The Rolling Stones were unkempt, rebellious, and viewed as obscene. To the public, The Beatles were everything The Rolling Stones were not. Another set of artists to follow this rivalrous dichotomy were Prince and Michael Jackson. Both musicians were at the top of their games during the same decades, and they both toiled within the same genres. Thus, Prince always lived in the shadow of Michael Jackson. And, if you know Prince, you know that didn’t sit well with him.
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The rivalry between the two spanned decades and was heavily documented, dramatized, and speculated. However, there is one story that has been vetted by Prince’s longtime collaborator, Allan Leeds. It pertains to a seemingly “innocent” offer Michael Jackson proposed to Prince involving his acclaimed single, “Bad”.
Why The Prince Refused The King
Prior to Michael Jackson dropping “Bad” in 1987, both he and Prince had already defined their rivalry. As a matter of fact, in 1985, Prince had already turned down Michael Jackson once. He refused to perform on Jackson’s iconic charity single, “We Are The World”.
With that in mind, it seems as though Michael Jackson’s second offer was not a genuine one. Rather, it seems like he was just trying to poke His Purpleness and perpetuate their rivalry. It’s a shame that no one will ever know the true motivation behind Jackson’s proposal.
What we do know is that Jackson’s offer did not please the “Purple Rain” singer. Allan Leeds attested to that fact.
“Michael [Jackson] coming to Prince and wanting him to do ‘Bad’, that really pissed him off,” Leeds told Vibe Magazine. “Prince was like, ‘Oh, he wants me to punk out on record. Who does he think I am, crazy?’ He probably couldn’t get outside himself enough to realise that it was the kind of thing that probably could have benefited both of them.”
Despite the lack of Prince’s presence, Michael Jackson’s “Bad” still became an insanely successful pop single. Following its 1987 release, “Bad” peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, Hot R&B Singles, and Hot Dance Club Play charts.
Could Prince have benefited from this? Yes, of course. But artists are artists, and what makes them that way are their ideals and convictions. Prince was never a sell-out. So, kudos to him for being true to himself and standing by his word in the face of success!
Photo by Ross Marino/Getty Images
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