Were Jackson and Prince Rivals

[tomalak301]

Prince's death had me watching some of his Music videos last night and I was reminded about Michael Jackson, who was kind of doing the same thing during that era. I was wondering what their relationship was and was reading a New York post article saying that it was testy at best. I was just wondering though how big of rivals they were. It would have been so fun to really live through that time and not be like 4 years old when they really were in their prime.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

This article talks about it a little:
http://www.salon.com/2016/04/22/pri...o_a_kind_of_a_superstar_way_of_saying_fk_you/

 

[tomalak301]

This article talks about it a little:
http://www.salon.com/2016/04/22/pri...o_a_kind_of_a_superstar_way_of_saying_fk_you/

Great article. It would have been really cool if Jackson and Prince collaborated. They both had pretty big egos, at least it seemed that way.

 

[C.E. Evans]

People love to gossip about this celebrity having a feud with another celebrity, but Prince and Michael Jackson rarely appeared in the same places together. Rumors of a feud between them arose because both didn't really talk about one another in interviews--but not really all that surprising given they didn't really talk about other artists of their time as well. But because they were both at the top of music business, that was enough for people to spread unconfirmed rumors that they just had to be rivals...

They said the same thing about the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, and they're kind of doing it again about Beyoncé and Taylor Swift...

 

[gblews]

People love to gossip about this celebrity having a feud with another celebrity, but Prince and Michael Jackson rarely appeared in the same places together. Rumors of a feud between them arose because both didn't really talk about one another in interviews--but not really all that surprising given they didn't really talk about other artists of their time as well. But because they were both at the top of music business, that was enough for people to spread unconfirmed rumors that they just had to be rivals...

They said the same thing about the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, and they're kind of doing it again about Beyoncé and Taylor Swift...

This, pretty much. Writing about made up feuds between artists has always sold magazines, newspapers, and now gets clicks on the internet. There is a pretty famous video of Michael, Prince, and James Brown, which has to be some kind of musical universe shaking apogee, meeting onstage somewhere years ago, floating around. It was at a JB concert. MJ got onstage and danced, Prince grabbed a guitar.

Considering their similarities, you'd have thought MJ and Prince might have been a bit close, even if they never were enemies. Both were around the same age, both from smallish midwestern, towns, both Jehovah's Witnesses. But there were also some significant differences, Prince's professional career began in Minneapolis and MJ came up through the Motown machine. But they were two businesses going after the same customers and moving along parallel lines.

 

[tomalak301]

Sometimes Rivals can be a good thing though. I'm reminded of Bird and Johnson in the NBA and how awesome that rivalry was. Also, the reason I was curious was because both were really similar. I'm not sure if Jackson was in any movies, but it seemed like everything about them was similar except for the fact that Jackson had one of the top grossing albums of all time with Thriller.

 

[JoeZhang]

Considering their similarities, you'd have thought MJ and Prince might have been a bit close, even if they never were enemies. Both were around the same age, both from smallish midwestern, towns, both Jehovah's Witnesses. But there were also some significant differences, Prince's professional career began in Minneapolis and MJ came up through the Motown machine. But they were two businesses going after the same customers and moving along parallel lines.

Plus one embodied a complex adult sexuality (Prince), the other was a sexual predator - so they were as different as they were similar.

 

[Star Wolf]

This, pretty much. Writing about made up feuds between artists has always sold magazines, newspapers, and now gets clicks on the internet. There is a pretty famous video of Michael, Prince, and James Brown, which has to be some kind of musical universe shaking apogee, meeting onstage somewhere years ago, floating around. It was at a JB concert. MJ got onstage and danced, Prince grabbed a guitar.

Considering their similarities, you'd have thought MJ and Prince might have been a bit close, even if they never were enemies. Both were around the same age, both from smallish midwestern, towns, both Jehovah's Witnesses. But there were also some significant differences, Prince's professional career began in Minneapolis and MJ came up through the Motown machine. But they were two businesses going after the same customers and moving along parallel lines.

At their heights both were not Jehovah Witnesses, that came later in Princes life when he stopped performing much of his sex drenched book of music and Jackson was pretty much retired. Also during that peak everybody but especially a Jackson machine would have been scared to collaborate with Prince with simulated ejaculate flowing from his guitar

 

[JoeZhang]

Saw this earlier:

Brown spotted Jackson first and called him onstage to “say something”. Resplendent in his own purple regalia, Jackson sang, danced and executed a partial moonwalk, after which he whispered in Brown’s ear to bring onstage Prince as well. “He [Jackson] just insisted that I introduce Prince,” Brown shouted over the mic as his band vamped. When he finally spied the diminutive deity, he cackled, and Prince piggybacked on to a bodyguard’s shoulders towards the stage. Prince pulled one of his gloves off with his teeth and flung it into the crowd, then headed towards Brown for a hug.

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/apr/24/prince-live-concerts-greatest-moments-shows

 

[gblews]

Plus one embodied a complex adult sexuality (Prince), the other was a sexual predator

Bullshit...for the record.

At their heights both were not Jehovah Witnesses, that came later in Princes life when he stopped performing much of his sex drenched book of music and Jackson was pretty much retired. Also during that peak everybody but especially a Jackson machine would have been scared to collaborate with Prince with simulated ejaculate flowing from his guitar

I'm not sure of when Prince converted, but I'm pretty sure his lyrics and some on stage antics, changed as a result of that conversion rather than the other way around. As early as the song "Kiss", you can hear that Prince's approach to women was different. I'd say he was still in his peak years when that song was released. Jackson, of course, had been raised as a Witness.

 

[Star Wolf]

I'm not sure of when Prince converted, but I'm pretty sure his lyrics and some on stage antics, changed as a result of that conversion rather than the other way around. As early as the song "Kiss", you can hear that Prince's approach to women was different. I'd say he was still in his peak years when that song was released. Jackson, of course, had been raised as a Witness.

Around 2001. Before then when he linked with another artist not from his Minneapolis crew you got things like pop star Sheena Easton singing about her vagina while getting aroused. And a good portion of his music had to have a radio edit for content not time

 

[gblews]

Also, the reason I was curious was because both were really similar. I'm not sure if Jackson was in any movies, but it seemed like everything about them was similar except for the fact that Jackson had one of the top grossing albums of all time with Thriller.

"Everything"? I would strongly disagree, especially with respect to the music and stage presentation. They had superficial similarities like classic RnB influences, imcorprration of funk elements, both James Brown devotees, but the two used these things in entirely different ways.