Prince was the kind of artist who had no qualms about criticizing his contemporaries. However, he wasn’t always a diva. Prince had quite a few musicians that he loved and spoke fondly of through the years. Let’s take a look at just a few surprising musicians that Prince loved!
1. Carlos Santana
Years back, Prince sat down with his home state’s publication, The Minnesota Monthly, to talk about his background and childhood in relation to music. During that conversation, Prince mentioned guitarist Carlos Santana (among others) as an important artist who formed his own tastes from a young age.
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“You know the old KQ[RS] after midnight, that was the bomb station,” said Prince. “I’d stay up all night listening to it. That’s where I discovered Carlos Santana, Maria Muldaur, and Joni Mitchell. Was I influenced by that? Sure I was. Back then, I always tried to play like Carlos or Boz Scaggs.”
2. Björk
Back in 1997, Prince spoke with Mojo Magazine about some artists that he particularly enjoyed. He also explained that he wasn’t a fan of the notion of public character and bands who would talk poorly about their contemporaries, then praise them in the studio. Icelandic artist Björk made Prince’s list of musicians that he loved, among others.
“It’s such a drag to have musicians claim they never listen to the competition,” said Prince. “They’re liars, man. I mean, I know bands who, in the press, badmouth artists they revere in rehearsal. I don’t wanna be like that, I crave great musicianship, and I don’t care who provides it. I’ve got no problems saying I dig D’Angelo. Or some of the things that Björk does, the Cocteau Twins. Musicians, we’re family.”
3. Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell was namedropped in Prince’s list of musicians that he loved from his Minnesota Monthly interview. However, he sang the singer/songwriter’s praises multiple times through the years. In a 1985 interview with Rolling Stone, Prince gushed about the fact that he had not found a truly lovable album in the 10 years since listening to Joni Mitchell’s The Hissing Of Summer Lawns.
“The last album I loved all the way through was [Joni Mitchell’s] ‘The Hissing Of Summer Lawns, ’” said Prince. “I respect people’s success, but I don’t like a lot of popular music, I never did. I like more of the things I heard when I was little. Today, people don’t write songs; they’re a lot of sounds, a lot of repetition.”
Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
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