The 1975’s Matty Healy explains why Prince is his favourite guitarist of all time
When Prince died in 2016, the world suddenly became much less colourful as his purple light went out. That evening, The 1975 were performing in Santa Barbara in California and projecting an image of Prince as their backdrop.
Considering his impact on the group, it would have been amiss if the Manchester group didn’t pay tribute to Prince. He taught frontman Matty Healy that it was OK to be unashamedly true to himself and not bend to fit into society’s rulebook. From an early age, Healy always felt like he was different to everybody else, but he saw Prince as a kindred spirit.
Speaking to The Evening Standard in 2013, ahead of the release of The 1975’s debut album, Healy boldly made the comparison between himself and a trio of historic names, including Prince. He recalled, “I remember being about seven, watching a Michael Jackson video on my knees in front of the TV, and one of my dad’s salt-of-the-earth mates saying, ‘He’s like an alien, isn’t he?’ I thought, ‘I’m so much more like him than I am like you.’ I get Bowie, I get Prince, I get Michael Jackson. I know how they feel and what they’re trying to say.”
It wasn’t just Prince’s alien-like tendencies that made Healy obsessed with him, and his unique guitar style was a major part of his appeal. The mercurial way Prince could fill his listeners with emotion with every chord was awe-inspiring to The 1975 singer. He once explained: “It’s his simplicity and minimalism and feel. He’s all about the feel. He’s not going to do a 25-minute solo, but he’ll make people want to have sex in four bars.”
Healy continued: “When he wants to be, he is quite technical, and in the studio, he can go fucking crazy. He’s amazing, but he transcends everything. He’s Prince, isn’t he? ‘I Wanna Be Your Lover’, that’s a perfect example. He’s playing under the strings, it’s all he plays, but it’s classic.”
Furthermore, The 1975 wrote a tribute to the late singer following his death which appeared on their second album, I Like It When You Sleep, for You Are So Beautiful yet So Unaware of It. ‘Love Me’ is packed with playful Prince-like licks and is a throwback to a more credible era of pop.
At the BRIT Awards in 2017, in an interview with On Demand Entertainment, Healy said of Prince, Bowie, and George Michael: “They proved that you can do pop music that’s social commentary, informative, and you can also reach millions of people, so there’s no excuse really to not try to do what they did.”
When Healy began comparing himself to Prince, The 1975 were yet to achieve anything, and mentioning himself within the same breath as such a legendary figure could have easily backfired. While he’s still yet to operate on the same level as Prince, over the last decade, Healy has curated a body of work that shows pop music doesn’t have to be throwaway and can also be used as a reflection of society.
Listen below to The 1975’s tribute to the late guitarist on ‘Love Me’.
