(Credits: Far Out / Allen Beaulieu)
Tue 6 January 2026 21:00, UK
During his time in the spotlight, Prince hated a lot of things about the music industry.
He hated a lot of musicians, too, and while one of his biggest selling points was how enigmatic he was, he rarely held back when it came to things he didn’t agree with, even those within his own band or inner circle weren’t immune to his harsh words from time to time, making him one of the most outspoken and standoffish legends to ever walk the stage.
Often, this was because he wanted things a certain way and wouldn’t take no for an answer, and if he was ever faced with pushback for wanting to do something that couldn’t be done, he’d kick up a fuss, and a lot of the time, he also made it clear that he didn’t have time for pleasantries, and if someone wanted his time, they’d be lucky if they gained more than a dismissive wave of the hand or a look of disdain.
At least, that was the case with the Flaming Lips, who experienced the wrath of the Purple One first-hand backstage at the Brits in 2006 when they tried to hand him a stack of their CDs. Apparently, his bodyguard found them a little while later, handed the material back, and said, “Prince doesn’t want these.” Instead of earning a nice interaction, they were left with the mantra ‘never meet your heroes.’
This isn’t the first time someone has experienced a strange interaction with the pop-rock genius. It’s also not the first time he’s dismissed another artist’s music, as we saw when he scathingly discussed how execs are constantly shoving singers like Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran down our throats, and “we don’t like it no matter how many times they play it”.
One of the most telling parts is when it came to Prince’s attitude towards covers – he absolutely loathed them, and no one knew that more than Sinéad O’Connor. According to reports, the pair had a rather heated encounter about Prince’s song ‘Nothing Compared 2 U’ because he didn’t want her taking it on, a common theme when it came to his material, as he felt that covers were one of the worst things another artist could do.
In fact, the only cover he didn’t seem to mind as much was Foo Fighters’ ‘Darling Nikki’, and even then, he only seemed that way because he already liked and respected the band, and all things considered, it feels like uncovering something rare and special whenever Prince praises something or someone, which is why it feels especially poignant that he once discussed his love for funk legend George Clinton.
According to Prince, Clinton’s words meant more than anybody’s, which is why he was especially touched when Clinton told him he liked his music. As he once recalled, “Not long ago I talked to George Clinton, a man who knows and has done so much for funk. George told me how much he liked Around the World in a Day. You know how much more his words mean than those from some mamma-jamma wearing glasses and an alligator shirt behind a typewriter?”
Most people would likely say the same, especially when it comes to being lucky enough to have their heroes praise their work and the weight that holds against nameless and faceless critics sitting behind a screen. But it feels especially charged coming from Prince, who was known to light fires in any given scenario if anyone so much as moved the wrong way.
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