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The moment Prince heard The Beatles for the first time

Thu 15 June 2023 21:00, UK

The late musician Prince stands as one of the most influential artists of the past 50 years, with artists ranging from Beyoncé to Beck noting his majesty. For his efforts, the Minneapolis native features in a hallowed group of artists answerable only to The Beatles and Bob Dylan. In fact, there’s even a tenuous connection between Prince and the Fab Four, with his 1985 experimental and psychedelic album, Around the World in a Day, long thought to have been inspired by the Liverpool band’s game-changing 1967 effort, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.

When sitting down with Diffuser in 2017, Bobby Z, the drummer of Prince’s band The Revolution, recalled the time he played Sgt. Pepper’s while travelling on the tour bus. Remarkably, this was the first time Prince had ever heard the music of The Beatles. The diminutive rocker listened to the track ‘Good Morning, Good Morning’, one of the album’s most out-there moments and a song which features an array of animal sounds, and it struck him like lightning.

“He said, ‘What’s that?'” Bobby Z recalled. “We said, ‘That’s Sgt. Pepper.’ He went, ‘The Beatles. Ehhh? Really?’ You know, it was just like that. He walked in [and we were like] ‘No, no, no, no, not this song. Start it over.’ And, of course, he didn’t have the patience, but I know he went back and listened to that song and realised that it was much better. Not better, but ‘Good Morning, Good Morning’, that’s just a novelty track on an amazing album.”

Bobby Z believed that this experience greatly impacted Prince: “But that moment, I think he realised that The Beatles were more than he thought,” he continued. “He just kind of swallowed them up”.

The drummer then explained that he believed Prince listened to The Beatles’ psychedelic period without hearing their earlier bodies of work, such as Rubber Soul and Revolver. He also weighed in on the rumours surrounding the origins of Around the World in a Day. He said: “I’m assuming that by swallowing up Magical Mystery Tour and Sgt. Pepper that Around the World in a Day is definitely influenced by it.”

Despite the speculation, Prince gave his definitive answer during a 1985 interview with Rolling Stone. He claimed: “The influence wasn’t the Beatles. They were great for what they did, but I don’t know how that would hang today. The cover art came about because I thought people were tired of looking at me. Who wants another picture of him? I would only want so many pictures of my woman; then I would want the real thing. What would be a little more happening than just another picture would be if there was some way I could materialise in people’s cribs when they play the record.”

Concluding, Prince added: “I don’t mind [the album being called psychedelic] because that was the only period in recent history that delivered songs and colours. Led Zeppelin, for example, would make you feel differently on each song.”

Revisit Around the World in a Day below.