Prince and Michael Jackson were two musical icons. Both hit their respective peaks at roughly the same time, and shared the 1980s as that decade’s biggest stars. Unsurprisingly, rumors soon swirled that they had developed a rivalry. Rumors that turned out to be true. What is surprising is the bitterness of the rivalry – as seen below, their beef got so bad that at one point, Prince tried to run Michael Jackson over with his limousine.
An Established Star and an Emerging One
Prince and Michael Jackson had different career paths. Michael Jackson was a successful prodigy as a child singer with his brothers in the Jackson 5, and he smoothly transitioned into an even more successful adult singer when he went solo and released Off the Wall in 1979. Jackson followed that up with the best-selling album of all time, Thriller. Prince’s path was grittier, with a series of underground albums, before his first hit single.
By the early 1980s, when Prince was about to take off, Michael Jackson was already a cultural juggernaut, and at top of the world after the release of Thriller. Although not in the same league, Prince was about to take off thanks to hits such Little Red Corvette and 1999. There was already talk that Prince might become the next Michael Jackson, and that did not sit well with the King of Pop.
The Concert That Kicked Off a Decades-Long Rivalry
James Brown was idolized by both Michael Jackson and Prince. At a 1983 concert that was attended by both, he invited Michael Jackson onstage to perform. Michael Jackson being Michael Jackson, he killed it. Then he whispered to Brown: “Call Prince up – I dare him to follow me”. James Brown did not yet know who Prince was, and asked “who?” After Jackson repeated it a few times, Brown told the audience that somebody named Prince would join them onstage.
Prince was delighted to share the stage with his idol. He did a good Jimi Hendrix impression, and performed some sexy dance moves. Unfortunately for Prince, things had started well, but then turned disastrous. Prince tried to get the crowd involved, but they were not as enthusiastic as he had hoped. He decided to call it a day, but as he exited the stage, he leaned against a prop lamppost, and both musician and prop stumbled and fell into the crowd.
When Prince Tried to Commit Vehicular Homicide on Michael Jackson
Prince’s mishap at the 1983 James Brown concert delighted Michael Jackson. His unconcealed glee at the Purple One’s humiliation transformed what had been a mere rivalry until then into a bitter feud. Years later, the King of Pop still savored his rival’s literal fall. As he described it: “He made a fool of himself! He was a joke … People were running and screaming. I was so embarrassed”.
As to the Purple One, it should come as no surprise that Prince was mortified. He had been embarrassed before a crowd, in front of his idol, and in the presence of his rival, MJ. So he decided to run him over. Music producer Quincy Jones told QG in an interview that a livid Prince waited in a limo outside the venue, intending to run MJ over when he came out. It is not clear whether Prince actually made the attempt, but Quincy Jones said he had every intention of doing so.
Failed Collaboration Attempts
Fast forward to the late 1980s, and now both the King of Pop and the Purple One were at the top of their game. Despite the bad blood, Quincy Jones tried to bring them together in various collaborations. His first attempt was the charity single We Are the World, which Michael Jackson co-wrote and performed in. Prince promptly refused to participate. A few years later, Jones tried to bring them together on the song Bad, where they would sing opposite each other and perform jointly on the music video.
Prince expressed some interest, but eventually declined. MJ did the music video with Wesley Snipes. Amidst the negotiations about a duet on Bad, Prince did not forget about the feud. He showed up at MJ’s home one day in an overcoat, with a white box labeled “Camille” – Prince’s nickname for MJ. Its contents terrified the Single Gloved One. According to Quincy Jones: “The box had all kinds of stuff—some cuff links with Tootsie Rolls on them. Michael was scared to death—he thought there was some voodoo in there. I wanted to take it, because I knew Michael was gonna throw it away”.
MJ Started the Beef, Then Claimed Innocence
With the passage of years, Michael Jackson came to see his feud with Prince as a one-sided beef that he simply could not understand or explain. As he told an interviewer: “I have proven myself since I was real little. It’s not fair. He feels like I’m his opponent…I hope he changes because boy, he’s gonna get hurt. He’s the type that might commit suicide or something…I don’t like to be compared to Prince.” He went on to describe Prince as “one of the rudest people I have ever met,” and that he had been “mean and nasty to my family”. By the twenty first century, things had thawed a bit, but Prince had not forgotten the feud.
In 2006, Black Eyed Peas leader will.i.am invited Michael Jackson to a Prince performance in Las Vegas. When Prince discovered that MJ was there, he walked out into the audience, and began to play bass in his face. As Rolling Stone editor Steve Knopper put it, it was “like aggressive bass slap”. Later, an outraged MJ asked Will, “Will, why do you think Prince was playing bass in my face? ” He went on: “Prince has always been a meanie. He’s just a big meanie. He’s always been not nice to me”.
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Some Sources & Further Reading
Far Out Magazine – The Bizarre Start of the Rivalry Between Prince and Michael Jackson
History Halls – Fashion History: 1970s Fish Tank Shoes
Man of Many – The Story Behind Prince and Michael Jackson’s Rivalry
Pop Matters – Prince and Michael Jackson: The Rivalry and the Revolution
