In the latest episode of the podcast ‘Are We On Air?,’ Duran Duran‘s Nick Rhodes spoke on various subjects, from the band’s career to his personal influences in music. While talking about the latter, he shared his views on Prince‘s sound.
Mentioning what annoyed him about the late singer’s music, the keyboardist said:
“I’ll confess that some of the things that Prince did early on, I was so stunned by how modern they sounded and thought, ‘What the hell has he done?’ And I figured them out just for my own benefit because it almost annoyed me he was so clever. And he really was.”
He went on to detail Prince’s musical style as follows:
“I mean, those are some of the most inventive and – I’m using that word too often, but the truth is it means a lot. Prince, you know, he had Jimi Hendrix, Sly Stone, James Brown all wrapped up in a package with this modern vision for lyrics and songwriting and so prolific. I saw him play a lot of times, and I have to say some of the best shows I’ve ever seen.”
It’s worth noting that Duran Duran had a chance to perform with the Purple One in the ’80s. However, according to bassist John Taylor‘s 2016 interview with Pioneer Press, the band didn’t accept the offer to join the aftershow jam session.
The guitarist recalled the time he caught up with the late musician on the ‘Purple Rain’ tour by saying:
“But I was hardly conscious at the time. The first time I really got to see him, we were working on the ‘Notorious’ album with Nile Rodgers. We all went to see him at Wembley Arena (in August 1986). One of his roadies asked us if we’d like to join him for the aftershow. Something told me that wouldn’t be a good idea.”
In April 2016, when Prince passed away, Duran Duran was performing in Atlanta. That night, they dedicated a song to the late musician. The next time, they devoted their entire show to the memory of Prince, performing ‘Save A Prayer’ under a wash of purple light.
