Back in the 1980s, Prince and Michael Jackson ruled the pop music world — but The National ENQUIRER can reveal Michael envied the pint-sized “Purple Rain” star and resented his success!
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At the height of their rivalry, Michael felt “washed up” because his recent Victory Tour had ended up as a massive flop, an insider dished to The ENQUIRER. “Michael was sitting on top last year at this time,” the close associate said in 1985. “Now Prince has come along and toppled him!”
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Prince outshone Michael by nabbing an Oscar that year for the best original score on 1984’s “Purple Rain.” Michael was also jealous over how quickly the motion picture industry responded to Prince as both
a sex symbol and future movie star.
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Prince Announces His UK Shows In London
A record company executive who was close to Michael added: “When Prince won the Academy Award, Michael told an associate, ‘I guess I really am yesterday’s news.’"
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Prince then managed to make things worse after Michael reached out to his fellow superstar about collaborating on his future hit song "Bad."
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The "1999" star later explained to Chris Rock that the opening of "Bad" immediately made him lose interest on the project: "The first line of that song is, 'Your butt is mine.' Now, I said, 'Who's gonna sing that to who? 'Cause you sure ain't singing it to me — and I sure ain't singing it to you!'"
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American Bandstand’s 50th..A Celebration – Day 2
But an insider told The ENQUIRER that Prince didn't just decline the song: "He actually took the time to do a whole new recording of 'Bad' and sent it back to Michael to show him how the song could work a lot better — which was just about the biggest insult that you could've made to the best-selling artist in pop music history!"
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But Michael got his revenge by savoring Prince's other public failure — as revealed by top music executive L.A. Reid in his memoir, “Sing To Me.” In the book, L.A. wrote that he and Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds were invited to visit Michael’s Neverland Ranch in the 1990s — which revealed more than the star's petty
rivalry with brother Jermaine.8 of 10
Photo credit: Getty Images
According to L.A., Michael showed the production duo some footage of a 1983
James Brown concert. Michael recalled how he told the King of Soul that Prince was in the crowd, and James invited His Purple Majesty on stage.
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But to Michael’s delight, Prince fumbled his performance. “Michael enjoyed laughing at the video,” L.A. wrote. Michael, however, wasn’t done with Prince yet.
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Photo credit: Getty/YouTube
The music mogul penned: “After that, [Michael] put on a scene from Prince’s movie ‘Under the Cherry Moon,’ the artsy black-and-white bomb [Prince] made after ‘Purple Rain,’ and he laughed some more at Prince.”
At the height of their rivalry, Michael felt “washed up” because his recent Victory Tour had ended up as a massive flop, an insider dished to The ENQUIRER. “Michael was sitting on top last year at this time,” the close associate said in 1985. “Now Prince has come along and toppled him!”
Photo credit: Getty Images
Prince outshone Michael by nabbing an Oscar that year for the best original score on 1984’s “Purple Rain.” Michael was also jealous over how quickly the motion picture industry responded to Prince as both
a sex symbol and future movie star.
Photo credit: Getty Images
Prince Announces His UK Shows In London
A record company executive who was close to Michael added: “When Prince won the Academy Award, Michael told an associate, ‘I guess I really am yesterday’s news.’"
Photo credit: Getty Images
Prince then managed to make things worse after Michael reached out to his fellow superstar about collaborating on his future hit song "Bad."
Photo credit: Getty Images
The "1999" star later explained to Chris Rock that the opening of "Bad" immediately made him lose interest on the project: "The first line of that song is, 'Your butt is mine.' Now, I said, 'Who's gonna sing that to who? 'Cause you sure ain't singing it to me — and I sure ain't singing it to you!'"
Photo credit: Getty Images
American Bandstand’s 50th..A Celebration – Day 2
But an insider told The ENQUIRER that Prince didn't just decline the song: "He actually took the time to do a whole new recording of 'Bad' and sent it back to Michael to show him how the song could work a lot better — which was just about the biggest insult that you could've made to the best-selling artist in pop music history!"
Photo credit: Getty Images
36th Annual NAACP Image Awards – Show
But Michael got his revenge by savoring Prince's other public failure — as revealed by top music executive L.A. Reid in his memoir, “Sing To Me.” In the book, L.A. wrote that he and Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds were invited to visit Michael’s Neverland Ranch in the 1990s — which revealed more than the star's petty
rivalry with brother Jermaine.Photo credit: Getty Images
According to L.A., Michael showed the production duo some footage of a 1983
James Brown concert. Michael recalled how he told the King of Soul that Prince was in the crowd, and James invited His Purple Majesty on stage.
Photo credit: Getty Images
But to Michael’s delight, Prince fumbled his performance. “Michael enjoyed laughing at the video,” L.A. wrote. Michael, however, wasn’t done with Prince yet.
Photo credit: Getty Images
The music mogul penned: “After that, [Michael] put on a scene from Prince’s movie ‘Under the Cherry Moon,’ the artsy black-and-white bomb [Prince] made after ‘Purple Rain,’ and he laughed some more at Prince.”
Photo credit: Getty/YouTube
