During a prior interview, Quincy Jones, reminisced about how the beloved Michael Jackson and Prince couldn’t stand each other back in the day. Jones gave a first-hand account of what it was like to be in the same room at that time and detailed just how bad MJ’s and Prince’s decades-long beef really got behind the scenes. In particular, Jones recalled two wild incidents he witnessed between the two icons that will crack you up…although back then it was no laughing matter.
QUINCY JONES REVEALED TENSE FILLED INCIDENTS HE WITNESSED BETWEEN MJ & PRINCE
Before we get into why Prince to try to run over Michael Jackson with his car, here’s one more OLD SCHOOL fun fact Quincy Jones revealed: MJ wanted his hit, “Who’s Bad,” to be a collaboration with — get this — Prince! That would have been MAJOR, but also disastrous, because MJ and Prince had already had a long history of beef, which is where Quincy’s story gets really interesting below…
JONES ON WHY PRINCE TRIED TO HIT MJ AND LA TOYA WITH HIS LIMO!
Quincy Jones recalled the time that he witnessed Prince try to hit Michael and La Toya Jackson with his limo. And apparently, Prince did so gangsta style…by waiting for them in the parking lot after James Brown’s concert!
Quincy Jones: “Have you ever seen the video of them [Prince and Michael] at James Brown’s gig? [Prince] always had this thing with Michael (laughs), they would CLASH (laughs). But [at that time] Michael had 25 years of experience, Prince had 5 years. So Michael went up there [on stage with James Brown] sang for about 15 seconds then moonwalked for about 15 seconds. And then he whispered in James Brown’s ear to ‘Let Prince come up.’
Prince jumped up on the back of his bodyguard, took his gloves off and threw ’em at them [Michael and his crew], then they threw ’em back at him…and then [Prince] came up and tried to challenge Michael. That’s not the way you do cameos, man. You join the family, you don’t fight with each other or try to compete with each other. He made a fool out of himself that night. So Prince] waited for them [Michael, Latoya and their crew] after the show in his limousine and he tried to run over La Toya and Michael (laughs). That was some drama Mama! There was ALWAYS some drama. Michael loved drama! -Source
QUINCY JONES RECALLS TIME PRINCE TRIED TO CLOWN MJ
Jones explains what happened when he called a meeting with Prince and MJ to convince Prince to be in MJ’s “Bad” video:
“We had a meeting at Michael’s house. I said ‘Michael let’s invite him out and try to talk him into this.’ I had envisioned a fight breaking out in the video, you know some drama, that’s all…and then Michael and Prince coming up to each other and [squashing it]. That’s what videos are all about- tension and release.
Jones continued:
“So Prince comes out and I say ‘Michael you sit on that side. I’ll sit on the other side. And let him sit there so he doesn’t feel like we’re ganging up on him (laughs). He [Prince] came in with a big box of stuff, he’d just finished “Under The cherry Moon…directing it- He had this box of stuff, it was WEIRD man. He had some Tootsie rolls and some cuff links and stuff like that…a lot of stuff, Michael thought it was voodoo (laughs). And then he said ‘I’m sorry to keep you all [waiting] this long..and then he called Michael ‘Camille’ (LOL),” explains Jones.
This was crazy…and hilarious! Through it all, Prince and MJ respected each other’s talents, and years later they thankfully squashed their beef.
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