There are arguably no two artists who’ve brought more equal parts pure, raw talent and intriguing mysticism to the world of music with their respective 1980s breakouts than Minnesota’sPrinceand Indiana’sMichael Jackson. Both born in 1958, by the time each turned 18, Prince was signing a record deal and was two years away from recording his first album, 1978’sFor You, while Jacksonwas working through his tenure with his brothers in their band, The Jacksons, just a few years shy of the first solo albumto showcase his own independent sound, 1979’sOff The Wall.
In many ways, it seemed like Prince and MJ would have gotten along. They were similar birds of a feather who were both young men of color from a Midwest upbringing,who would both pursue similar sounds in pop, rock, R&B, soul, blues, and other genres(though each would approach those palettes in their own unique ways). Prince and Jackson were also highly ambitious when it came to their career output, and that seemed to be how their sparring started.
Michael Jackson & Prince Were Both Competitive Perfectionists
Power Shifted Between The Pair
According toRolling Stone, the quietly competitive battle between Jackson andPrince got started in 1982, when the overwhelming success of Jackson’s albumThrillertook the spotlight away from Prince’s then-career-bestselling LP, titled1999. Prince was able to hit back a few years later with the wildly successful movie and soundtrack release of 1984’sPurple Rain, which reportedly so intently drew Jackson’s attention thathe came to several nights of thePurple RainTour just to study Prince in more detail.
The delicate animosity between the King of Pop and the Purple One allegedly increased afterthe 1985 charity recording of “We Are The World,” a single co-written by Jackson and Lionel Richie to benefit famine relief in Africa. An all-star cast of musicians, including Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, and Bob Dylan, were all in attendance at the studio, but numerous invites to have Prince join in were all rejected. Rumors of the turndown included Jackson being so closely involved andPrince being too shy to record in the same studio with so many other musicians.
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The pair also had some unusual in-person run-ins with each other over the years that allegedly added fuel to the rivalry. The moments ranged from a game of ping pongto the only time Prince and Michael would share a concert stage.
Prince Once Badly Beat Jackson At A Game Of Ping-Pong
But Jackson Won A James Brown Dance-Off
During a period of time when Prince was working on 1986’sUnder The Cherry Moon(his film follow-up toPurple Rain), Jackson came to pay him a visit. Sometime during their meeting, Prince allegedly invited MJ to play him in a game of ping pong (viaSlate). After a bit of back and forth during the game, Prince allegedly beat Jackson with a decisive final spike and reportedly bragged,“Did you see that? He played like Hellen Keller!”
TheKing of Popand Prince don’t have many other known in-person run-ins known from over the years, though they did once share a stage during a 1983 James Brown show at LA’s Beverly Theater. Brown invited Jackson up on stage to show off some of his perfect dance moves in the style of the Godfather of Soul. After doing so, as evidenced in the above grainy video, Jackson whispers in Brown’s earto allegedly inform him Prince was in the crowd as well.
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Prince is then suddenly brought up to the stage, where he proceedsto haltingly play the guitar, take off his shirt, let off a trademark Prince scream, and then try to jump off the stage by grabbing a streetlight prop made of paper mache that collapses (along with Prince) into the crowd.It’s an iconic, if altogether odd, moment, with rumors that Prince was humiliated by this for years afterward and blamed Jackson for putting him into the situation.
A few years afterthe “We Are The World” experience, Jackson did make another attempt to try and collaborate with Prince and put an end to their rivalry. This, however, didn’t end up going over well.
But Lyrics Got In The Way
To squash some of their rivalry, Jackson approached Prince about featuring on the title track of his ultimately iconic 1987 albumBad. According to an interview done byMTVwith the Purple One and comedian Chris Rock in the ’90s, however, Prince said he rejected the olive branchprimarily due to the lyrics of the song:
The first line of that song is ‘Your butt is mine.’ Now I’m saying, ‘Who is going to sing that to who? Cos you sure ain’t singing it to me and I sure ain’t singing it to you, so right there, we got a problem.’
Prince insisted in the sit-down with Rock that there was no animosity between him and Jackson, though the stories of the competitive rivalries still remain. Truly, though,was it anything more venomous than that, just a rivalry for the love of the music game they were both in?
Especially After Jackson Suddenly Passed Away First
While Prince and Jackson would never be described as the closest of friends (and could certainly be petty, as in the video story above),it did seem to be a face-off between two very dedicated musicians who recognized the gift of incredible talent in one another and not a deep hatred.While neither may have exactly waxed at length of their love for one another, the signs were still there. After Jackson’s untimely 2009 death in an unpublished 2014 interview withRolling Stone, Prince was asked about Jackson and simply had this to say.
I don’t want to talk about it. I’m too close to it.
It’s a brief two sentences in response to the subject, but it still speaks volumes. There was certainly a professional “beef,” but personally it meant a lot more emotionally to both artists. Especially with bothPrinceandMichael Jacksonhaving passed on,we miss their talents still.
