JACKSON AND PRINCE. Volatile professional relationship.
The recent death of Prince has shocked his many fans—and brought back memories of Michael Jackson’s similarly tragic demise in 2009. Even more tellingly, it’s reminded music fans of the “psychic” links between the two music superstars—their feuds and similarities, which have made them compellingly visible through the years and decades.
On point of similarities, Michael and Prince were both born in 1958. This makes horoscope hounds conclude that they had the same psychic makeup, hence the volatility of their personal and professional relationships.
More: Both stars were “famous” for their being shy and reclusive, only “coming alive” with great brilliance and charisma when they were performing.
A literal case of “bad blood” between the two idiosyncratic stars occurred early on in their careers, when Prince turned down Michael’s invitation for him to appear in Jackson’s “Bad” video.
Years later, when he was pressed to recall why he’d turned Michael down, Prince shared that the song contained the lyric, “Your butt is mine”—and he certainly didn’t want MJ to say that to and about him!
Adding more fuel to the fire is a music veteran’s follow-up conjecture related to Prince’s 2004 song, “Life of the Party,” which had a lyric that the veteran thought could cattily refer to Jackson: “My nose is getting higher/ But I never had my nose done/ That’s the other guy.” —What do you think?
More: Prince declined to be a part of Jackson’s fundraising song, “We Are The World,” which featured many singing stars.
On the other hand, reports have it that Prince and Michael patched up their differences in 2006, and even played basketball together.
Some of their respective handlers admitted that there was competition between the two stars, but it was of the “healthy” variety, which luminaries need to stay on top of their respective games.
The most controversial conjectures of all are related to the two stars’ similarities in relation to drugs. After all, Prince’s death is thought by some to have been at least partially caused by some painkillers he’d been taking.
However, many observers insist that Prince’s dependence on drugs was by no means as significant as Jackson’s. Pending the release of official toxicology findings, the view is that Prince was downed, not by a lifelong dependence on drugs, but by a tragic confluence of temporary conditions, factors and events.