Sight gags, slapstick, if you tripped it was funny. He would approach you from the left and tap your right shoulder, that was one of his favorites. By Jem Aswad @jemaswad
MARC ANTHONY (Singer/friend)
He was absolutely hysterical. His image was so serious, but he loved to laugh. That’s the first thing that took me aback — how funny and how quick he was. He didn’t trust too many people, but once he felt safe with you, it was some funny shit, man. I remember loving his laugh and loving seeing his face like that, because it was so rare.
DEZ DICKERSON (Guitarist, 1979-83)
You know the [1980] mugshot? This is where it came from. We were flying from Jackson, Mississippi and we were spread out all over the plane, but Prince and [keyboardist Matt Fink] were seated together. Prince opened the overhead bin where they kept the emergency gear and one of the things in it was a bullhorn.
And I guess he decided he’d like to have a bullhorn, so he snatched it out of the bin and initially gave it to Matt to put in his bag but it wouldn’t fit. So Matt came up to me, 15 rows back, and I’m like “This is gonna end badly but okay, he’s the boss.”
I found a way to put it in my bag, but there was a lady who was so incensed that these bizarre-looking people would dare to do this, so she told a flight attendant who told the pilot, and they called the sky marshals. “Ladies and gentlemen, someone has stolen a piece of airline equipment and the sky marshals will be conducting a row-by-row search.” When they got to my row I said, “Yeah, I’ve got it, but I didn’t take it — they did.” Prince stood up, huge smile, thought it was hilarious and was just like, “Take me” — and they did, took him and Matt off the plane and to jail and the whole nine. But because people at the police station knew who he was, they just ended up joking around and signing autographs until management got him out.
CASSANDRA O’NEAL (Keyboardist, 2009-2016)
We were doing a residency at Madison Square Garden in 2011 and we had an aftershow and the late, great Sharon Jones, who opened some of the shows, was playing. We’re watching them and they’re killing it, she’s so dope, Prince is sitting next to me, it’s a party, it’s the cap on a perfect day. Prince had on these leggings and he says (low voice) “You like my pants?” “Yes, they’re gorgeous.” We go back to listening — you didn’t really strike up conversations with him, you just let him lead. Then he says “They’re killing, aren’t they? ” “Oh yes.” “I should give her some money. Do you have any money?” because he didn’t carry cash. I had a $50 bill so I gave it to him and he says “I’ll be right back, save my seat.” So he melts into the crowd, comes back and says “I gave your $50 to Questlove.” “You did? Oh, okay.” So later I run into Quest and we made some smalltalk and I said, “By the way, did Prince give you a $50 bill?” He says [surprised], “Yeah, he did.” And I kinda jokingly said, “He was supposed to do something else with it, can I have it back?” And he said “No, because every time he sees me he always gives me a piece of money and I hang it up on my wall. So this 50 will make $163.25” or some very specific number like that — he really knew how much Prince had given him. He was very nice about it, then he says, “I can’t give you back that 50, but here, you can have this instead,” and gave me a $100 bill!
RAPHAEL SAADIQ (Artist-Producer/friend)
I did a festival on a bill with him and Chaka Khan in Copenhagen [in 2011]. I was onstage, the crowd was having a good time, partying, and I did a spin and the crowd went nuts. I’m thinkin’ “I’m really killin’ it right now!” — and then I turned around and Prince is onstage, dancing behind me. I was killing it — but I wasn’t killing it that much
DEZ DICKERSON
This would be horribly politically incorrect now, but when we were in airports and he saw an empty wheelchair he would sit down in it, put on a pair of sunglasses and have us push him out onto the concourse. We’d disappear into the background and he’d slowly slide down onto the floor and see how people would react — it was all in fun, it wasn’t meant to demean anyone, but it was an interesting [study in psychology]. Some people would act like they didn’t see and walk on by, but there’d always be someone who’d be horrified and say “Oh this poor man!” Once someone once made the first move, people would come over and be like “Is he okay?”
BOBBY Z
[Time members Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis] were wearing these perfectly tailored Hefty-bag suits with shower caps for hats. They were armed with eggs. Matt and I were running from them and we burst into [Zapp leader] Roger Troutman’s dressing room and he’s got a party going on and suddenly we’re in his world. I didn’t want eggs thrown into this poor guy’s dressing room, and of course we got pelted the second we left. Somehow, after the show, after a half hour of battle, these trays of pies suddenly arrived. I don’t know if Prince ordered them during the fight but everyone was throwing them and then Jesse broke free — he’s in handcuffs, running around in the middle, mad. It was like a choreographed 1930s movie. Prince had been off in his general’s quarters
