appreciate that and he's like no we don't that would be disrespectful we don't want anyone to know we was there for about an hour when he decided that he wanted to go so he's got a hoodie on that and uh he looks down at me gives me this devious look I'm like oh come on man just don't do this he pulls the hood off if he gets down on the field this girl looked up and we told him whatever you do don't worry this dude takes off like he's calling us that crowding went crazy people are mobbing us man check split his pain the fans they lost their mind we were so mad at that Academy they weren't happy we were disruptive to the show wasn't he and we are the world what's the real story there what happened and believe me it's one of my heart breaks of the whole thing well Prince the windage down here he says can I have a separate room to record it because you know Prince yeah and I said that's not how it was I can't give you a separate one and then I made the worst mistake I said listen I'll put you right next to Michael oh and he didn't want to be next to Michael good Michael was famously private and Daniel Ross TV ish if they can do it why can't he do it we were trying to round people up it was chaotic there were two people absent Prince and Madonna so no I said uh Prince are you there he said I'll do a guitar solo we had everyone to stand next to each other that's Paul Simon there's Bob Dylan yeah so check your ego check your door right who else is going to be there not to mention the fact that it's a cause he should be associated with imprinting was pissed Quincy took it personally so I said all right I'll call you later and you never call back really what's happening right there and then Latoya got his spot right Michael Jackson bypassed the American Music Awards to come in by himself and record one final guide vocal everybody get the awards he was talking about it see the studio this was huge okay you understand something you can't go out clubbing in this recording session is bigger than the award show this is the biggest thing in the year it's just disappointment you know from one person to another that he wasn't there when he was asked when you know why you know you feel what a jerk you've been criticized for not showing up at the We Are the World recording session last January why weren't you there we had talked to the people that were doing the USA for Africa and they said it was cool that I gave up a song for the album I'm strongest in a situation where I'm surrounded by people I know it's better that I did it that way the music than going down and participating there I probably would have just clammed up with so many great people now I'm the admirer of all people who participated in that particular outing and I don't want there to be any hard feelings purple rain in that whole situation the Thriller that whole situation I mean that was a time period and it's our journey you know it's not for somebody who doesn't play music to step up and say you know that's not as good as no matter what you do you're competing against your previous product and everybody expecting more you really trying to top yourself all the time Prince he was putting music out all the time just so fast I said you can't put out your music as it comes to you if you want to compete with Michael everything has to be a giant marketing plan plan two years in advance he looks at me like it's nuts you know so Quincy had convinced Michael if you and Prince are ever going to work together this is the moment this bad song is the moment for y'all to come together so Quincy invites Prince and Michael to the house to Quincy's house for dinner one night so the phone rings about five minutes before they supposed to meetings IQ is is Prince there yet because he said no Prince isn't here yet he said okay he hangs up five minutes later Farm rings as Prince hey Q is Michael there yet no he's not here yet okay click this goes all I kid you now for like 20 minutes Prince and Michael to call him back and forth nobody wants to be the first one Quincy said Michael come on man stop this because he knows Michael they've been together he doesn't really know prince Ray knows Michael but let's come on man so Michael shows up two seconds later the doorbell rings Prince walks in they sit down and talk about to have dinner and princess I have a question I want to ask about about the lyrics and Quincy said sure he said who's Whose Line is this right here because she said which one are you talking about a statement to say he couldn't believe that Michael had the nerve to call it on bad he was like there's nothing badass about him and he could not let Michael get away with it he could not only was he not going to sing it with him he went in the studio and re-recorded what he thought it should be and sent it back to Michael like No And by the way this is what it should be and I mean that was the end of that but that's how Prince was Michael was playing in Minneapolis Minnesota Michael invited France to come to the show Prince invited me and Sheila E we get to the concert we go through the back we go backstage before Michael went on stage we get back there Michael Jackson's crew pulled out a big news camera Empress goes I told you no feel me we're all wearing these cashmere coat friends I don't have to say friends I had a minus that woman she landed on her sister she leaves Michael said I really like those pills where did you get them from and Prince said do you want me to make you one and Michael say yes all of our coach said 1988 on the back and Prince said oh yeah he wrote the year the Wall came out off the wall what year was that friend said yeah I'll get you one with that year on the back because that was the last time you had a hit oh he literally said that to Michael you know those mirror Hearts we watched Michael Prince said my Skin's friends purposely I kissed you not he took the mirror heart and made sure the light flashed Michael in the eyes reflected in Michael Jackson's face yes he did I'm not kidding you he Ard Prince brought over some sort of voodoo box Michael was convinced that Prince was trying to cast a spell on him but then the end of the night uh Michael came to Paisley Park and then him a prince ended up going to um his house and they had a really good chat and Prince told us we had to leave because him and Michael were gonna you know spend some private time together at Princess House people thought they were really enemies but they were really good friends they really were hypothetically you would win in a fist fight you were Michael Jackson we should all just kind of like chill because it's you know you may know something nothing you were made out to be this weird cat and he was like Mr Disney and you're married man well you know play it you know there again you know hopefully the Press will get to the point where we're just all just it'll be a law where you have to tell the truth it won't be about speculation Jackson and Prince did not get along which I did not know that but you took Michael to see Prince or you took Prince to see Michael which was it so one time like a piece had a show in Vegas and we got to Vegas and then get a phone call from Michael and he says it's Michael and I heard you guys are performing tonight I was like yeah we go on it at 9pm he said all right I gotta get the kids to sleep I don't know if I could maybe make that show I was like oh well you know I'm playing with Prince later on I'd be jamming with them like around 12. make a long story short Prince is performing walks off the stage through the crowd with the bass people screaming and pulling and tugging on them playing the bass through the crowd makes his way over to where me Chris Tucker and Michael Jackson was sitting and rips the base in half ripping the most Hillary Solo in the world make a longer story shorter Michael Jackson leaves and goes home and says leave me in the house for breakfast so I go to his house for breakfast knock on the door first words he says where was Prince playing the bass in my face no no Prince he's just being nice you know no Prince he's always been a meanie [Applause] we sitting there you know and everything was cool but Prince didn't say you know that Michael was there so I was like what's concerned Michael he didn't even seen you here you know I was trying to start something my decree stop it Chris he probably just don't want to bring an intention on me you should say something please stop it and Prince got a little attitude I think he saw us he saw Michael and he was like he didn't say nothing he doesn't look like he was like what the hell are you doing he looked like what the hell are you doing here later foreign [Applause] [Music] [Applause] trying to steal my moves huh I was like oh there's some [ __ ] going on maybe something happened in the 80s I don't know about it [Music] Prince was in rehearsal for headline the Montreal Jazz Festival in Switzerland when the news comes that Michael has died he immediately cancel rehearsal sent all of his band members home and locked himself in his bedroom for days and wouldn't come out when he finally emerges they do a couple more rehearsals he calls me to say you know what you're doing this summer we talk he's I'm headlining Mantra you want to come I said sure I pack up my bags I go to montro I go to switch to my prince he kills the show in Montreal and about 1 30 in the morning we stopped by a little after party we stayed there for about a half hour or so about two o'clock in the morning back to his hotel he's staying in the presidential suite and of course works for Prince day presidential suite top floor this hotel which way that has French doors I'll never forget it that open out to the rooftop of the hotel we walk out there about two something in the morning and we sat on the rooftop of that hotel looking at the Swiss Alps until the sun came up and all Prince talked about for hours was Michael Jackson wow and he sat and he talked and he talked and in that moment again it was so surreal to hear him talking for hours about his respect from Michael's genius from Michael's gift from Michael Showmanship

Channel: the detail.

Views: 3,016,047

Keywords: michael jackson, mj, king of pop, moonwalk, moonwalker, the jacksons, jackson family, jackson 5, thriller, prince, james brown, 1984, thriller album, purple rain, when doves cry, 80s pop, 80s music, pop icons, music icons, iconic, feud, rivalry, voguing, thriller era, la toya jackson, prince interview, michael jackson interview, michael jackson rare, prince rare, we are the world, prince on michael jackson death, lionel richie, will.i.am, chris tucker, right on magazine

Id: TwOEXlikm3Q

Length: 22min 40sec (1360 seconds)

Published: Thu Jan 26 2023