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“Prince hated Madonna”

Everything you need to know about the Bonnie and Clyde of Pop’s 30 year relationship.

Prince, Michael Jackson, and Madonna were all born during the same Summer in 1958. All three in the midwest, and all three born to change the face of pop as we know it – over and over again, even after society would deem each one irrelevant in some way. Their impact echoes through generations. Unfortunately we lost our King, who shared his own sibling rivalry with our recently fallen Prince, 7 years ago. But it’s the story of this Prince and a girl from Michigan, who quickly became a Queen, that most people aren’t aware of. Here’s everything you should know:

Prince and Madonna dated

Yep. It’s unclear why they broke it off, but one biography by J. Randy Taraborrelli says Prince wanted to get serious as Madonna was heating things up with her future ex-husband, Sean Penn, leading Madonna to reject Prince. Others claim they simply got bored of each other as lovers, but they still remained friends for the next 30 years.

Prince wrote music about their relationship

Sheila E.’s song “A Love Bizarre” (which was written, produced, arranged by and features Prince) is believed by many Prince fans to be about about his and Madonna’s sexual exploits. One particular story involves the back of a limo…

Prince attended Madonna’s shows

Throughout their time together, Prince was seen front row at several of Madonna’s shows during The Virgin Tour in 1985 (above: taken April 23, 1985 in San Francisco). Madonna was also seen at every L.A. show of Prince’s Purple Rain Tour, and even performed with Prince during “Baby I’m a Star” on February 13, 1985 in Inglewood, California. This is the same night he is rumored to have brought her panties on stage during “Darling Nikki”, a memento from a romp in the limo earlier that evening.

Prince designed clothing for Madonna

The above jacket is one of several items of clothing Prince designed for Madonna in the 80s. She wore this particular piece in various photographs from 1985 onward, including TIME Magazine and a shoot by Francesco Scavullo. Another jacket, in blue, was gifted to Madonna for her Live Aid performance.

Prince wanted Madonna to star in one of his films

In September 1987, Prince contacted Madonna to star opposite of him in the sequel to Purple Rain, Graffiti Bridge. He flew her out to Minneapolis a few weeks after finishing the screenplay to pitch it to her. After studying the script, Madonna told Prince it was a “piece of shit” and she wasn’t interested in the part. They continued to discuss other possible collaborations.

Update (12/08/16): Cat Glover reveals more details on the P and M “fight”:

On the plane, he brought up Grafﬁti Bridge as something he wanted to make into a musical. He said, “It’s gonna be you and Madonna.” She was actually supposed to be the lead of the movie. He said he was having a hard time with Madonna and would I come down? He couldn’t deal with her by himself, is what he told me over the phone. So I came down and Madonna and Prince started arguing over the script. She was funny. I liked her. They both started ragging on each other. Madonna said she didn’t like the script, and Prince said to Madonna, “Well, I don’t like your shoes.” That’s how it all started. I was sitting there going, “Oh my God, here we go.” So Madonna told Prince, “I don’t like your shoes, either. Look at ’em with those peace signs and zippers and shit all over ’em.” And Prince was saying, “What are you wearing? Are those shoes or boots?” ’Cause Madonna had on these cowboy-boot shoes. This is what happens when you get two big egos in one room. It was jokey and serious. They’re the same way.

Update (08/21/17): Prince’s letter pitching Graffiti Bridge to Madonna released:

In August 2017, a letter from Prince addressed to Madonna featuring the first draft script of his film Graffiti Bridge was featured as part of an online auction. Prince pitches the idea of the film, specifically the character he wants her to play, Ruthie Washington, and asks for any input she may have regardless if she wants to be part of the film or not. Full letter reads:

Dear Madonna,

This is a story of people learning 2 trust one another as well as their own instincts. I wanted u 2 play Ruthie because u could give her the inner-strength and the outer-bite she needs 2 make her character. I have 2 tell u, musically this is maybe my best work and I would love 2 work together with u on some more songs. I have 35 pages, I figure I need 25 more, perhaps to start the story. I left this open 4 your input. Whether we work together or not…any advice—musical or otherwise u can lend 2 Ruthie’s character or 2 Grafitti Bridge as a whole—would be greatly appreciated. Give my best 2 Sean & thank u so much 4 your time.

Love God.

Prince and Madonna: The Musical

One of many discussed collaborations during that 1987 visit to Paisley Park was the talk of writing and producing a musical together. According to Madonna’s March 1989 interview with Rolling Stone, “We just tried to start as many things as we could.” She backed out of the idea because she felt it wasn’t the right time.

Prince worked as a producer on Like a Prayer

As Madonna was finishing up her stint on Broadway with Speed-the-Plow in 1988, Prince visited her to see the show and brought along some of the rough ideas they had worked on the previous year. One of these ideas was an early cut of what would become “Love Song”:

I’d sort of forgotten about it. So I called him up and said I loved it and that after I was finished with the play, I wanted to get together with him and work on it for my album. As it turned out, we did it in a very funny way. We sent tapes to each other back and forth between L.A. and Minnesota. Then we would talk on the phone, and he would play stuff for me over the line. I loved working that way. – Madonna, Rolling Stone, March 1989

From SongTalk, Summer 1989:

Interviewer: You and Prince wrote “Love Song” together, which is a wonderful song. Did you and he work together or did he give you a track?

Madonna: No, he didn’t give me a track. We sat down and just started fooling around. We had a lot of fun. What happened is that he played the drums and I played the synthesizer and we came up with the original melody line; I just, off the top of my head, started singing lyrics into the microphone. And then he overdubbed some guitar stuff and made a loop of it and sent it to me, and then I just started adding sections to it and singing parts to it. And then I sent it back to him, and he’d sing a part to it and add another instrument and send it back to me…it was like this sentence that turned into a paragraph that turned into a little miniseries. So it was great. It was a completely different way to work. And because of our schedules and everything, and he was in Minnesota and he likes to work there and I like to work here. So we kind of sent it back and forth. He’s great. He’s a real interesting…unique talent.

Interviewer: And it was an easy connection from the beginning for the two of you?

Madonna: Yeah, it was. We started out being real admirers of each other’s work. And, you know, we’re already successful so we didn’t have to prove anything to each other. We were on the same level. And I don’t think he’s had that same opportunity with other people that he’s worked with. Because generally he tends to dominate everything.

An unreleased song titled “By Alien Means” also exists from their “Love Song” sessions (along with two other unknown tracks). The song contains a strong anti-suicide message, though it is unknown if Madonna actually laid down vocals to the demo Prince submitted.

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These songs weren’t the only ones the two collaborated on for the 1989 LP; the first thing you hear on the title track is Prince playing guitar, along with guitar on “Keep it Together” and “Act of Contrition” (credited to The Powers That Be).

Outtakes from Prince and Madonna’s session for “Like a Prayer” appear on the Prayers Remixed EP. The dub beats version features samples from a then unreleased Prince track titled “Bob George” from his cancelled Black Album.

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Prince was a fan of Madonna’s music

Contrary to popular belief, Prince did enjoy Madonna’s music. In his October 1990 interview with Rolling Stone, he gave Madonna a “highly favorable” mention alongside the likes of Michael Jackson, Patti LaBelle, and Bette Midler when asked what he listened to on his own time.

He likes rap: he’s recently signed rappers T.C. Ellis and Robin Power to record on his Paisley Park label but denies that he’ll be producing songs for M.C. Hammer. “I like his stuff a lot,” Prince says. “We’ve talked but not about working together.” He also gives highly favorable mentions to the likes of Madonna, Michael Jackson, Patti LaBelle and Bette Midler. “I’m not real into Bruce Springsteen’s music,” he says, “but I have a lot of respect for his talent.”

Prince liked to poke fun at Madonna

Anyone who ever knew Prince will tell you he had a wicked sense of humor. Madonna knows this all too well, and they both seemed to share that trait. During his Act I tour in 1993, Prince noticed his frenemy in the audience and decided to take a dig at artists who lip sync.

He couldn’t resist the temptation to needle her. During a breakdown in a song near the end of the show, he looked right at her and said something like, ‘I can sing and dance at the same time. I don’t lip-sync.’ Whether it was in fun or not, Madonna ran out of the gig in a huff. I heard that she waited for Prince to leave and chased his limo halfway down 51st Street with her dancers in tow. – Prince’s former publicist Michael Pagnotta

Prince was known to make playful jabs at Madonna whenever he knew she was attending a show of his. This happened again in 2007 when he made a joke about having more hits than she had kids. They were seen hugging it out at the Vanity Fair Oscar party a couple months later.

Madonna liked to poke fun at Prince

According to a 1985 article in People Magazine, her nickname for Prince was “the midget”:

Consider the way she deals in real life with her friend Prince, even as they are supposed to be (read: weren’t, aren’t, never considered) having an affair. When the 5'3" marvel of Minneapolis and his usual gang of muscle showed up in San Francisco for her recent date, Madonna (5'4") went calling, accompanied by her bodyguard. As the elevator door opened on his floor, she declared: “Well, time to go visit the midget.” Later, she castigated him for his attitude: “He usually wants to be treated the exact opposite of the way he is dressed. His outfits say touch me, lick me, love me, lust me, but then he pretends he’s wearing a monk’s outfit. He needs to step back, look at his clothing and laugh at it.” Is this any way to talk about royalty?

In a 1994 interview, Madonna spoke about her and Prince’s first date:

He was just sipping tea, very daintily. I was stuffing food down my face and I was like, ‘Aren’t you going to eat?’ “ She mimics a delicate, whispered "no.” “And I thought, 'Oh my God!’ I have this theory about people who don’t eat. They annoy me. It’s something about being in control.”

Prince reached out to Madonna during his battle against Warner Bros.

In 1999, during his very public feud with Warner Bros. Records, Prince called upon his former label mate to help obtain his masters in an open letter posted to his website, Love4OneAnother.

Madonna: artist 2 artist, eye am sure u understand the connection eye feel 2 my music. U more than any1 at Time Warner knows the patience and care with which we give birth 2 creation… and u maybe more so than any1 knows how much a new artist longs 2 find a place amongst “the chosen few” 2 flaunt those creations (and at the same time put food on one’s table). Music lawyers, managers and execs make deals best suited 4 their futures as well as urs in most cases… OWNERSHIP OF MASTER RECORDINGS IS ALMOST NEVER AN ISSUE! (let’s remember, it was 1978!) Eye dreamt of u and eye at the Grammy Awards and felt a need 2 write this letter 2 u. In my dream, eye approached u and asked u if u remembered me, and u said “sure”… u were on ur way up 2 receive 1 of numerous awards u will no doubt receive that night, and eye asked u 2 help me with my fight 2 retain ownership of my legacy and u said, “eye don’t own ur masters, Time Warner does… if it was my company, u could have them.” But eye say 2 u, dear sister, it IS ur company as long as u remain in their graces… 4 all Artists, Madonna, make a stand 4 what is RIGHT… surely they will listen 2 u! In the dream u seemed 2 feel me and yet u were a bit non committal… so as u approached the podium, eye followed u, and as we stood side by side, eye said, “b glad this a commercial break!” and eye walked offstage and looked 4 Wyclef. Interpretations aside, artist 2 artist, U Can Help Us… and eye know u will becuz u REMEMBER ME.

Madonna and Prince: The Royalty Tour

Madonna’s longtime manager and friend of Prince, Guy Oseary recently revealed that he approached Prince with the idea of doing a joint tour with Madonna. Madonna loved the idea, while Prince politely declined, saying “the world isn’t ready for this, it’s too big.”

Prince threw Madonna a private concert

In 2015, Prince reportedly attended Madonna’s Rebel Heart Tour during its stop in St. Paul, Minnesota; Madonna shared memories of working together and dedicated a performance of “La vie en rose” to him. Following the show, Prince invited Madonna and her touring crew to Paisley Park and gave them a private concert. This would be their final public interaction.

Madonna pays tribute

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