作者：Keith Murphy 中文版來源：mjjcn.com翻譯：stroller
2010年6月25日
“聽說你在找我。”一個深沉的聲音在電話的另一端說。這是1996年的秋天，邁克爾傑克遜在紐約四季酒店一間光鮮的套房裏拿著話筒。這位元流行音樂之王指示他的手下聯繫到他的老朋友和競爭對手Prince，商量計畫中的合作。這樣一個絕對是頭條新聞的合作前景實在是引人入勝。80年代的大部分時間，Michael Joseph Jackson和Prince Roger Nelson輪流主宰著樂壇景觀。MJ，這個天賦奇才的摩城神童通過破紀錄的地標式專輯Thriller的發行，成功地達成了他成為地球上最大的流行明星的野心。Prince，這個時而驚世駭俗的，雌雄莫辨的，一人樂隊表演者和製作人，利用天才加上他發行的多白金唱片Purple Rain和同名奧斯卡獲獎電影，發起了一次搖滾史上最不可思議的政變。一場競爭開始了。
但是十多年以後，兩人發現自己都陷入了挽救他們職業生涯的戰鬥中。MJ的掙扎主要源於在小報部隊無休止的追逐中，與那些未經證實的孌童指控的鬥爭。而Prince則對他的長期廠牌華納兄弟宣戰，並在逐步走向晦澀冷門時，將自己的名字改成了一個無法發音的符號。確實，這兩個流行符號的聯合將被看作是一次出色的神來之筆。“我想這一定會很棒。”MJ告訴Prince。然而，這次可以終結一切合作的合作並未發生。兩位年紀漸長的傳奇終將會以他們各自的方式達成他們的回歸。2009年6月25日 傑克遜過早地辭世後，他們之間的紐帶變得更加深遠。公眾依然迷戀於MJ和Prince這一事實充分說明了他們的文化影響力和對音樂作出的影響深遠的貢獻。但是，這兩個巨人究竟對對方是如何想法？存在於他們之間是真正的競爭？還是彼此間深切的尊敬？VIBE推出一位國王和一位王子的口述歷史。——Keith Murphy
國王與王子（1970-1982）
AHMIR “QUESTLOVE” THOMPSON（費城hip-hop樂隊The Roots主唱、製作人兼鼓手）：對於為何我們這麼早就將Michael和Prince兩人聯繫在一起，我有著切實的理論。我認為這不是巧合：兩人都於1958年夏天出生在中西部，本質上各自代表了即將成年的年輕黑人人群的不同成長階段。邁克爾捕捉到了後民權運動時期美國年輕人的想像力，並成為他們的導航燈。而Prince則捕獲了同一時期成長中的青少年，並幫助他們走向成年。
ALAN LEEDS（前Prince和James Brown巡演經理人、The James Brown Reader一書的編輯之一）：我記得在1970年時看到Michael和Jackson 5的第一次大型巡演。當我和James Brown在外巡演時，我們在俄亥俄州的Dayton相遇。他們當晚在Dayton的O’Hare Aren演出，而我們的演出計畫就在第二天。在臺上，他是極富感召力的存在，很少有人能做到這一點。我記得我們住在同一個酒店。演唱會前，我恰巧在酒店大堂碰到J5準備去試音。我看到他們和保鏢一起走過，酒店外滿是尖叫著的孩子們。我看見了Michael，他看起來像一個小皮條客（笑）。他走起來有種自信的風度，而那時他只有10歲！他完全明白，“嘿，我是明星。我就是這些孩子們到這兒來的原因。”
CYNTHIA HORNER（1976-2005年間Right On!雜誌編輯，現任Hip-Hop Weekly作者、編輯）：我1976年遇到Michael，他是我所面對過的最羞澀的人之一。採訪他有些困難，因為即使作為一名職業藝人，他意識到自己需要媒體，但他並不是一個知道如何開放地向媒體釋放資訊的人。除非他的家人在身邊，他實在是超級靦腆。但一旦他發現我也和他一樣靦腆，他開始擁抱我，我們成了朋友。他和Prince很相像，因為Prince也是個害羞的人。如果你是一個記者，他會和Michael一樣，只給你 一兩 個字的回應。但Prince很多時候也會說些讓人捉摸不透的話，他很會閃避。他永遠都不會回答我的問題（笑）。他不惜一切代價想要保護自己的隱私。
BRUCE SWEDIEN（Michael的Off The Wall, Thriller, Bad與Dangerous專輯的錄音工程師）對於我和Quency來說，Michael的偉大顯而易見。他是一個真正特殊的人……有著終極的天份。聽過Rod temperson為Off The Wall做的音樂後，我們做了一堆樣帶。而Michael，以他的典型方式，回到家裏，花上一整夜時間記下歌詞。第二天，在他面前不需要一片紙，我們就可以錄製這些樣帶。告訴我還有哪個歌手可以做到這一點。
CYNTHIA HORNER：我第一次見到Prince是指1978年。他一遍又一遍地給我打電話，而我壓根兒沒打算回電，因為我不知道他是誰，也懶得關心。但他打的電話實在是太多了，我只想擺脫他，於是同意和他在我辦公室所在的那條街上見面，那是在好萊塢靠近他所在的錄音室的地方。他想要我去錄音室看一個即興演奏。但我當時並未意識到，這場即興演奏只有一個表演者：Prince！他彈奏著各種不同的樂器。Prince想要向我證明，他值得被報導，而且他比在Right On!上出現過的絕大多數人都更有天份。彼時彼刻，Prince讓我瞭解了他是一個會製作、演唱、彈奏各種樂器的歌曲作者。這是一生中都難得一見的天才。一旦我發現了，就同意為他做採訪。
ALAN LEEDS：Michael並非一個經典意義上的音樂家。儘管同樣能寫出偉大的歌曲，但他創作音樂的方式和Prince的不同。一開始，Prince的音樂家身份是有爭議的。我想毫無疑問，Prince將Michael視為他想要達到的聲名遠播地位的一個象徵符號。Michael是這個星球上Prince所尊敬的少數幾個藝術家之一。1979年的巡演中，一旦發現他正在筆記本上寫著後來成為電影Purple Rain雛形的一些構思，我們知道，他想要更多。人們開始傳言：“嘿，Prince真的認為他在寫一部電影。”我想沒有誰把這事很當真，因為作為一個剛剛開始有幾首流行曲的人，想要得到拍攝一部電影所需要的資金是不大可能的。但這絕對揭示出他的野心，而值得敬佩的是，Prince走了下去，並且做到了。
CYNTHIA HORNER：我會給邁克爾幾本雜誌樣刊，而他看到書中的報導，會就他感興趣的藝術家向我提出各種各樣的問題。那也是Prince如何被介紹給他認識的情形。此後，我開始給Michael聽一些我有的Prince做的音樂，他很感興趣。邁克爾入行更久，很自然，他可不想讓自己被一個新來者替代。
爭鬥（1983-1993）
ALAN LEEDS：（1983年）Prince參加了一個詹姆斯布朗的演唱會，和他一起去的還有他當時的鼓手Bobby Z，他的保鏢Big Chick，我想還有他的一個門生Jill Jones。現在人人都知道在那場演唱會上會發生了什麼。我想Prince沒有意識到Michael也會在那裏。在錄影裏，當Michael對著他耳語“嘿，把Prince弄上來。”的時候，James看起來有些迷惑。Prince當然也不知道到底怎麼辦，他先拿著吉他，可因為那是把左手吉他，彈起來有些笨拙。他彈了幾個小過門，跳了幾步舞，無意中又撞到了一根支架。我現在總是懷疑Michael是否有意將Prince置於那樣一個位置，只是為了說：“嗨，你以為自己能追上我？跟著來吧，媽的××！”Bobby Z後來給我打電話說：“哦，他今晚表現得像個混球！”他說Prince回到酒店一整天都沒說一個字。
TITO JACKSON（Jackson5和Jacksons的原始成員及吉他手）：肯定的，我們兄弟和我都聽Prince……比如1999、Little Red Corvette、When Doves Cry這些。Thriller和Purple Rain就是我們生命的一部分。那真是偉大的年代，不是嗎？你們有兩個偉大的藝術家，在同一時期做著不可思議的音樂。而且，他們還都是獨一無二的現場表演者。有些人覺得Prince是自切片麵包誕生以來最棒的事物，而另一些人認為我的弟弟才是最偉大的。對我來說，這就是讓那個時代如此不同尋常的原因。
ALAN LEEDS：我們開始Purple Rain巡演之前，Prince先要看看Michael和Jacksons在Victory巡演中的製作、燈光、舞美和所有的一切。我們和他的幾個保鏢以及《時代》週刊的Jerome Benton和Prince巡演的燈光師及總舞美設計師Leroy Bennett坐上一架飛機就過去了。我們飛到達拉斯牛仔表演的老體育館。起先我們的團隊中普遍覺得，儘管我們所做的一切都是很扎實體育館演出，但在技術上並沒有什麼領先之處。Vailites，一個電腦燈光品牌，是當時的行業中的黃金準則。我們確保自己也用上了那些大傢伙。但在Jackson的演出裏並沒有那些。Prince對Michael非常尊重，但他對那場演出卻印象平平。
QUESTLOVE：Michael看過許多場Purple Rain的演唱會。1984年我一連參加了4場Purple Rain在洛杉磯的演唱會。我發現Mike也在觀眾席，我去那兒就是去看是否能找到他（笑）。這件事會讓人思考。為什麼Mike要一連4個晚上在那裏？你已經創造除了Thriller，你會走太空步，你拍了那些驚天動地的錄影，你一周可以賣100萬張唱片。你被正式記錄在吉尼斯世界記錄裏。無論出於什麼原因，Purprle Rain買了1千5百萬套，但那和Thriller3千3百萬張的銷售成績很難相提並論。你為什麼對誰在你身後這麼好奇？然後我認識到，缺乏好勝心是無法取得那樣的成功的。Michael知道Prince是個重大的威脅。
ALAN LEEDS：Quency Jones組織了一個午餐會讓Michael和Prince坐在一起。其間他們邀請他（Prince）成為We Are The World活動的一員，Prince婉拒了，但提出可以貢獻給他們一首歌（4 The Tears In Your Eyes）。我所記得Prince後來的說法是，他覺得Michael有點兒怪異。這話竟然出自一個會穿著高跟鞋和睡衣去夜店的人之口（笑）！
QUESTLOVE：有一個關於Mike和Prince之間的乒乓球賽的故事現在流傳甚廣。那是1986年，Prince正在為他的Under The Cherry Moon錄製多重音軌，而Mike則在拍攝Captain EO。他們同時在爭奪Prince的女孩Sherilyn Fenn的關注，她在當時可是個辣妹。那是一場瘋狂的乒乓球賽，他說MJ打球就像海倫凱勒。（編注：Prince的鼓手Bobby Z後來在Minneapolis Star Tribune上記錄了MJ和Prince之間友好的街頭對決。“他們在Princ家附近的Paisley公園進行投籃比賽。”Bobby Z談起這看似不可能的一對。“爭強好勝在prince的天性中根深蒂固，所以他很容易會以Jackson的成功來衡量自己。）
BRUCE SWEDIEN: Prince很棒……簡直令人難以置信的天才。他和Michael有著不錯的關係，甚至還一起玩過幾次。大家都知道Bad這首歌本為Michael和Prince的二重唱創作的。但你也知道這計畫從來沒達成。我們做Bad的時候，Prince離開了錄音室，他決定退出合作。他轉身走出控制室的時候對我們大家說，“別擔心，這首歌即使沒有我也能大紅。”
ALAN LEEDS : 但說到Michael來找Prince想要合作Bad一事，那可真讓他不爽了。Prince感覺說，“哦，他是想要把我嚇退。他以為我是誰啊！瘋了？”他不能走出自己的想法去看到，這也許會是對他倆都有好處的事情。不過（如果合作成了），這仍然永遠會是Michael的錄影，Prince在裏面只是客串。這也體現了他們倆之間不可能的關係，他們就像阿裏和費雷澤。而媒體巴不得讓這些傢伙互相對抗。
CYNTHIA HORNER: 這事我有份（笑）。Right On！是一本歌迷雜誌，所以我做一些那樣的事問題不大。Michael和Prince實際上並非很認真地互有敵意。但因為我知道那是公眾們癡迷的內容，人們總是在談論那些。所以我想要在封面上把他們倆放在一起，製造出Prince對Michael這樣一個元素來。
TEDDY RILEY（Michael Jackson的長期製作人）：我們將Michael和Prince視作神。我還記得第一次接到Michael的電話，談到製作Dangerous專輯的情形。我試圖找到Q-Tip，讓他借我用他在21大街的Sound Works錄音室。我訂了一整層樓。在一個房間裏，我在做Jane Child的Don’t Want to Fall In Love，另一間房裏，則是Keith Sweat的Make You Sweat，而還有一間房在做Guy的Why You Wanna Dog Me Out。我又進入一間房，開始製作Remember The Time。我將Michael帶回來我們的世界——年輕、黑人、新傑克搖滾的世界。那是人們說“Michael又回到R&B了”的時刻。他不僅是流行音樂之王，他還是R&B之王。而Prince則是放克搖滾之王。
QUESTLOVE：還記得那首命運不佳的Eddie Murphy和Michael合唱的歌Whatupwitu嗎？我有五個小時的那部錄影的拍攝記錄。Michael和Eddie的身後有一個綠色的螢幕，在第二個小時裏，他們的談話轉到了Prince身上。Eddie說“Yeah man……Prince是個××××。我很高興在和你合作，但我的另一個夢想是和他一起合作。”我想Mike都沒意識到鏡頭正對著他，他說，“是的，他是個真正的天才。”4個節拍過後，他又加上：“但我能打敗他。”（笑）
低谷與回歸（1994-2010）
ALAN LEEDS：Michael想要變得危險，但沒人會把他的那一面當真。而Prince一直都是危險的，因為他不懼怕挑戰底線。然而Prince對著一把槍造型的麥克風演唱，試圖以此與hip-hop搶鏡；他的樂隊裏也加入了那些怪異的說唱歌手，以嘗試與說唱聽眾建立聯繫。
CYNTHIA HORNER：Michael和Prince在90年代後期都遇到了他們各自的問題。我以前經常見到Michael，和他聊天，但他開始改變了。我後來和他沒有太多（直接）聯繫，我的聯繫管道全都是他的親戚。Michael身邊有這麼多人圍繞著，這也阻斷了他的老朋友和業務夥伴與他的聯繫，因為那些人想要控制他身上發生的事情。他自己的家人也和他沒什麼真正的聯繫。而Prince則在對付他自己的問題。他一覺醒來，意識到他和華納兄弟的一些商業決定並非對他有利。他開始抗議音樂產業。每個人都記得他在自己臉上寫上“奴隸”字樣。他覺得自己在經濟上和藝術上都未得到公平的回報。Prince和Michael都變得難以接近了。
MICHAEL BEARDEN（傑克遜30周年演唱會鍵盤手，TII音樂指導）：本來的想法是在麥迪森花園廣場做30周年演唱會慶祝Michael在這一行的歲月。然而一旦人們發現這會是個大事件，人人都想參加。Elizabeth Taylor、Liza Minnelli，還有許多的人都會出來。Michael自己不想做太多。他剛剛發行新專輯Invincible。人們並不是對Michael不滿，他們是對那些和他一起站在臺上的藝術家們不滿。他們想要更多地看到Michael。人們看著所有其他演出很難滿足，而Whitney（Houston）看起來太瘋狂了（笑）。
DJ SPINNA（DJ，製作人，音樂學者以及Soul Slam的MJ vs. Prince派對的創辦人之一）：我們2002年開始舉辦MJ vs. Prince派對。這整個注意來源於我們1999年開始的Stevie Wonder致敬派對的成功。我們在想另外還有哪兩個這流行音樂界符號性的音樂人物，同時又對黑人文化產生了重大影響？毫無疑問肯定是Michael和Prince。我記得我們的第一場派對是在下曼哈頓的一條叫Peppers的場地上，參加人群都無法阻擋了。在派對期間，我放量Michael和Prince雙方陣營的音樂，還有他們所影響和合作過的藝術家作品。於是你會看到整個明尼阿波利斯都在和Prince、Sheila E,、The Time,、Vanity 6還有Alexander O’Nea共鳴，而Michael陣營則有Jermaine Jackson、Janet Jackson還有Jackson 5。到了那一夜的最後，它實際上成了一個提醒人們記住他們生命中最美好的時光的派對。
WILL.I.AM（黑眼豆豆成員，曾經與Prince一起演出，並製作了Michael Jackson的幾首歌）:2008年我和黑眼豆豆有場演出，當晚晚些時候，又和Prince在棕櫚酒店一起演出。演出之前，我給Michael打電話。我說，“嗨Mike，我在維加斯。”我告訴他在棕櫚和Prince的演出，問他是否願意來。他開始有些擔心，但我告訴他，“讓我給Prince打電話看看是否可行。”（演出中）和Prince唱完一首歌後，我和Mike坐在一起。Prince從舞臺上走下來，徑直站在我們的桌前彈著貝司……幾乎快要把貝司拆成兩半了！這是我最酷的一次經歷，我與我的兩個英雄在一起。我們一起為他的專輯做新作品時，MJ問我為什麼人們不同樣把他當作和Prince一樣的嚴肅的歌曲作者？聽到一個符號性的藝術家這麼說簡直太令人震驚了。
KENNY ORTEGA（TII導演）：對於Prince，更多的出於尊重，而較少競爭。下一個Michael覺得上帝會給予這些想法的藝術家就是Prince了。那是對Prince真正的尊敬，真正的傾慕。他提到好幾次有多愛Purple Rain那首歌。
TRAVIS PAYNE（編舞，TII副製片人）：Prince能在倫敦O2體育場舉辦21場演唱會的巨大成功對於Michael準備TII時很重要。Michael的同時代人仍然受到他們的觀眾歡迎這一事實讓他進一步證實他的想法是對的。這不是與Prince競爭的問題。這是他與自己的競爭。他想要書寫最多演出場次的吉尼斯世界記錄。他想要展現出自己是最偉大的。而他確實是。
DJ SPINNA：去年2月通過他的私人DJ Rashida在洛杉磯見到了Prince。那顯得相當不真實，但他不是很能理解“對（vs.）”這個概念。Rashida和我都試圖向他解釋這並非真正是MJ和他之間的戰爭，而更多的是對他們音樂的致敬。但Prince對被那樣用來與Michael對抗心存抗拒。你能感覺得出這兩人彼此間真正的尊敬。這也是我改變MJ/Prince派對主題的原因之一。另一個讓我改變的原因當然是Michael的趨勢。我覺得他留下了如此偉大的遺產，將其貼上“MJ對Prince”的標籤是不公平的，因為Michael已經不在了。這是一次對Michael和Prince的音樂的慶祝。
KENNY ORTEGA：你們知道流言如何緊跟Michael不放……如同陰影一樣讓他無法逃避。但是當電話鈴聲在口袋裏響起時，我們正在為倫敦演唱會的排練收尾。消息很含糊，我們大部分人都已經習慣於那些瘋狂的謠言，我們都先要相信Michael去世的消息只不過是另一個故事罷了。不久以後，我們發現他去世了。直到今天對我來說仍然很難說清當時的感覺。我失去了平衡，我無法工作。我不得不去幫助另一個房間（裏的人）。我記得空間在旋轉，地板陷了下去。我走過時唯一能看見的就是深深的悲痛。那是黑暗的一天。
TRAVIS PAYNE：Michael去世後，我告訴Kenny，“我們沒有結束。我們不能停下來。”不僅Michael的資訊要如他所盼望的傳播出去，人們也要看到他如何製作那場他本要表演的演唱會。實際上，他通過（TII）電影打動了比演唱會更多的歌迷們。那也使我非常高興。但我沒有一天不在思念他。
CYNTHIA HORNER：我們仍然關心Michael和Prince的原因之一是：我們永遠也不會知道想要瞭解他們的每一件事。他們都明白保持神秘性的重要。他們意識到那是他們對粉絲擁有的部分力量。這會持續下去，因為永遠都不會再有像他們兩個一樣的人了。當人們談論誰是下一個Michael和Prince時，我一笑置之。
WILL.I.AM：你以為那些真正的大人物都會是些混蛋，那些藝術家並非真的那麼成功。然後你遇到了像Michael和Prince那樣的真正成功的藝術家，你會說：“該死，這些人和我上周遇到的******完全不同。”那些混蛋那樣表現的原因是他們並非真正成功。Michael和Prince就如你能想像的那麼偉大。
Michael Jackson Vs. Prince: An Oral History
VIBE.COM By: kmurphy Posted 6-25-2010
“I heard you were looking for me,” said a deep voice on the other end of the phone. It was the fall of 1996, and Michael Jackson was holding court in a posh suite at the Four Seasons Hotel in New York . The King of Pop had instructed his handlers to contact his old peer and rival Prince for a planned collaboration. The prospect for such a headline-making union was indeed intriguing. For much of the ‘80s, Michael Joseph Jackson and Prince Rogers Nelson took turns ruling the musical landscape. MJ, the gifted Motown child prodigy who made good on his ambition to become the biggest pop star to ever walk the earth with the release of the record-breaking landmark Thriller. Prince, the at times outrageous, androgynous, one-man-band performer and producer who backed up his genius rep by pulling off one of the most unlikely coups in rock history after unleashing the multi-platinum
1984 Purple Rain soundtrack and Oscar winning film. A rivalry was born.
But more than a decade later, both had found themselves in a battle to save their respective careers. MJ struggled mightily to fight unproven child molestation accusations as the tabloid brigade hounded him relentlessly. Prince declared war against his longtime label Warner Bros. and changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol as he headed deeper into obscurity. Indeed, a team-up between the two icons would be perceived as a brilliant masterstroke. “I think it would be just great,” MJ told Prince. Yet, the collaboration to end all collaborations would never happen. Both aging legends would achieve comebacks on their own terms. With the untimely June 25, 2009 death of Jackson , their connection grows even more profound. The fact that the public is still enamored with MJ and Prince speaks volumes for their cultural impact and influential contributions to music. But what did these two titans really think of one another? Was there a true rivalry or deep respect? VIBE presents the Oral History of a King and a Prince.—Keith Murphy1984 Purple Rain soundtrack and Oscar winning film. A rivalry was born.
A KING AND A PRINCE (1970-1982)
AHMIR “QUESTLOVE” THOMPSON (Leader, producer and drummer for the Philadelphia hip-hop band The Roots): I have an actual theory on why we started connecting Michael and Prince together early on. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that both were born in the summer of 1958 in the Midwest and both basically represent different phases of the coming-of-age life of black youth. Michael captured the imagination of post civil-rights America as a youth and he was their guiding light. And Prince captured the same post-civil rights America when they became teenagers and helped them mature into adulthood.
ALAN LEEDS (Former tour manager for Prince and James Brown; Co-editor of the book The James Brown Reader): I remember seeing Michael’s first big tour with the Jackson 5 in 1970. When I was out with James Brown we crossed paths in Dayton , Ohio . They were playing the O’Hare Arena in Dayton the night before we were scheduled to perform. Onstage he had a charismatic presence that very few people had. I remember we were staying at the same hotel. And before the gig, I happened to be in the hotel lobby when the J5 left to go to sound check. I saw them come through with their security; screaming kids were outside the hotel and I recall seeing Michael and he looked like a little pimp [laughs]. He had that confident walk and he was only 10 years old! He totally understood, “Hey, I’m the star. I’m the reason these kids are out here.”
CYNTHIA HORNER (Former editor of Right On! Magazine from 1976-2005; Currently writes and edits for Hip-Hop Weekly): I met Michael back in 1976 and he was one of the shyest people that I’ve ever dealt with. It was a little difficult to interview him because even though as a professional entertainer he realized he needed the press, he wasn’t somebody that knew how to relate to the media in terms of being open with information. He was just super shy unless he was around his family. But he picked up the fact I was shy as well, so he kind of embraced me and we became friends. He and Prince were quite similar because Prince was shy as well. If you were a journalist he would give you the same monosyllabic answers that Michael did. But Prince would also speak in riddles a lot of the time; he was very evasive. He would never answer any of my questions [laughs]. He wanted to keep his privacy protected at all cost.
BRUCE SWEDIEN (Michael Jackson’s studio engineer for Off The Wall, Thriller, Bad, and Dangerous): It was very obvious to both me and Quincy [Jones] how great Michael was. He was somebody really special… the ultimate talent. We did a bunch of demos after listening to Rod Temperton’s music for Off The Wall. And Michael, in his typical fashion, went home, stayed up all night, and memorized the lyrics and we recorded those demos without a piece of paper in front of him. You tell me one other singer that could do that.
CYNTHIA HORNER: The first time I encountered Prince was in 1978. He kept calling me over and over again and I really wasn’t returning his phone calls because I didn’t know who he was and I really didn’t care. But he called me so much that I just wanted to get rid of him, so I agreed to meet with him down the street from my office, which was in Hollywood near the recording studio he was at. He wanted me to go to the studio to see a jam session. But what I didn’t realize at the time was that the jam session consisted of just one person: Prince! He played all of these different instruments. Prince was trying to prove to me that he was worthy of coverage and that he was more talented than probably a majority of the people who was appearing in [Right On!]. At that moment, Prince let me know that he was a songwriter that could produce, sing, and play all these different instruments. This was an once-in-a-lifetime talent. Once I saw that, I agreed to interview him.
ALAN LEEDS: Michael wasn’t a musician in the classic sense. He approached his music differently from the way Prince did although Michael could write a great song as well. But Prince was arguably a musician first. I don’t think there’s any doubt that Prince saw Michael as a symbol of where he wanted to go in terms [of notoriety]. Michael was one of the few artists on the planet that Prince did respect in that sense. Once we realized that he was in the process of writing what was the original idea for the film Purple Rain as he was scribbling in notebooks during his 1982 tour for 1999, we knew he wanted more. The word was beginning to spread: “Hey, Prince really thinks he’s writing a movie.” I don’t think any of us took it that seriously because it didn’t make sense that somebody who at that point only had a few pop hits was going to be able to get the funding for a film. But it certainly revealed an ambition he had and to his credit Prince would go on to pull it off.
CYNTHIA HORNER: I would give Michael copies of the magazines and he would see certain people in the book and ask me lots of questions about the artists he was interested in. And that’s how he was introduced to Prince. After that, I started to let Michael listen to some of the Prince music I had and he was intrigued. At that point, I realized that there was somewhat of a rivalry developing. Michael had been in the business longer, so naturally he didn’t want to get replaced by the newcomer.
BATTLE FOR SUPREMACY (1983-1993)
ALAN LEEDS : Prince went to a James Brown gig [in 1983] with Bobby Z, his drummer at the time, Big Chick, who was his security guard, and I think Jill Jones, who was one of his protégés. By now, everybody knows what happened at that gig. I don’t think Prince realized that Michael was going to be there. James looked a little puzzled in that video when Michael whispered in his ear, “Hey, bring Prince up.” And of course Prince didn’t really know what to do either. He went to the guitar first but he fumbles with that because it was left-handed. He played a few licks, did some dancing and knocked over a prop by accident. Now I always wondered if Michael intentionally brought Prince up to put him in that position just to say, “Hey, you think you’re on my ass? Well follow this, motherfucker [laughs].” Bobby Z called me and said, “Oh boy…he made an ass of himself tonight.” He said Prince didn’t say a word the whole way to the hotel.
TITO JACKSON (founding member and guitarist of the Jackson 5 and the Jacksons): Sure, my brothers and I listened to Prince…“1999,” “Little Red Corvette,” “When Doves Cry.” Thriller and Purple Rain were part of our times. That was a great era, wasn’t it? You had two great artists both doing incredible music at the same time. And then you had the fact that they both were exceptional live performers. Some people feel as though Prince is the greatest thing since sliced bread and some people feel like my brother is the greatest. To me, that’s what made that era so special.
ALAN LEEDS: Before we set out on the Purple Rain tour, it was a case of Prince wanting to see what Michael and the Jacksons were doing in terms of production, lighting, staging and everything with the Victory tour. We charted a jet with a couple of his bodyguards and Jerome Benton from the Time and Leroy Bennett, who was Prince’s lighting and production designer for his tours. We flew to Dallas to the old stadium where the Cowboys played. There was a feeling in our camp that while what they were doing was a very solid stadium production, there was nothing really cutting edge about the technology. The Varilites, which was a brand name for a type of computerized lighting, was the gold standard in the industry at that time. And we made sure we had all that shit. But the Jackson ’s production didn’t. Prince had a lot of respect for Michael, but he was mildly impressed with the show.
QUESTLOVE: Michael attended many of the Purple Rain concerts. I have the four Purple Rain shows that were in Los Angeles in ’84. And now that I realize that Mike was in the audience, I often watch it to see if I can spot him [laughs]. But it makes you think. Why was Mike there four nights in a row? You have already created Thriller, you’ve done the Moonwalk, you’ve done the groundbreaking videos and you’ve sold a million a week. You are officially in the Guinness Book of World Records. For all intents and purposes, Purple Rain sold 15 million units, but it was hardly the 33 million that Thriller went on to sell. So why are you this curious to who is behind you? Then I realized that you can’t be that successful without being competitive. Michael knew Prince was a serious threat.
ALAN LEEDS: Quincy Jones organized a lunch that brought Michael and Prince together. At one point, they asked him to be a part of We All The World, but Prince respectfully declined and offered to give them a song [“4 The Tears In Your Eyes”]. All I remember Prince talking about afterwards is that he thought Michael was a little bit weird. And this is coming from a guy who wore high heels and pajamas to nightclubs [laughs].
QUESTLOVE: There’s the now-infamous story about a ping-pong match between Mike and Prince in 1986 while Prince was overdubbing Under The Cherry Moon and Mike was working on Captain Eo. And they were both vying for the attentions of Prince’s girl Sherilyn Fenn, who back then was the hot shit. It was a ping-pong game gone bonkers. He said that MJ played like Helen Keller. [Editors note: Prince’s drummer Bobby Z has gone on record about MJ’s and Prince’s good-natured showdowns in the Minneapolis Star Tribune. “They'd shoot hoops at [Prince’s] Paisley Park ," Bobby Z said of the unlikely pair. “Prince had a deep-seeded competitive nature, so it's easy to see where he would measure himself against Jackson 's success.”]
BRUCE SWEDIEN: Prince is wonderful…just an incredible talent. Both he and Michael had a cordial relationship. They even hung out a few times. It’s common knowledge that the song “Bad” was written to be a duet between Michael and Prince. But as you know it never came together. When Prince left the studio after we were working on “Bad” he decided to pull out of it. He left the control room and as he turned around to go he said to us all, “Don’t worry, this record will be a big hit even if I’m not on it.”
ALAN LEEDS : But the thing about Michael coming to Prince and wanting him to do “Bad,” that really pissed him off. Prince was like, “Oh, he wants to punk me out on record. Who does he think I am, crazy?” He couldn’t get outside himself enough to realize that it was the kind of thing that probably could have benefited both of them. Still, it would have forever been Michael’s video with Prince as just a guest. So that captured what the relationship couldn’t be. They were like Ali vs. Frazier. And the media couldn’t get enough of pitting these guys against each other.
CYNTHIA HORNER: I take credit for that [laughs]. Right On! was a fan magazine, so I could get away with some of the things that I did. Michael and Prince were not actually battling each other on a serious level. But because I knew that was something the public found fascinating and everybody always talked about it, I wanted to have both of them on the cover together to project that element of Prince vs. Michael.
QUESTLOVE: You recall that ill-fated duet Eddie Murphy did with Michael called “Whatzupwitu?” I have five hours of raw footage during filming for that video. Michael and Eddie had a green screen behind them, so somewhere in that second hour, the conversation turns to Prince. And Eddie is like, “Yeah man…Prince is a bad motherfucker. I’m glad I’m working with you, but another dream I have is working with him too.” And I don’t even think that Mike knew the camera was on him and he goes, “Yes, he’s a natural genius.” And then four beats later, Michael says, “But I can beat him [laughs].”
FALLS & COMEBACKS (1994-2010)
ALAN LEEDS : Michael wanted to be dangerous but no one ever took that side of him seriously. But Prince was always dangerous because he wasn’t afraid to push the envelope. But then Prince tried to upstage hip-hop by singing in a microphone shaped like a gun. He was trying to relate to the rap audience by having those wack rappers in his band.
CYNTHIA HORNER: Both Michael and Prince had their problems later in the ‘90s. I used to see and talk to Michael a lot, but he started to change. I didn’t have very much contact with him; my contact was with all of his relatives. Michael had all these people that surrounded him that kind of prevented his old friends and business peers from having any contact with him because they wanted to control what was going on with him. His own family didn’t really have a lot of contact with him. And Prince was dealing with his own issues. He woke up one day and realized that some of his business decisions with Warner Bros. had not worked out in his favor. He began to protest the music industry. Everyone remembers when he wrote the word slave across his face. He didn’t feel like he got his just due financially and artistically. Both Prince and Michael became very inaccessible.
MICHAEL BEARDEN (Keyboardist for Jackson ’s 2001 30th Anniversary Show and music director for This Is It): The idea was to do a 30th anniversary show at Madison Square Garden to celebrate Michael’s years in the business. But once people found out that it was going to be a big deal everybody wanted to be there! Elizabeth Taylor, Liza Minnelli, and tons of people were coming out. Michael didn’t want to do much on his own. He had just dropped his album Invincible. It wasn’t that people was upset with Michael. They were upset that other artists were onstage with him. They wanted to see more of Michael. People were not to cool with seeing all those other acts and Whitney [ Houston ] looking crazy [laughs].
DJ SPINNA (DJ, producer, musicologist and co-founder of Soul Slam’s MJ vs. Prince parties): We started the MJ vs. Prince parties in 2002. The whole idea came about after the success of doing Stevie Wonder tribute parties, which we started in 1999. And we thought who were the other two iconic music figures in the pop world but also made a major impact on black culture? And that was definitely Michael and Prince. I remember we did the first party at a venue in Lower Manhattan called Peppers and the crowd was overwhelming. During the parties, I play music from both camps—Michael and Prince catalogues—as well as artists that they have influenced and worked with. So you have the whole Minneapolis vibe going on with Prince, Sheila E, The Time, Vanity 6, Alexander O’Neal and you have Michael with Jermaine Jackson, Janet Jackson, and the Jackson 5. But at the end of the night, it’s really a party that reminds people of the best times of their lives.
WILL.I.AM (Leader of the Black Eye Peas; Has performed live with Prince and produced several tracks for Michael Jackson): I had a show with the Black Eyed Peas in 2008 and then late that night I performed with Prince at the Palms Hotel. I called Michael just before the show and I was like, “Hey Mike, I’m in Vegas.” I told him about the performance at the Palms with Prince and asked him if he wanted to come. He was a bit apprehensive at first, but I told him, “Let me call Prince to see if everything is OK.” I sat down with Mike after I finished a song with Prince and he comes down off the stage playing his bass and comes right to our table… ripping the bass in half! It was the coolest experience I’ve ever had. I was with both of my heroes. While we were working on new material for his album, MJ asked me why people didn’t think of him in the same way they thought of Prince as a serious songwriter. It was a shock to hear that coming from such an iconic artist.
KENNY ORTEGA (This Is It director): It was less about competing with Prince and more about respect. Michael felt God was going to give ideas to the next deserving artist who he felt was Prince. That’s a true respect, true admiration for Prince. He mentioned several times how he loved the song “Purple Rain.”
AVIS PAYNE (Choreographer and associate producer of This Is It): The huge success Prince was able to have at London ’s O2 [with 2007’ s 21 Nights concerts] was important when Michael was putting together This Is It. The desire for Michael’s contemporaries to still be seen by their audiences gave him further confirmation that his ideas were right. It wasn’t about just competing with Prince. It was about him competing with himself. He wanted to hold the Guinness Book of Worlds Record for the most shows. He wanted to show he was the greatest. And he was.
DJ SPINNA: I met Prince last year in February in L.A. through Rashida who is his personal DJ. It was quite surreal, but he couldn’t quite comprehend the concept of “vs.” Both Rashida and myself tried to explain to him that it wasn’t really a battle between MJ and himself. It’s more of a tribute to their music. But Prince had issues about being pitted against Michael like that. You could sense there was a real respect between the two. That was one of the things that made me change the theme of the MJ/Prince parties. And the other reason that made me change it was of course Michael’s passing. I felt like he left such a great legacy behind and it was unfair to label it MJ vs. Prince because Michael is not here anymore. Its’ a celebration of Michael’s and Prince’s music.
TRAVIS PAYNE: I told Kenny after Michael died, “We’re not done. We can’t be finished.” Not only would Michael’s message get out there as he wanted it, people would get to see him creating the very show he was going to perform. He actually reached more fans than he would have with the concerts with [the This Is It] movie. So that made me very happy. But there’s not a day I don’t think about Michael.
CYNTHIA HORNER: One of the reasons why we still care about Michael and Prince is because we will never know everything we want to know about them. They both understood the power of mystique. They realized that was part of their power they had with their fans. And it’s always going to be that way because there will never be another like those two. When people talk about someone is the next Michael and Prince, I just laugh.
WILL.I.AM: You think the really big people are going to be assholes. And those artists are really not even that big. Then you meet real big artists like Michael and Prince and you are like, “Damn, these guys don’t act like the asshole I just met last week.” The reason why the assholes act like that is because they aren’t really that big. Michael and Prince are as big as you can get.
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