The story of why Prince and Rick James hated each other
The story of Prince and Rick James is a strange one. It’s the tale of the two artists whose similarities can be attributed to their decades-long feud. Instead of uniting the two, it caused one of music’s most notorious rivalries—one that started when James invited Prince to support him on his ‘Fire It Up’ tour in early 1980.
During this period, Prince was a rising star, and due to his music being so unique, he attracted both a black and white crowd. This was something James was all too aware of and, with that, decided that he had to make use of both for publicity and economic reasons. Little did he know, however, it would kick off one of the defining relationships of his career.
Both Rick James and Prince released their debut solo albums in 1978, highlighting the striking similarities between their careers at the start. However, their paths would soon diverge significantly, only to end in eerily similar ways. James’s ‘Fire It Up’ tour was dubbed “The Battle of Funk”, and that was no exaggeration. It was more than a battle—it was a full-blown war and one that was long and drawn out.
James’ friend and saxophonist, Daniel Lemelle, recalled how the series of live shows unfolded in Mike Judge’s Tales from the Tour Bus in 2018. Both acts were somewhat envious of each other, with each viewing the other as having the skills their own act lacked. They would watch each other’s performances from the wings, with jealousy quickly bubbling to the surface. Not long after, James accused Prince of stealing his moves, aesthetics, and even his idea for the girl group Vanity 6.
Saxophonist Lemelle, meanwhile, went as far as to say that the Prince and his band were snobs and that he once forced the to drink cognac, which allegedly reduced him to tears. After the tour, animosity between both camps would reach a fever pitch. The story goes that Prince would make James work harder than he’d ever done on his artistry which is said to have been driven by intense jealousy.
Adding to the animosity, James was very open about his rivalry with Prince. Showing just how far their competition went, when Prince formed his group, The Time with Morris Day, James started his own band, Process and the Doo Rags. James also wrote Eddie Murphy’s mega-hit ‘Party All the Time’ in 1985 as a means of kicking back against Prince’s newfound superstardom and admitted he wanted to give the comedian a hit to “stick it in Prince’s ear”.
Did they ever come to blows?
Allegedly, Prince once refused to sign an autograph for James’ mother, an incident that enraged Mr Super Freak so much that he wanted to physically confront Prince. James recounted the event in his memoir, Glow: “Prince had dissed Mom and that I was gonna kick his scrawny ass.” Fortunately, Prince’s manager intervened and defused the situation, ensuring Prince apologised.
By the end of the 1980s, it became clear that Prince had won the battle between the two. Meanwhile, Rick James and his wife, Tanya Hijazi, faced a dramatic downfall. In the mid-1990s, they were both sentenced to prison for several years after being found guilty of the kidnapping and torture of a young woman, as well as the kidnapping and beating of a record company executive.
Strangely, both artists would die in similar circumstances. Rick James passed away in 2004 from heart failure attributed to a mix of drugs in his blood, and in 2016, Prince was found dead owing to a similar circumstance.
Looking back, it’s easy to see why Rick James was jealous of Prince—he was younger, more experimental, and pushed boundaries. However, both are rightly regarded as titans of funk, excelling in their own unique ways. It’s unfortunate that their similarities created a rift between them, as a collaboration would have undoubtedly been iconic and immensely fruitful for both artists. Such a partnership could have produced some truly legendary music.
