What did you bitches do to Prince?!? He’s leaving America, y’all. Actually, he seems to be saying that he just wants to live in France. Before his performances in Paris this weekend (these are the photos from his concert on Sunday), Prince gave an interview to La Parisien, and the translation has been making the rounds. Roughly speaking, Prince says: “It was nice to be back in Bercy where I gave a lot of concerts in the 1980s. I will return soon with a real blockbuster. Anyway, I want to live in France. Yes. Paisley Park, my center in Minneapolis, I use for my business but I really want to stay here.” Here’s part of his interview:
You’re back in Europe and soon in France. It’s always a pleasure for you?
PRINCE. Yes I love playing here, I gave two concerts this summer, but I will return in September. I even intend to sing in all the rooms of Paris.The Parisians were surprised to see you last Thursday alongside Stevie Wonder in Bercy (the business quarter in Paris).
When Stevie is live somewhere and he knows I’m not far away, he always calls me up to invite me along. Then I come and I take my guitar … just in case. It was nice to be back in Bercy where I gave a lot of concerts in the 1980s. I will return soon with a real blockbuster. Anyway, I want to live in France.Really?
Yes. Paisley Park, my center in Minneapolis, I use for my business but I really want to stay here.Your new album will soon be distributed through newspapers in Europe as you did three years ago. Why this approach?
Because no record company is capable of reaching three million people instantly, as was the case in England when I did it.The record industry is dead for you?
No, it is probably important for young artists who need resources. Me, everybody knows me, the most important thing is to show my new songs by touching the most.What will he in this new album?
It will be called “20Ten” or 2010, because it will be like my diary of the year. I write a lot right now, I’m in a very creative phase.
[From EuroWeb]
This sounds like Prince incipient move to France could be related to how out-of-touch he is with the changes in the music industry over the last decade, right? He wants to live in Europe because he thinks he’ll be an even bigger star in Europe, because he thinks his music will be better appreciated there. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a Prince-hater, and I think he was right (in theory) with some of the stranger business decisions he’s made in his career. But there’s also a pettiness to him, right? He sounds kind of like a kid saying “I’m going to take my toys and I’m LEAVING!”
By the way, does he have an image of himself on his turtleneck blouse/tunic?
Prince performing in Paris on July 11, 2010. Credit: Fame.
So, please go now!
… because they embrace short men and the good cheese is cheap.
Also is he shopping in the Paris Hilton section again? These two are the only people who consistantly wear themselves …says a lot.
LOL I love Prince. I don’t go out of my way to buy his new music because he makes it ridiculous to get ahold of. I still don’t believe he wears clothes with his picture on them though….geez. 😉
go ahead. oh, and yes, i think that is an image of himself on his shirt or whatever he’s wearing.
feel free!!!!
I completely disagree. I used to work in the recording industry and it is completely cutthroat. It has always been and always will be about the bottom line. Creativity doesn’t mean a damn thing to the people in charge. It never has…
Prince knows this and he works with them for as long as he can prosper from them – when they start demanding more control of his music, that is when he bails. And he is right in doing so.
He’s not going to give up creative control to those who don’t really know anything about creativity but are interested in turning the music into something that tweens and teens only would like. He has integrity. If he feels that he needs to take his music elsewhere, I do not blame him. I would too.
Michael Jackson felt the same way too – esp about Sony. Check this link out…he speaks about what Sony does to its musicians
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bx4NwrMtgw8
He’s still around?
see ya!
okey-dokey, artist formerly known as the artist formerly known as prince. au revoir. don’t let the statue of liberty hit you in the ass on your way out.
I think he’s gone downhill since Purple Rain, which was a crappy movie in my opinion. “Cream” was just – yuck. That whole “symbol” thing was pretentious, he talked his wife Mayte into getting divorced yet staying together without the legal protection of marriage – then he dumped her. I’ve heard he’s given concerts recently where he plays only his newer music – dreadful. I do feel bad for him losing his baby, but otherwise, he’s an ass, by most accounts.
non!! pas en france! il a déjà un appart’ avenue Foch à Paris!!!
Au revoir!
See ya roun’ clown.
I think it has to do more with what he is saying in the article.
He has made mentions of all the chemtrails in America. I know out my way our weather was almost completely geoengineered from January – May of this year.
We would run outside at my place of work during breaks to watch them BLOW-UP the sky with trails for hours til it completely blocked out the sun.
It was kinda creepy. And it’s still going on sporatically. I understand he might feel nervous about staying here.
yea, i read a quote in a book recently, where ronnie wood was asked to comment on different artists-he thought MJ had a great voice,wondered about this surgeries, etc. (this book was out was years ago, btw), and for prince, he said ‘i always thought he was overrated. An overrated midget.’
LOL
Any interest he had w/me, he lost when he started acting completely over the top with his copyright stuff-suing that mom over her home video, requiring people to PAY to access his website-have you seen that?
Right……..I don’t pay to shop at costco, and i’m not payin’ to look at some artist’s website.
Good-he can join the pretention-fest in le france. Along with the dog sh*t infested streets and otherwise overrated socialist environ.
And you know what? He can enjoy almost anywhere, b/c he is very wealthy-so it’s completely irrelevant when these big stars pick different locales. It’s not confirming one place as better than another-just confirms that you can enjoy the perks of places when you have the freedom to come and go and have status and money. I’m sure he wouldn’t give up his US citizenship to become French. Trust me. He may enjoy the creative environ of paris, but he wouldn’t choose to be a french national.
I love Prince.
Hugely talented!
Hey Lrm,
Last i checked you do pay to shop at costco,you pay a yearly membership…lol…moron.BTW although prince has been a lil crazy at times,he is still a great artist
@tiki-hilarious, thanks for the chuckle!
Cool, take Lips Lohan with ya. Oh, yea and Mel Gibson too. I’m sure he will find something wrong with the French, but I personally don’t give a damn.
You go girl! Go!
@laughing@yo
I’m pretty sure that Lrm was meaning that shopping at Costco was for suckers, because they make you pay to shop there. And I agree.
Yes, he likes to wear shirts that have his image on them somehow.
He’s not my cup of tea anymore with his attitude lately. Certainly, move to France, Prince. He’s acting like Madonna and Goopy that way.
As far as I’m concerned Prince can do whatever he wants (re: wearing his image on his clothes, acting crazy, whathaveyou), he’s fucking Prince. Actually it sort of bothers me that anyone’s surprised by his behaviour; it’s as though you guys never heard of him even though you clearly have.
I really don’t understand the uber-patriotism that always comes out when someone says they would like to live somewhere else; I would love to live in France too but that doesn’t mean I hate America or are some sort of traitor/communist type. One could even think he might say that to sell more albums in France…?!?!!!
Final snarky comment: #17, I’m laughing at YOU because you totally went off on someone after you misread the post. I suppose I could be wrong but I think lrm was using the costco comparison to illustrate how little she is interested in paying a fee to grocery shop/visit Prince’s website, ie I can’t even learn how to play solitaire and I certainly don’t want to try learn how to play chess. Otherwise I agree with your comment.
That is all.
Took me too long to type, fancyamazon beat me to it. And he/she didn’t sound nearly as pretentious as I did. 🙂
Why are people acting like he is a criminal and betrayed his country for wanting to live somewhere else?
I really don’t understand this attitude. I mean I have lived in Brussels, Paris, London, Faro, Firenze, Kinshasa. I often go to Munchen (Germany), Amsterdam (Holland) and Paris. But i admit that it is something more easy for Europeans as many live in one country and work in another one and are used to go from one to the other easily and often, especially if you are an IT consultant working on contractual assignemnts throughout the EU since you don’t need a working permit as a European citizen .
People really are different but also very similar and there are many things to enjoy or hate EVERYWHERE. It may be the ‘Joie de vivre’, the food, the flirty athmosphere of Paris, the coolness and calmness of Brussels, the beauty, sensuality, colors, art everywhere or even italian way of wooing and expressing themselves in Firenze, the efficiency, order, cleaniness and technicity of the Germans, the explosive beautiful scenes of Madrid or Lisbon, ect.
I am sure for most of us if we had the financial means, none of us would love to stay where we are all the time.
I most definitely would share my times between three of my main basis in three different continents and probably relax most of the time in the Seychelles.
I am not a traitor to my country for having that desire.
# 6
Fascinating video. Seemed MJ and Mariah Carey were pushed hard and screwed by Sony and Mattola.
I just watched This Is It on Starz. What a great movie. MJ was such an artist. He was a great artist, I don’t doubt the music biz is awful for real artists.
@ Prince, love the music. Love the writing a song a day thing. But wearing a shirt with himself on it?
Paris can have that. That’s as bad as a politician with his enormous face instead of name and party on banners. Oh, never mind. We crossed that threshhold here too so you’re in the right place.
Still wish Prince would let Youtube show some videos. What gives, Prince? Why hide your classic vids, baby?
But who will use his Vikings box?
Yeah hes weird but hes still awesome and truly amazingly talented unlike so much of the music industry.
Only problem is with going to see him nowadays is that he wont do alot of his old songs like Little Nikki etc because hes gone totally religious.
I love him and isnt he supposed to be great in the sex department???
( a few of his old girlfriends/flings have let it slip no?!)
Well the French do love Jerry Lewis…
I like Prince because he’s so damn eccentric. There is nobody like him.
I still remember how Robin Williams described Prince: “He looks like a midget that was dropped in a vat of pubic hair.”
He is THE greatest live performer ever. I’ve seen him in concert three times and he blew me away every time.
Love Prince!
This is an intensely rich man. He didn’t say he wanted to renounce his citizenship. I am pretty sure he can have a house in Europe (and likely already does) and live there part time.
I really don’t see what is wrong with that. Pretentious? Sure. A lot of celebrities are and many don’t seem to realize it either. He could definitely be one of those too, though.
I think Prince is living on some other planet altogether. He’s never gotten an essential reality of the music business; specifically, that regardless of the state of the internet, file-sharing, or the music business in general, once he hit 40 he was never going to be able to sell records as he did when he was a pretty 20-something artist putting out creative, vibrant material. He’d go out with alot more style if he simply recognized that time, and pop artists, move on.
Prince has turned that “50” corner and his values have changed. Instead of diving full throttle into “self-destruction” mode like Mel Gibson, he wants to make more “subtle” adjustments to his persona without completely destroying what works best for him. He wouldn’t be under so much pressure to compete with much younger artists aboard as he is here in the States. His superstar status would remain firmly intact overseas. Tina Turner, Sade and Chaka Khan live abroad and seem much more “refreshed” when they return to the States to do performances. Prince is mellowing with age but does not want to lose his creative relevance. Moving to Europe may be exactly what he needs to do.
The image on his shirt is from the new album cover.
Every time I see Prince I think of the Chapelle show when Charlie Murphy talks about playing basketball against Prince and The Revolution! The Shirts vs. The Blouses.
@logan — what has Prince got to do with Mel Gibson and Lindsay Lohan?
Yes, he is a little freaky and a bit pretentious but he is hardly in the same boat as a crackhead and wife-beating racist.
A huge creative talent that doesn’t kiss the ass of the music industry. I think he’s great. Go on and move to France you freaky little man. Have some French fun.
I love France. I enjoyed Lyon more than Paris for the same reason I prefer the suburbs to the city here in L.A. It’s cleaner and the people are nicer, fewer tourists.
I haven’t been to France since 1997. I miss it so. I went with my college boyfriend whom I SO wanted to break up with. God, I was so over him. But the tickets were NONREFUNDABLE, so I was stuck. I spoke French and he didn’t. It was like having my kid with me. But France is so amazing, I still enjoyed it.
Europe is so different than America, it’s easy to say “I want to live there!” But you start to miss American things. Television, diversity, speaking English. I wish Prince all the best.
Love Prince. He’s so phucked up but you have to love a guy who can wear a polo necked manga tshirt of himself, on stage, with *ahem* a straight face. His stuff still sends most bitches home with their tails between their legs so he always gets respect in my book.
Ah music, what happened to thee?? Remember how much we had to choose from in the 80s and 90s? Now it’s wall to wall bollocks. Rhianna is a star for gods sake. Sigh.
I’m sure he won’t toy with that idea for long once he realises how full time residency in France eats into your personal wealth (we tax your worldwide income in France – up to 50%).
Every wondered why the Jolie-Pitts only stick around for a few months a year?
Anyone who declares the internet “over” and expects us all to just play along on his say so is certainly welcome to move to whatever foreign country he’d like to, and stay there…
I love when celebrities make comments like this. They have the means, the opportunity….so just go already! Who cares where you live, Prince? Just go live there.
Prince is difficult to like because he isn’t exactly accessible. I’m a passing fan – and I mean passing because I’m not about to run an obstacle course and hand over my first born to get my hands on his music, then act like he’s bestowed some sort of blessing on me.
He’s good, but he’s also a weird little arrogant short dude who acts like he’s doing the world a favor when he shows up anywhere and deigns to perform. If he wants to take his show to France, more power to him. I don’t take it as a defection, but he certainly does act like a spoiled baby who’s taking his toys and leaving the playroom because that’s how he always acts about EVERYTHING.
@nnn: I don’t understand your comment – are you Prince himself or do you just think you are? Fell free to live wherever you want to but spare us your propaganda. You are not the only one here who’s lived in different countries. Also, not all people posting on this board think Prince is a traitor, in fact, if you read some comments closely, you might actually find out that many of the commentators are more than happy for him to move to France. So what exactly is your point? PS: We are not stupid as to not know where Munich or Amsterdam is! So really, either you are Prince himself, exhibiting his best traits of being a total w***er or you are just a jerk who likes to think he’s the dog’s bollocks. Please don’t ever move to Prague. Czech Republic, that is!
ok… so he wants to live there. Why is he not already?
Me:
This whole “you must be the artist because you’re agreeing/defending him/her.” Is getting old, and really shows a lack of maturity. Plus I really fail to see how you or anyone else didn’t nnn was saying. He or she wasn’t flaunting where they went in Europe, they’re questioning why people get their back up, when a celeb says that they want to move out of the US. And to those people, how’s your lives going in the good ol’ US of A. Do have a job right now, health insurance, are your kids well educated, got enough money to send them to college, feed them anything that didn’t come out of drive through window? Given out education system, I wonder if most people under 30 even know where those places are.
Actually, Prince only recently moved back to the States after divorcing his wife. He lived in Toronto for years, and I saw him once at the discount supermarket in a velour tracksuit. From what I hear, he’s a really good neighbour.
@nnn: I don’t understand your comment – are you Prince himself or do you just think you are?
———————————
My question was exactly like i said. I don’t quite catch that attitude because in here, it’s usually the other way around and i have seen the attitude i have mentioned too many times, not only towards Prince.
Here people would say, hey, go for it, it’s a great opportunity without sounding like he or she let down the the country. And i have seen many times that attitude from US citizen who feel like it is a treason.
I get that it’s a different culture and i was basicly trying to understand what was the bottom of this feeling and why usually people from the US feel this way when in Europe, South America Africa it is not bar in countries like France or sweden where people would say, it’s because of financial benefit and taxes and sometimes feel betrayed when celebrities let them down in order to pay less taxes.
Nothing more nothing else.
As for being Prince, ahahahahahahahah ! I am a european woman who was raised in a multilingual country and has worked in consultancy in many european countries and asia (like IT consutants often do), that’s mainly why i have been exposed to different colleagues from different nationalities throughout the world.
So no i am definitely not Prince and my remark was adressed generally, it could have been Prince or any other american citizen.
It was just a legitimate question about different feelings and cultures and perspectives towards that subject.
A little blond please and Prince will change into Tori… (2nd picture)
@Mike, no you di’int! Which store?
I have wanted to go see his house for the longest time. He lives on Bridle Path, near Atwood and Reisman, right?
The only “righteous” thing I read in this whole thread was No.6 – Cat M.
The rest of the comments, as far as I’m concerned, portrays very well 1 of the reasons I believe Prince is moving 2 Europe; americans R pretentious & stupid (not all, of course, but it’s a general characterisitc). Remember “Lovesexy” & all that took place about that cover?! U false moralists!!! This in the same year that Howard Stern appeared at the MTV Awards dressed as a penis!!! People’s opinion is precisely just that: opinions. No one’s tastes or dislikes should B discussed, as we all have our own. What I pity R those who belittle him just Bcuz they don’t like him or his music (older or newest). Yes, the guy has done some dumb things, but it’s always easier 2 spit Ur venom when Ure out of context or simply don’t REALLY know what’s going down. Prince has always been well received in Europe, without ridiculous censorship as in the US. Hell, he’s got more fans in the Benelux area than in his own country! Wake up people! Comment, opinate, criticize, but do it as the adult people that U seem 2 B.
P.S.-The fact that he has his image printed on his clothing is 4 “20Ten” promotion designs. Couldn’t U think of this B4 the silly observations?… Oh yes, I 4got U didn’t get “20Ten” in the US…!