Prince is not a woman, not a man, and something U will never understand. And other surprising facts.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
1. Prince wrote his first song at the age of 7, and it was called "Funk Machine."
2. He danced on stage with James Brown when was 10. "My stepdad put me on stage with him and I danced a bit until the bodyguard took me off," Prince told MTV in 1985.
3. He later danced with Brown — and Michael Jackson! — in this amazing footage from a show at the Beverly Theatre in Los Angeles in 1983. (B.B. King also happened to be on stage.)
4. His first band when he was a young teenager was called Grand Central.
5. Prince was a hardcore Joni Mitchell fan as a teen. "Prince used to write me fan mail with all of the U's and hearts that way that he writes," she told New York Magazine. "And the office took it as mail from the lunatic fringe and just tossed it!"
6. He was once so poor that he'd just smell food instead of eating it. "I didn't have any money, so I'd just stand outside McDonald's and smell stuff," he told Rolling Stone in 1985.
7. He rejected a deal with CBS when he was 19 because they insisted that Verdine White from Earth, Wind, and Fire produce his first three albums. Prince later signed a deal with Warner Bros. that allowed him to produce his own music.
8. Another clause in Prince's Warner Bros. contract allowed him to recruit and produce other artists for the label. He took advantage of this to produce an album by The Time.
9. Despite the fact that he put The Time through rigorous rehearsals for the album, Prince ended up recording every single instrumental part on their debut album himself. The only member of the band who is actually on the record is singer Morris Day, who was forced to closely mimic Prince's delivery and is often overshadowed by his backing vocals.
10. Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, the production duo behind many of Janet Jackson's biggest singles in the '80s as well as hits by Mariah Carey, Boyz II Men, Human League, and George Michael, started out as members of The Time, but were fired by Prince.
11. When he made his first appearance on Saturday Night Live in 1981, he sang, "Fightin' war is a such a fucking bore," but it wasn't noticed in the moment and was aired without any censoring.
