Prince is a strange cat, isn’t he? I mean, the dude looks about thirty-four years old when he’s really fifty-four. He’s also quite the erratic diva. Not only did he declare the internet to be “dead“ about two years ago, but he’s got a long history of changing his name from “Prince” to “The Artist formerly known as Prince” to some unpronouncable symbol and then back to “Prince” again. Maybe that’s where P. Diddy gets it from, right?

As odd and diva-esque as Prince often shows himself to be, he’s still an institution. I still love listening to his old tunes like “Raspberry Beret,” “Little Red Corvette,” and (my absolute favorite) “When Doves Cry.” Unfortunately, his new tunes aren’t nearly as catchy and are pretty weak. He’s got a new single out, “Screwdriver,” that proves this point. Still, Prince will always be able to sell concert tickets, and this May, he’s going to be honored honored with the 2013 Icon Award at the Billboard Music Awards. So he sat down with Billboard for an interview to promote something indefinite. I don’t know what he’s promoting, actually, because his upcoming album neither has a name nor a release date, so I guess he’s just pimping his awful new single. Here are some excerpts:

He’s very paranoid: He remains adamant about not allowing reporters to record their conversations with him. (“Some in the past have taken my voice and sold it,” he says. “I can’t remember the incident that triggered it and it’s probably best that I don’t.”) And he still frowns at the idea of a reporter taking notes. (“That would be just like texting.”)

Why he turned against his record label: “It was always about Madonna. She was getting paid, but at the same time we were selling more records and selling out concerts on multiple nights.”

On Maroon 5′s cover of “Kiss”: “Why do we need to hear another cover of a song someone else did?” he quips in the interview, noting that he has no problem with artists performing covers during live shows. “Art is about building a new foundation, not just laying something on top of what’s already there.”

[From Billboard]

Madonna and Prince have always disliked each other, and they’re both divas from the same era, so there’s definitely no surprise that they’ll never be friends, and Prince definitely is one to hold a grudge. He’s probably been stewing over their rivalry for quite some time (while Madge probably hasn’t thought of him in years), and now Prince blames her for making him dislike Warner Brothers when everyone remembers how he wrote “slave” on his face to express his true distaste with corporate music. He’s so fickle.

On the Adam Levine/Maroon 5 bit, I’m guessing that Prince isn’t so much offended that someone remade his song as the fact that he didn’t get a cut of the profits. There’s nothing wrong with a well-covered song (lately, I’ve been going crazy after reaquainting myself with Marilyn Manson’s take on The Eurythmics’ “Sweet Dreams”), but I can also see why Maroon 5 would fail to impress Prince.

Here are some photos of Prince performing in France in 2010 and 2011. He’s got a great stage presence even if he is an incorrigible grouch.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet and Billboard

Kim comes in at 1:00 in

If you were at a Prince concert and The Artist known as a worldwide legend pulled you up on stage to dance with him would you:
a) Watch him closely and try to take his lead so that you don’t look the fool
b) Stand there and stare at him, open mouthed and too afraid to move, or
c) Act like you had an image to uphold and couldn’t be bothered to dance?

If you’re Kim Kardashian the answer would be c), after which Prince told her to get off the stage. He then quipped to the audience “Welcome to America.”

To be fair, the sausage casing that Kim was wearing as a dress might not have allowed her to make any moves beyond walking in short steps and blinking at the constant irritant of her giant eyelashes. The thing is, Prince had just pulled another woman from the audience on stage to dance for him, so Kim knew what was expected. If she didn’t want to get down with Prince she never should have gone up there with a member of his entourage. Instead she went up, acted like she was a teenager embarrassed by her dad busting a move at a wedding, walked closer to the middle of the stage instead of down the stairs, and then had to be kicked off.

It all went down last night at Madison Square Garden, and I think I speak for a lot of people when I say that I would have never squandered an opportunity to dance with Prince, cameras, lack of ability, and tens of thousands of witnesses be damned. Some people are shy, though, and wouldn’t go up there for fear of looking foolish. Some people are camera whores and would want to be seen without any risk of seeming ungainly and without showing proper respect for their legendary host.

Kim explained herself on Twitter, and wrote that she was “so nervous I froze when Prince touched me.” She didn’t freeze, she walked to the middle of the stage instead of either standing there or trying to make a hasty exit. She had another chance with Prince, though, and according to what she tweeted she was on stage a second time as part of a group. She wrote “Went up on stage AGAIN! This time I redeemed myself! We all danced while Prince played the piano! Wow! What a night!” Only in the picture that “Spin Crowd” star and publicist Jonathan Cheban tweeted, Kim is standing there posing while people dance behind her. “Welcome to America” indeed.

Story lead via E! Online. First 2 photos below via Twitpic. Other photos credit: WENN.com.

Here’s Kim at the airport on 2/5 and at the launch of the Kardashian Silly Bandz (I sh*t you not) on 2/4/11.

What did you bitches do to Prince?!? He’s leaving America, y’all. Actually, he seems to be saying that he just wants to live in France. Before his performances in Paris this weekend (these are the photos from his concert on Sunday), Prince gave an interview to La Parisien, and the translation has been making the rounds. Roughly speaking, Prince says: “It was nice to be back in Bercy where I gave a lot of concerts in the 1980s. I will return soon with a real blockbuster. Anyway, I want to live in France. Yes. Paisley Park, my center in Minneapolis, I use for my business but I really want to stay here.” Here’s part of his interview:

You’re back in Europe and soon in France. It’s always a pleasure for you?
PRINCE. Yes I love playing here, I gave two concerts this summer, but I will return in September. I even intend to sing in all the rooms of Paris.

The Parisians were surprised to see you last Thursday alongside Stevie Wonder in Bercy (the business quarter in Paris).
When Stevie is live somewhere and he knows I’m not far away, he always calls me up to invite me along. Then I come and I take my guitar … just in case. It was nice to be back in Bercy where I gave a lot of concerts in the 1980s. I will return soon with a real blockbuster. Anyway, I want to live in France.

Really?
Yes. Paisley Park, my center in Minneapolis, I use for my business but I really want to stay here.

Your new album will soon be distributed through newspapers in Europe as you did three years ago. Why this approach?
Because no record company is capable of reaching three million people instantly, as was the case in England when I did it.

The record industry is dead for you?
No, it is probably important for young artists who need resources. Me, everybody knows me, the most important thing is to show my new songs by touching the most.

What will he in this new album?
It will be called “20Ten” or 2010, because it will be like my diary of the year. I write a lot right now, I’m in a very creative phase.

[From EuroWeb]

This sounds like Prince incipient move to France could be related to how out-of-touch he is with the changes in the music industry over the last decade, right? He wants to live in Europe because he thinks he’ll be an even bigger star in Europe, because he thinks his music will be better appreciated there. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a Prince-hater, and I think he was right (in theory) with some of the stranger business decisions he’s made in his career. But there’s also a pettiness to him, right? He sounds kind of like a kid saying “I’m going to take my toys and I’m LEAVING!”

By the way, does he have an image of himself on his turtleneck blouse/tunic?

Prince performing in Paris on July 11, 2010. Credit: Fame.

British paper The Mirror has a fascinating interview with pop star Prince. Prince is a devout Jehovah’s Witness and a committed vegan. The journalist spends an evening at Prince’s mansion and it’s like he’s an anthropologist researching the lifestyle of eccentric filthy rich musicians. I guess the takeaway from this story is the fact that Prince will release his new CD, 20TEN, for free but only in The Mirror this Saturday. It sounds like the CD will both be available to subscribers and to purchasers in shops. It’s sure to sell out quicker than people can get their hands on it.

In the interview, Prince goes on about the Internet cutting into his profits and being “over.” I would snark that it’s Prince that’s over, not the Internet, but of course that’s not true. He makes incredible music and has a large fanbase. His wacky but mysterious persona works for him. It doesn’t help his cause at all to strongarm YouTube users for posting videos of their babies dancing to his songs.

He explains that he decided the album will be released in CD format only in the Mirror. There’ll be no downloads anywhere in the world because of his ongoing battles against internet abuses.

Unlike most other rock stars, he has banned YouTube and iTunes from using any of his music and has even closed down his own official website.

He says: “The internet’s completely over. I don’t see why I should give my new music to iTunes or anyone else. They won’t pay me an advance for it and then they get angry when they can’t get it.

“The internet’s like MTV. At one time MTV was hip and suddenly it became outdated. Anyway, all these computers and digital gadgets are no good.

“They just fill your head with numbers and that can’t be good for you.”

[From The Mirror]

So what is Prince going to do when the tracks from this CD inevitably get leaked online? I’m sure they’re protected against copying, but someone will find a way around that. Did he somehow include tracking information that can pinpoint the exact location or store where the CD originated? I wouldn’t be surprised.

The Mirror used to have a video with previews of three of the new songs, but it’s since been removed. All I could find was this goofy parody of the Duchess Fergie’s scandal along with a clip playing in the background. (That’s at :57) I’m sure that will be taken down soon too.

The Internet isn’t over, but the old way of distributing music definitely is. Leave it to Prince to find a new way to go old school.

Update: Here’s a link to a video with clips of some of the songs. I’m not impressed as they sound very familiar and like Prince’s older work.

Prince is shown performing in Paris on 10/12/09, out in Paris on 10/5/09 (credit: Fame Pictures) and at Fashion Week on 10/6/09 (credit: PRPhotos). He’s 52!

Sometimes because of his little kid-like body, I forget how old Prince really is. A whopping 50-years-old. Okay 50 is not that old, but whenever I hear “hip replacement” I tend to think of someone in their seventies. And you could tell me Prince was really 72 and I’d probably believe it. Of course you could say he’s really 32 and I might go for that too. It’s just insanely hard to tell with him.

Prince has long been plagued by rumors that he needs hip surgery, and now it’s gotten so bad that he needs a double hip replacement. As a devout Jehovah’s Witness, Prince cannot have the surgery because he might need a blood transfusion at some point during the procedure.

Prince was on the prowl again last night, making an unscheduled appearance at the Apollo Theater’s 75th anniversary celebration to toast Patti LaBelle. But the real buzz on Prince is that his much reported hip problems of the past have now turned into need for a double hip replacement.

Unfortunately, thanks to his practice as a Jehovah’s Witness, Prince still refuses surgery. JW’s don’t believe in blood transfusions. “He’s in a lot of pain,” said a source who was backstage with him last night at the Apollo. “He’s popping pain killers and hoping it will all go away.”

But it won’t. Back in 2005 reports surfaced that Prince needed one hip replaced. He declined. Then again in 2007 and 2008 came more reports that he’d finally agreed to “secret surgery.”

Now the diminutive R&B star is walking with a diamond-studded stick to keep him upright. It’s the same stick I saw him with two nights ago at a post-Tony Awards bash. I’m sure he’d rather have a Raspberry beret or a little red Corvette, but for now Prince is stuck with the stick.

[From Showbiz411]

Obviously everyone’s medical issues are different, and Prince’s interpretation of his religion is solely up to him. However when I looked it up, several sources said Jehovah’s Witnesses can generally have artificial hip replacement surgery. There’s medication they can take that can help them build up “blood stock” and several surgical techniques that can be used to salvage a person’s own blood. The Witnesses beliefs about blood transfusion come from four parts in the Bible that are generally interpreted as having to do with eating blood by other Christians and Jews. However they interpret “consuming” in a different way.

I assume there must be a good reason Prince hasn’t had bloodless surgery – and maybe he will. Reading up on Wikipedia about it, it seems like a reasonable possibility. Perhaps there’s a technical or spiritual issue standing in his way. I really doubt popping a ton of pain killers is going to be a decent long-term solution. Bu it sounds like he’s in a lot of pain; it’s reasonable to think he’s done/doing everything he can. I wish I could tell Prince to get on Wikipedia, because it seems like there’s a way to work around this. But I’m guessing his doctors know what they’re doing…

Here’s Prince with Mariah Carey at the Apollo Theater 75th anniversary gala in New York on Monday. Images thanks to WENN.com .

Rocker Prince, 50, made a rare public appearance on PBS Talkshow “The Tavis Smiley Show” in an interview that aired Monday night. He revealed for the first time that he suffered from epilepsy as a child and claimed that his mother told him he once approached her and said that an angel told him he would no longer be sick. It’s hard to tell from what he says next if he never had another seizure from that point or if that’s just what his mom said to him after he stopped having them.

Prince explained that he chose PBS for the interview because he’s a fan of Smiley and enjoyed his symposium “State of The Black Union,” which featured civil rights advocate Dick Gregory last year. Prince dedicated his new song “Dreamer” to Gregory. (You can see a segment from last year’s talk with Gregory on YouTube, Part One, and Part Two. Here’s Prince performing “Dreamer” on Leno last month.) Prince also mentioned being inspired by the Ken Burns series “Unforgiveable Blackness” about Jack Johnson, who was the first African-American Heavyweight Champion of the World from 1908-1915.

Tavis: What’d you make of that PBS series? [Unforgiveable Blackness]

Prince: Oh, it was amazing. I’m in sort of celebration mode right now. I’m just thankful to be alive, I’m thankful to have the friends that I do and the teachers that I do, and I’ve spent the last year just playing when I feel like it. And I really look forward to this time in my life.

And I happened to come across that show, “Unforgivable Blackness,” and the story of Jack Johnson just moved me no end. One of the reasons is that he had to deal with seemingly insurmountable odds all the time. If he would knock somebody down, people from the audience would get into the ring and pick him back up (laughter) so they could continue fighting.

And I just related to it on a lot of different – in a lot of different ways. I’ve never spoken about this before, but I was born epileptic and I used to have seizures when I was young. And my mother and father didn’t know what to do or how to handle it, but they did the best they could with what little they had.

And my mother told me one day I walked in to her and said, “Mom, I’m not going to be sick anymore,” and she said, “Why?” And I said, “Because an angel told me so.” Now, I don’t remember saying it – that’s just what she told me. And from that point on, I’ve been having to deal with a lot of things – getting teased a lot in school – and early in my career I tried to compensate for that by being as flashy as I could and as noisy as I could.

And I just looked – again, I look forward to this time in my life when I could reflect back on it and talk to people like yourself, Dr. Cornel West. When you all come over the house and we sit and just talk about heavy things, I just become thankful. I don’t know what else to say other than that.

[From PBS.org via Huffington Post]

Prince seems to be in a philosophical and aware place in his life now, but that doesn’t extend to actually getting involved in politics or voting. He’s a Jehovah’s Witness and it sounds like his religion prohibits him from voting or seeing any place for politics without God:

Prince: We’re all indentured servants. When I found out there were eight presidents before George Washington, I wanted to smack somebody. I wanted to know why I was taught otherwise. Just tell me the whole story – I’ll fill in the blanks. But don’t tell me something that you think I’m supposed to know.

Tavis: We’re indentured servants and we’ve got a Black president now?

Prince: Well, I don’t vote. I don’t have nothing to do with it. I got no dog in that race.

Tavis: And for those who would cuss me out and slap me in person if I didn’t ask you why?

Prince: Well, the reason why is because I’m one of Jehovah’s witnesses and we’ve never voted. That’s not to say that I don’t think Barack Obama – President Obama – is a very smart individual and he seems like he means well. Prophecy is what we all have to go by now.

It’s very interesting. I did a sold-out concert in London and we played 21 nights in a row, and all the concerts were sold out. When I would watch television over there and you’d see the United Nations feed – the direct feed from the United Nations – you’d hear them talk a lot about religion. You’d hear the bible mentioned constantly.

This is not what we’re used to in the United States. It’s almost as though there’s no need for god and no need for religion and justice in politics. So there’s supposed to be a separation of church and state over here.

We can’t have a separation of state and morality, though, and songs like “Dreamer” and even “Feel Good,” it’s the same thing.

[From PBS.org ]

Prince is not my favorite artist due to his strong-armed and often illogical pursuit of copyright infringements online. His lawyers once made a woman remove a video from YouTube of her cute baby dancing to “Let’s Go Crazy” playing in the background. That said, it’s brave of him to speak out about his childhood with epilepsy and you can really tell that he’s earnest about his personal search for meaning. I don’t really get how he has a deep interest in civil rights and history without an urge to vote or become involved in politics, but it seems like he can’t reconcile that with his religious beliefs. (Slate has a useful article that explains why Jehovah’s Witnesses remain neutral in politics and usually don’t vote.)

As for the “eight Presidents before George Washington” claim, I googled that as I’ve never heard of it before. It’s not true, although there is a basis for that story, according to Snopes. There were eight total presidents of the Constituional Congress and the Confederation Congress from 1776 – 1789 before the Constitution was adopted and before the US was was considered “a single, unified country out of the thirteen former British colonies.” The office of the President of the United States wasn’t created until the Constitution was ratified, which made George Washington the first President. It’s not like there was some big conspiracy to re-write history and forget the earlier Presidents.

You can watch Prince’s entire interview on World Star Hip Hop.

Here’s Prince on how he got over being teased as a child by finding an outlet in music:

Boy you sure don’t hear much about Sinead O’Connor anymore. Always a wise way to start an article. [JayBird pats herself on head]. But you do hear a bit about Prince. I just read this unnecessarily long article about him in Newsweek the other day. I stopped after the part about how he charges subscribers $77 a year to access one of his music sites. Insane. Prince is also one of the more famous Jehovah Witnesses around. Which means he doesn’t appreciate certain behaviors. Sinead O’Connor was one of the more outspoken people around. Which means she told Prince exactly what she thought when he chastised her for swearing.

Sinead O’Connor has revealed that she told Prince to “f*** himself” when the two disagreed over her swearing in interviews.

The singer had previously recorded a cover of one of the star’s tracks for her 1990 album I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got.

O’Connor said: “I didn’t hit it off with Prince. I met him after I’d recorded ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ and he said he didn’t appreciate how I used bad language in my interviews.

“I told him to go f*** himself and he wasn’t very happy.”

[From Gossip Rocks]

What an odd pairing. It’s hard to imagine the two would ever be in the same room together, let alone have an argument resulting in expletives. I would pay just about anything to have seen that interaction. O’Connor is only 5’5 – but Prince is only 5’2 and all of 91 lbs dripping wet. I think she could be pretty damn intimidating next to him, especially when she’s telling him to f off. It’s great that Prince (presumably) doesn’t swear. But personally, I always find it best not to hold others responsible for catering to my definition of morality.

Seven years ago Prince became a Jehovah’s Witness. Though to the best of my knowledge, most people had stopped talking about Prince by then so it didn’t exactly make headlines. The New Yorker has an interesting short interview with him where he talks about his religion and how it applies to his life. Turns out Prince isn’t one of those fancy, spoiled celebrity Jehovah’s Witnesses who thinks he should be treated better than everyone else. Granted there aren’t a whole lot of Jehovah’s Witnesses that are celebs (the Jackson family comes to mind, but that’s about it), but Prince gets out there just like everyone else is supposed to.

YES, that’s Prince going door-to-door in LA to preach the word of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. The purple-loving pop star tells this week’s New Yorker that since he joined the Christian denomination two years ago, he’s started leaving his gated community to knock on doors and proselytize. “Sometimes people act surprised, but mostly they’re totally cool about it,” says Prince. The “When Doves Cry” singer adds that he sees his conversion as more of “a realization. It’s like Morpheus and Neo in ‘The Matrix.’ “

[From Page Six]

I’ve got to admit I’d find it pretty funny if Prince came to my door. And while I generally won’t listen to anyone interrupting me at home to talk about religion, I’d probably let the guy in out of sheer curiosity. I don’t imagine he gets turned away nearly as often as other people do. I’d also have to make some really bad “Purple Rain” jokes, ‘cause it’d be pretty hard to resist.

Prince talked a bit more about his religious and social views, and the difference between red and blue states.

Recently, Prince hosted an executive works for Philip Anschutz, the Christian businessman whose company owns the Staples Center. “We started talking red and blue,” Prince said. “People with money—money like that—are not affected by the stock market, and they’re not freaking out over anything. They’re just watching. So here’s how it is: you’ve got the Republicans, and basically they want to live according to this.” He pointed to a Bible. “But there’s the problem of interpretation, and you’ve got some churches, some people, basically doing things and saying it comes from here, but it doesn’t. And then on the opposite end of the spectrum you’ve got blue, you’ve got the Democrats, and they’re, like, ‘You can do whatever you want.’ Gay marriage, whatever. But neither of them is right.”

When asked about his perspective on social issues—gay marriage, abortion—Prince tapped his Bible and said, “God came to earth and saw people sticking it wherever and doing it with whatever, and he just cleared it all out. He was, like, ‘Enough.’ ”

[From the New Yorker]

I don’t think that last part is going to make him many new fans. Prince is a conundrum. He seems like the sort who’d be open-minded and liberal, but that quote certainly doesn’t come off that way. In the context of the article it also doesn’t come off as excessively judgmental or anything, but it’s still not what I expected to hear the guy say. He holds some unusual views that could make him quite unpopular in Hollywood. That and the knocking on people’s doors at dinnertime. Neither will make him a lot of friends.

Here’s Prince during London fashion week in 2007. Images thanks to PR Photos.

This week on the British reality talent competition, X Factor, contestant Ruth Lorenzo found herself in the bottom two for the week after performing I Can’t Stop Loving You for “Michael Jackson week”. In the sing off to decide who would go, Lorenzo sang Prince’s iconic hit Purple Rain. I watched it and thought it was excellent and I’m a rabid Prince (the music, not so much the man) fanatic I’m usually extremely critical when anyone else attempts one of his more original songs. The judges, however, weren’t as enthusiastic and were deadlocked on who would go home. But the voting public loved it and Lorenzo lived to sing another week.

As all performances are, Lorenzo’s version of Purple Rain was posted on YouTube. I think Prince employs someone who’s full time job is to scour the internet looking for anything remotely connected to Prince and cause grief for whomever posted it. As is the modus operandi for the Prince people, in what might first appear to be a fit of possessiveness and jealousy, they demanded YouTube take the video down, which they have.

Ruth found herself in the bottom two this week, and as her second song, she did her own rendition of Prince’s famous song, which was, quite frankly, amazing. So amazing, that by yesterday, her version had had 100,000 hits on YouTube – and Prince’s people took it down! Someone a bit jealous, are they? Luckily, it’s back up now – so check it out while you can right here.

[From Heat Wave]

Only it’s not. While it may have temporarily reinstated on YouTube, when I went to find it today, it’s gone again. It can be viewed at AOL Television for now, and I recommend checking it out.

Prince, however, is crazy like a fox, I suspect. Whenever he does one of these public hissy fits about his music or his image, a renewed interest in the originals surges forth. So it’s no surprise Prince’s original 1984 Purple Rain re-entered the top 50 yesterday.

The man is a genius!

Prince is shown performing at London Fashion Week on 9/19/07. Credit: Solarpix / PR Photos

Prince is arguably a genius musician and songwriter, but what has always made Prince “Prince” is the unabashed hypersexual persona and lyrics.  But all that is over now.  Prince has dedicated his life to religion and his older fans and is no longer interested in the raunch that made him famous.

Talking about his determination, Prince told USA Today, “I did the Dirty Mind tour and pushed that envelope off the table. What I didn’t do, Madonna finished. I don’t want to go back. You have to get out of your own way.” He went on revealing the fact that he is a Jehovah’s Witness advocate has also contributed to his decision. Giving credit to the bible, which he often reads, Prince furthermore remarked “that’s another way faith has changed me.”

The hit maker openly admitted he no longer wants to write songs with lusty lyrics and perform dirty dancing on-stage because he does not want to offend his fans, who as time goes by have grown up and had children.

[From Aceshowbiz]

Prince says he doesn’t want to go back and that sometimes you have to get out of your own way.  It’s a little astounding hearing the artist formerly known as an unspeakable symbol being so insightful and aware of someone outside his purple shroud.  But it’s certainly good advice, even for those of us who aren’t 50-year old pop stars.

What a concept, growing with your core audience instead of shamelessly chasing after the children of the listeners who first made you a star.  Hear that Madonna?  Prince, singer songwriter of “Darling Nikki” of all things, has surpassed you in the maturing-beyond-shock-value thing. 

Prince has released a book, “21 Nights,” based on the twenty-one consecutive nights of sold out shows he did in London in 2007.  The book includes some of Prince’s original poetry, exclusive backstage photos and a CD called “Indigo Nights”.  The CD is music recorded at some after-parties during the 3-week run and includes some new songs, sure to be family friendly enough to play in the mini-van when carpooling your kids.