Early in your career, was there anyone who made you think, “Wow, I need to get back into the studio after hearing this”?
Everybody has someone.
Actually, contrary to popular belief, it wasn’t one of my contemporaries.
So, there was never any rivalry between you and Michael Jackson?
Not from my perspective, no.
That’s surprising, especially with all the stories about tension between you two. Some claim you were rivals, with reports saying you tried to sabotage Michael’s career, which apparently upset his family, especially Janet.
People love to speculate.
But then there are other accounts that tell a very different story. For example, some say you and Michael were actually close friends behind the scenes. It’s been said he visited Paisley Park several times, and you’d hang out, play games, or even watch each other’s shows. Supposedly, Michael even played you the final version of Dangerous before it was released, and you loved it.
I’ve heard those stories, too.
There’s also talk that Michael once called you a legend and gave you career advice. And when he passed, it’s said you were deeply affected. Tavis Smiley even shared that when you heard the news, you canceled rehearsals, sent everyone home, and stayed in your room for days. Is that true?
Losing him was tough, but I’d rather keep that personal.
Still, it’s undeniable that the public saw tension between you two. Being born just months apart, with different career paths—Michael starting as a child star and you coming up through clubs—you both hit your peaks in the ’80s, and the media thrived on the idea of rivalry. That infamous James Brown performance in 1983, where Michael invited you on stage after showing off his moves, seemed to add to the narrative.
The media loved a good story, didn’t they?
When Prince took the stage, he started playing his guitar, but something about it just wasn’t hitting the right note for him. So, he decided to take off his shirt, but things didn’t improve. At one point, Prince mistook a stage lamp post for a prop and ended up falling into the audience. It was probably one of the most embarrassing moments of his life. After the performance, he left feeling humiliated and apparently believed that Michael had sabotaged him.
Quincy Jones later shared in an interview that, after the incident, Prince actually waited for Michael in his limo, intending to confront him in a dramatic way. Michael, knowing what Prince was planning, kept his distance.
This moment sparked a long-standing rivalry between the two, which became clear over the years. For example, in 1985, when MJ invited Prince to join the charity project We Are the World, Prince turned him down. Later, when Michael wanted Prince to appear on his 1987 hit “Bad” and in the music video, Prince again said no. The role eventually went to actor Wesley Snipes.
In his 1988 memoir Moonwalk, Michael opened up about his feelings toward Prince, saying, “I’ve been proving myself since I was a kid. He sees me as his competition. I hope he changes, because he’s going to get hurt.” He also described Prince as one of the rudest people he’d ever met, saying he was competitive and often cruel to Michael and his family.
In the same memoir, Michael recalled an uncomfortable moment at a James Brown concert. “He made a fool of himself. It was a joke. People were running and screaming. I was so embarrassed. It was all on video,” Michael said, referring to Prince’s performance.
The tension between Michael and Prince didn’t go unnoticed in the industry. Quincy Jones recalled an interesting moment when he suggested that Michael and Prince collaborate. Prince showed up at Michael’s house wearing a long overcoat and carrying a large white box labeled “Camille.” Prince used to call Michael “Camille,” and inside the box were strange items, like cufflinks shaped like Tootsie Rolls. Michael was reportedly freaked out, thinking there might be some kind of voodoo involved.
There’s also a memorable story from former sound engineer David Z about a ping pong match between the two. When Michael visited Prince’s LA studio, they ended up playing a competitive game. Prince taunted Michael with comments like, “Come on, Michael, get into it,” and “MJ, you want me to slam it?” Eventually, Michael dropped his paddle and put his hands up to protect his face from the ball. As he left, Prince strutted around, saying, “Did you see that? He played like Helen Keller.”
Finally, Rolling Stone contributing editor Steve Knopper shared an interesting story about Michael and Prince’s rivalry, told to him by Will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas. Around late 2006, Prince was performing a residency in Las Vegas, and Michael, who was also living there, was invited by Will to be a guest in the audience. Will was performing as a guest artist at Prince’s show, and it seems like this was another chapter in their complicated relationship.
Not many people knew this, but Prince definitely did. There was a moment during a show when he was playing bass, and he took it to another level. He wandered out into the audience, bass in hand, and made his way right up to where Michael was sitting. Then, in an unexpected move, Prince started playing aggressively in Michael’s face—slap bass, loud and in-your-face. Pretty cold, right?
The next morning, Steve told a story about how Will went to Michael’s house for breakfast. As they talked about the show, Michael asked him, “Will, why do you think Prince was playing bass right in my face?” Steve said Michael was visibly upset, going off about how Prince had always been rude to him. He even said things like, “Prince is always a meanie. He’s just a big meanie. Everyone talks about how he’s this legendary genius, but I’m just a song-and-dance man. I wrote Billie Jean and We Are the World, and I’m a songwriter too, child.”
If you only hear these stories, it’s easy to think Prince was intentionally mean to Michael. And it wasn’t just Michael who felt this way—it affected his whole family, too. They were fiercely loyal to him, especially when the media came after him.
Take Oprah, for example. She tried to ruin Michael’s legacy with that documentary, and the Jacksons were outraged. Taj Jackson called out Oprah for her lies, saying, “I’ve seen this before. I was there when she wanted interviews with my grandma and Michael’s kids, trying to twist the narrative. She does whatever it takes for ratings. To me, that’s a huge betrayal.”
Jermaine Jackson also spoke out after Leaving Neverland came out, saying, “The media, including Oprah, accepted that documentary without questioning the facts. We went through similar false accusations in ’05, but the jury saw the truth. The law already proved Michael’s innocence.”
Brandi, another member of the Jackson family, couldn’t believe Oprah would betray them after all the times she had been let into their lives. She thought Oprah’s support for Leaving Neverland had more to do with politics than truth, and the rest of the family felt the same. Janet Jackson, who was incredibly close to Michael, made it clear that the accusations against him were completely false. “My brother would never do something like that,” she said. “But I’m still guilty by association.”
With how close Janet was to Michael, it’s likely that he opened up to her about how he felt about Prince, too. After all, he didn’t keep his feelings about Prince’s meanness a secret. So, if Janet has also been saying similar things, it wouldn’t be surprising.
Still, some reports suggest that Michael and Prince were secretly friends. So, the question is—was there real animosity between them, or was it all just showbiz drama?
What do you think? Was it a genuine rivalry, or just part of the entertainment world? Let me know in the comments.
