NEED TO KNOW
Some of Prince’s closest collaborators opened up about why the star was not comfortable meeting celebrities
Drummer Bobby Z remembered him snubbing Bruce Springsteen and Madonna backstage
Prince died on April 21, 2016, at the age of 57
Prince was one of the biggest celebrities in the world, but that didn’t mean he felt comfortable around other stars.
Prince died on April 21, 2016, at 57 years old, and, in honor of the 10-year anniversary of his death, The Guardian spoke to different singers, musicians, producers and artists in his orbit. One of those was Bobby Z, drummer in Prince and the Revolution. He told the outlet about why Prince didn’t like to meet other actors and musicians.
“He found meeting other celebrities very uncomfortable unless he was a fan,” Bobby Z, 70, said. “He could get bashful or embarrassed, or there could be huge stars and he just wouldn’t give them the time of day. So besides shaking Elizabeth Taylor’s hand I don’t know if he’d be interested in chatting.”
Prince on stage in 2011
Credit: Stuart Wilson/Getty
Bobby Z remembered once when Prince drew a line in the sand when it came to possibly meeting Bruce Springsteen and Madonna. “Once there was a hilarious moment when Bruce Springsteen and Madonna came backstage but Prince’s dressing room was off limits to them, so they had to use the band’s toilet,” he remembered.
There was one celebrity whom Prince was actually keen to meet, however. “When he met David Bowie at Paisley Park it was a warm moment, because he felt that they were equals,” Bobby Z said.
Others in the article also reflected on Prince’s relationship to his fame. Owen Husney, Prince’s first manager, remembered, “He was a shy guy, more comfortable with 10,000 people in a room than five. My job was implementing his genius.”
Susan Rogers, his audio engineer, said, “He was uncomfortable in celebrity environments because he didn’t do small talk. I understood the loneliness of that kind of artistic vision. Sometimes I’d go over and bake him cookies.”
Prince in 2010
Credit: Kevin Mazur/WireImage
George Clinton, singer and leader of Parliament-Funkadelic, who eventually signed to Paisley Park Records, remembered that he and Prince would hang out a lot. “He loved to hear my stories about the old days, meeting people like Mavis Staples, Sam Cooke or Jimi Hendrix. He’d go: ‘I never met nobody,’ ” Clinton, 84, remembered.
“He was always asking me how I could get away from the venue after a concert finished, because he couldn’t get out,” Clinton said. He remembered one time Prince actually got the best of him. “The last time I saw him playing in London with 3rd Eye Girl, two years before he passed, he yelled, ‘My friend George Clinton, on the balcony!’ at the end. The spotlight fell on me and while everyone was looking up he snuck out, leaving me with all his fans.”
Back in July 2016, Matt Damon and Julia Stiles remembered when Prince wasn’t particularly impressed to meet them while speaking to GQ. Stiles, 45, remembered, “After [2007’s] The Bourne Ultimatum came out, there was a premiere in London. Prince actually came to it, then got tickets for the cast to come see him [perform].”
Then they got the chance to meet him after the show. “Matt said, ‘So you live in Minnesota? I hear you live in Minnesota,’ ” Stiles said.
Damon, 55, recalled, “Prince said, ‘I live inside my own heart, Matt Damon.’ ”
But there were other times when Prince was interested in parts of celebrity culture. He begged for years to be part of Lilith Fair and famously guest-starred on a 2014 episode of New Girl.
Read the original article on People