The Time Michael Jackson Called Prince ‘A Meanie’ After Seeing His Show

As peers and two of the greatest musicians of all time, Prince and Michael Jackson had been competing with each other for a long time. This competition led to a rivalry that ended up as a longtime feud between two legendary singers. Both of them claimed that they were the best and king of pop or pop-rock music with their unique songs and albums.

Here’s what Michael Jackson said about Prince:

“I have proven myself since I was real little. It’s not fair. He feels like I’m his opponent… I hope he changes because boy, he’s gonna get hurt. He’s the type that might commit suicide or something… I don’t like to be compared to Prince.

Then, they attempted to collaborate for different projects, which can be regarded as a sign of peace, such as Prince’s ‘Wouldn’t You Love To Love Me’ and Michael Jackson’s ‘Bad’ but they turned down each other’s offers due to some personal reasons. Therefore, the tension between them kept rising when Prince played the bass in Michael Jackson’s face during a concert.

Prince Played The Bass In Michael Jackson’s Face

The person who brought Jackson and Prince together after many years for a concert in Vegas was Black Eyed Peace founder will.i.am. He invited Jackson to the concert when Jackson called him about their upcoming concert in Vegas back then. Then, Jackson accepted to watch Prince’s show but his behaviors during his performance drove him crazy. 

While he was on the stage, Prince walked toward Michael Jackson and started to play the bass guitar very close to Jackson’s face. It was regarded as never-ending bad blood between two iconic musicians even if Jackson tried to be nice and come to watch Prince’s performance. After that night, will-i-am went to Jackson’s house and said that Prince was always a ‘meanie.’

will.i.am recalled these times saying:

“One time, we had a show in Vegas, and Michael Jackson called ‘Hey that’s Michael so I heard you guys doing a show tonight.’ I said ‘We go at 9.00 o’clock. He goes ‘Oh rats, I got to put the kids to sleep so I was like ‘Well I’m performing with Prince later at 12.00.’ Anyways Michael came to see me rock with Prince and it was a magnificent night to see me, Chris Tucker, and watching me, Chris Tucker, and Michael Jackson watching Prince rock on stage.

So to make a long story short, Prince steps off the stage and plays the bass in Michael Jackson’s face. Jackson leaves and goes home and I go to his house for breakfast and knock on the door. The first words that he says ‘why was Prince playing the bass in my face.’ Prince’s just in being nice. He says ‘no, he’s always been a meanie.’

Consequently, the longtime rivalry and feud between Prince and Michael Jackson couldn’t end even though many people wanted to bring them together for various occasions over the years. One of them always chose to behave aggressively and targetted each other in their interviews instead of communicating or talking about their ongoing problems.

You can watch the interview below.