Also released that week, free with
copies of the Daily Mirror, was Prince’s new album 20Ten,
accompanied by an interview with His Royal Badness in which he
declared “The internet is completely over” and “All these computers
and digital gadgets are no good. They just fill your head with
numbers”. To celebrate the release of the legendary sex-midget’s
(probably shit) new album, Quitegeist has prepared a few Prince
facts, as an excuse to show another picture of him looking
ridiculous.
In 1987, despite half a million
copies having already been pressed, Prince insisted his record
company recall his latest CD ‘The Black Album’ after he had a
spiritual epiphany that it was evil.
In 2001 Prince became a Jehovah’s Witness. “It’s like
Morpheus and Neo in The Matrix”, he explained.
Prince has needed double hip replacement since 2005 but it
is against his Jehovah’s Witness faith to have the surgery. His
condition has been worsened because he will only wear high heel
shoes.
When heroes get religion
I was upset when Anne
Rice found God, and Beck turned out to be a Scientologist. What is
it about their faith that puts me off?
Prince performs onstage on March 28, 2009 in Los Angeles,
California.
Photograph by Kristian Dowling/Getty Images
This doesn't make me especially proud, but last week's
announcement that
Anne Rice was to "quit
being a Christian" while remaining committed to Christ made me
smile. Rice made the annoucement on Facebook:
"In the name of Christ, I refuse to be anti-gay. I refuse to
be anti-feminist. I refuse to be anti-artificial birth control.
I refuse to be anti-Democrat. I refuse to be anti-secular
humanism. I refuse to be anti-science. I refuse to be anti-life.
In the name of Christ, I quit
Christianity and being Christian. Amen"
Amen indeed. Reading her statement, I felt a wave of smug
pleasure reserved for those who feel they've been proven right.
Rice was an atheist when she wrote the series of vampire books
that coloured my teenage years, even though she later justified the
presence of the diabolical creatures in her novels by explaining
that she never glorified evil, and that "on the contrary, the
continuing battle against evil is the subject of the work". Keen
readers would disagree (Lestat's
apostasy and his sensual mercenary ways, not glorified? Yeah,
right!) and I, like many others, felt nothing but consternation when
she announced her return to Catholicism back in 1998.
The curse continued, as one by one seemingly all of my heroes
came out as religious. A few years ago, indie musician Beck went
public about his involvement with Scientology (my partner found this
more depressing than Kurt Cobain's fate – "at least his suicide
seemed to fit his
own mythology, learning about Beck's faith just made me feel
ill"). Juliette Lewis
followed shortly after. Madonna, whom I adored as a teen, got
into Kabbalah (at least the religious overtones earlier in her
career were
more subversive). And worst of all
Prince, whom I had followed compulsively since my childhood,
announced in 2001 that his faith had take a new direction: he had
chosen to become a Jehovah's Witness (going as far as
handing out pamphlets door-to-door, leaving a trail of
gobsmacked people in his wake).
Why this feeling of superiority (some might say bigotry-lite) on
my part? Does knowing that a favourite creator has a faith I disdain
change the quality of their output? In most cases, religious
conversion doesn't put me off so much that I give up buying their
art entirely (that is unless they really go overboard – see John
Travolta's
Battlefield Earth: A Saga of the Year 3000, one of the
worst received movies ever). Prince's music, for example, has
always had the imprint of his bizzarre brand of religious mysticism,
and for the most part it has helped his music – pop masterpieces
such as his song
The Cross wouldn't exist otherwise.
It does, however, change my perception of them as people.
Christians have to live with (and defend themselves from)
stereotypes that contain grains of truth: a lot of Christian
denominations are closely associated with anti-choice, anti-science
and anti-gay mindsets, which is why it breaks my heart to see my
heroes joining their ranks. By evangelising while also not voicing
their disapproval of some traits associated with
Christianity, they add their tacit approval to groups perpetuating
systems of oppression. The same goes for communists who are
uncritical of their movement's past, for gender activists who don't
acknowledge how feminism has historically
failed working-class and
minority women, or for libertarians unwilling to
analyse the limitations of free speech.
In other words, I find myself put off when believers of any kind
broadcast their faith without any critical appendix. But Rice's
pronouncement has also made me take a look at my own response to
religion: when news of her statement came through, I assumed
she'd come back to
atheism and let out a small whoop of joy. In fact, she's still
into Christ, but has made it clear she hates some of the baggage.
That's a stance I can actually admire (though I still wish she'd
come clean about Lestat and those other vampires). It's a rare thing
when famous people get to explain their thinking in detail (and when
they do, it can be
painful), but I'm glad Rice has chosen to do so.
"Prince – whose conversion to Jehovah’s Witnesses was his mother
Mattie Shaw’s dying wish – goes out door-to-door to spread the word
about his faith and try and get others to convert.
"Although most people are surprised to have a pop superstar call at their
house to talk about God, Prince insists most individuals are “cool” with him."
Mother's guilt gets Watchtower members in the end,
again!
Prince believes in the Chemtrail Conspiracy: another celebrity
gone made with apocalyptic religions and conspiracy theories!
He likens us to slaves of the governments.
It's interesting that in this interview, Prince makes the statement,
"Don't tell me something you think I'm supposed to know."
Wow, I wonder what he is doing going door-to-door in disguises telling others
what they HAVE to know to survive Armageddon?
Beck, a recent convert to Scientology, believes in Chemtrails and indeed, a
recent album of his uses lyrics like:
So many people
Where do they go?
You and me hit by a touch of white evil
Watching the jet planes go by
You and me watching
You and me watching
The chemtrails is where we belong
That's where we'll be when we die in the slipstream
We'll climb in a hole in the sky
Various versions of the chemtrail conspiracy theory have circulated through
internet websites and radio programs.
In some of the accounts, the chemicals are described as
barium and
aluminum salts,
polymer
fibers, thorium,
or
silicon carbide.
In other accounts it is alleged the skies are being seeded with electrical
conductive materials as part of a massive electromagnetic superweapons program
based around the
High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP).
Those who believe in the conspiracy say the chemtrails are toxic,
but the reasons given by those who believe in the conspiracy vary widely,
spanning from military weapons testing, chemical population control, to global
warming mitigation measures.
Scientists and federal agencies have consistently denied that chemtrails exist,
insisting the sky tracks are simply persistent contrails.
Why is it that when some very talented and popular celebrities begin to lose
their youth and wild ambitions they become afraid of invisible bogeymen? Why do
actors like John Travolta, Prince, Kurt Cameron and others join religions in
their later years of youthful decline that feature gloom-and-doom mindsets,
replacing the sensuality and exuberance of their youth? Is it that
they have suddenly become wiser than the rest of us? Or have secret agents
supported by governmental or terrorist groups begun to use them at a certain
point in their life to preach to the world that we are in danger of being taken
over by the great Satan, in countless forms of secret conspiracies?
We expect more fantastic ideas from you in the days ahead, Prince! But
"Don't tell me something you think I'm supposed to know."
Album Review: Prince, '20Ten' (NPG)
You can only hear this by buying a copy of The Mirror.
Don't bother
Since his conversion to the Jehovah’s
Witness faith, Prince is far from the man who, in 1982, “sincerely want[ed] to
fuck the taste out of your mouth”. These days he’s more likely to wash it out
with soap and sell you a Watchtower…
The 52-year-old gets mad when judged by his sexual and musical revolutionary
past, though he himself invites these comparisons: ‘20Ten’ opens with
‘Compassion’, a pale imitation of ‘1999’’s futurist jitter-funk, and of the
album from which such questionable mouth-fucking chat-ups come. Prince today? A
Xerox of a Xerox.
He’s also temporally challenged – not only loudly pronouncing the internet over
(the print media, meanwhile, in the form of the Daily Mirror, already
giving the album away for free, thanked Prince by – amazingly! – proclaiming it
his best in 23 years…), but for sagely decreeing, on ‘Act Of God’, that taxes go
to build bomb-dropping planes “Supposedly to keep us safe from Saddam.” Not so
much of a threat these days since being hanged in December 2006, though, is he?
Then again, Prince has always lived in a different world. That was great when he
effortlessly threw out mind-melting reconfigurations of pop likes ‘When Doves
Cry’ and ‘If I Was Your Girlfriend’; but ‘effortless’ is a very different thing
from ‘making no effort’…
‘20Ten’ has its moments: ‘Sticky Like Glue’ masquerades as a stop-start
chicken-scratcher, before Prince drops a hideous rap and forgets to write an
ending; ‘Walk In Sand’ is a lovely quiet storm ballad… apart from that
photocopier noise.
Typically perverse, he buries the best, ‘Laydown’, in “hidden” territory,
camouflaged as uncredited track 77. With complex synth lines and a convincing
rap, Prince calls himself “the Purple Yoda” on a spooky, ragged cut that
hints at those once-otherworldly powers.
His best album in 23 years? No way. His best in four? Eh, go on then; but that’s
a bit like saying, “I had my best acid trip ever because this time my nan didn’t
crawl up my leg with a Bowie knife in her teeth, threatening to cut my nuts off
and feed them back through my nose.”
We don’t expect – or even want – another ‘Housequake’, but the least his majesty
could do is more than phone in snooze-funk for a presumably hefty advance from a
newspaper. Then again, it seems Prince has been more interested in studying
popular science: “All of the same minerals and chemicals of space/You carry
within your womb/That’s how we got to this place,” he informs his lover,
suggesting, if such cosmological ponderings turn her on, perhaps he could be
allowed to explore her anatomy. Boy, how those seduction techniques have
changed...
Jason Draper
Kevin Smith asked to do Prince video to "Witness"
Kevin Smith about reactions from Peters, Burton and Prince
Prince Disguises Himself On Jehovah's Witness Rounds
Religious singer PRINCE often dons a disguise when he
embarks on door-to-door preaching campaigns in a bid to
stop fans recognising him.
The Purple Rain hitmaker famously became a Jehovah's Witness in 2001, and
admits he often "freaked out" householders when he arrived on their doorstep
to talk about his faith.
But Prince now changes his appearance so his superstar status is not
detected.
He tells Britain's Daily Mirror, "Sometimes people act surprised but
mostly they're really cool about it...
"My hair is capable of doing a lot of different things. I don't always
look like this."
And the star's mentor, former Sly & The Family Stone star Larry Graham,
admits Prince has become so interested in the word of God, he can pore over
details of the Bible for up to eight hours every day.
He says, "Prince is a spiritual man. Sometimes we study for hours - six,
seven, eight hours a day. We sit down and get into the scriptures."
Wow, Prince, how will you feel when you wake up and
smell the coffee? You'll only be seen as a fool who lost his mojo.
Prince with a cross around his neck?
from the Daily Mirror article:
Prince will give new album 20TEN away
free to Daily Mirror readers
"Suppose a loved one of yours was brutally murdered and the weapon was
submitted to the court as evidence. Would you try to gain possession of the
murder weapon, take photographs of it, and print many copies for distribution?
Would you produce replicas of the weapon in various sizes? Would you then
fashion some of them into jewelry? Or would you have these reproductions
commercially manufactured and sold to friends and relatives to be venerated?
Likely you would be repulsed at the idea! Yet, these very things have been done
with the cross!
"Besides, the use of the cross in worship is no different from the use of
images in worship,
a practice condemned in the Bible. (Exodus
20:2-5;
Deuteronomy 4:25, 26) The apostle John accurately reflected the teachings of
true Christianity when he admonished his fellow Christians with the words:
'Guard yourselves from idols.' (1 John
5:21) This they did even when it meant facing death in the Roman arena."
Where or when is the committee meeting with the
elders going to be held? NOT!!!
Prince declares "Internet is over"
Prince - world exclusive interview:
Peter Willis goes inside the star's secret world
So why did you decide to call the album 20TEN? I ask. "I just think it's
a year that really matters," he says. These are very trying times." To
emphasise the point he chivvies me into another room, switches on the TV and
shows me clips from an evangelical TV documentary blaming corporate America
for a range of woes from Hurricane Katrina to asthmatic children.
He says one problem is that "people, especially young people, don't have
enough God in their lives".
Prince has been a devout Jehovah's Witness for more than 10 years.
He even has a space set aside which he's labelled The Knowledge Room,
with a library of religious books.
Prince must have been convinced by the
latest Watchtower conventions and studies in the Watchtower magazine
demonizing the internet. Is this really about money? I DON'T THINK SO.
Prince and Jehovah's Witnesses
"All the signs are present for a typical conversion
to Jehovah's Witnesses: disaffection with the system of things (the
world and especially its entertainment), the intolerance of other
religions or world views, disassociation with one's previous persona and
habits, and an active evangelistic tone."
Prince Wears All Purple
for July 2010 Ebony Magazine Cover
EBONY Magazine just revealed Prince's latest look, and my, does he
REALLY look like a Jehovah's Witness now! Wha?
Legendary R&B singer Prince wears all purple everything on the cover of
the new July 2010 issue of Ebony Magazine. In Prince’s feature,
he talks religion (he used to go door-to-door as a Jehova’s Witness!),
his love life and more. He also shows off some never-before-seen photos.
Peep Ebony’s excerpt of the issue, which hit newsstands
yesterday.
--from
http://gossiponthis.com/2010/06/09/prince-ebony-magazine-cover/#ixzz0qU4pLQFZ
They say,
In a rare interview, the incomparable Prince grants
Ebony unprecedented access within the inner courts of the famed Paisley
Park, just outside of Minneapolis. During this 12-hour encounter, the
musical genius opens up in his own way about topics ranging from his
experience going door-to-door as a Jehovah’s Witness and about his
priorities regarding his relationship with Bria Valente. As the pop star
approaches 52, fans can celebrate his life and music with this keepsake
July issue featuring him in his own words and signature
never-before-seen photos.
Prince and his conversion to
Jehovah's Witnesses
Prince – “Cause And Effect” (2/27/10)
Another Purple One premiere for
Minnesota Public Radio, which we can ride with. Prince is bolstering his
hometown indie’s page view count by giving them his second new track of the past
few months (don’t forget the Jehovah’s Witness hymnal masquerading as Vikings
fight song “Purple
& Gold” … actually, maybe do). It’s a Princely revue that takes surf rock as
its base, passing it through some funk and prog-rock filters, but it’s the
lyrics stick out. “There’s something on the tip of my tongue, I’ve got a taste
for sin.” Old Prince! “I’m made in the image of God.” New Prince! Really it’s
reconciling his biographical extremes with this operative line: “If I had to do
it all over again, I wouldn’t change a thing but my next of kin / If you stamp
your passport full of regret you’ll have nothing to remember but a lot to
forget.” He’s a holy roller, but still can count off each position from those
one-night stands. Dude’s fascinating. Musically this is not a breakthrough of
any sort, but I abide by the self-referential, especially when there’s so many
selves for him to reference. There will be no new fans, but listen up if you are
into the man.
source:
http://stereogum.com/280962/prince-cause-and-effect/mp3s/
Prince may need new double hip operation, but refuses surgery (June
9, 2009)
"...the real buzz on Prince is that his much reported hip problems of the past
have now turned into need for a double hip replacement. Unfortunately, thanks to
his practice as a Jehovah’s Witness, Prince still refuses surgery. JW’s don’t
believe in blood transfusions."
Get Hip, Prince. Or Perhaps
Two(June 9, 2009)
"Back in 2005, it was reported the pop icon Prince was in desperate need of hip
replacement surgery. He has yet to have the procedure, as the artist is a
Jehovah’s Witness ... Though there was talk of a 'secret surgery' to fix the
problem, Prince has been seen walking with cane and there are now reports that
the injury has intensified."
Prince fans have recently become aware of his conversion to Jehovah's
Witnesses, but few are aware of just how much that is affecting his music and
lifestyle as well. According to
Rick Ross, nationally known cult expert, he has even re-written some of the
lines to his old songs, not just inserting religion into the new ones:
Four years ago the funkster
converted reportedly to satisfy his mother’s dying wish, but since then Prince
has gone so far as to add religious lyrics to his theme song “Purple Rain.”
The new line in the song goes, “Say you can’t make up your mind? I think you
better close it and open up the Bible.”
Her dying wishes were for him to
become a Jehovah's Witness, as she had been for most of her life, and to see him
married. He tied the knot with Mani weeks before his mother passed away and six
months after the death of his father, pianist and bandleader John L Nelson.
Prince is also active in going door-to-door, and in unusual style for a
Jehovah's Witness, according to a blog at
atheism.about.com:
Evidently, Prince proselytizes
door- to-door just like other Witnesses - but unlike other Witnesses, he
participates in the "System" in ways that would normally be shunned. When he
does proselytize, according to Ross, he goes in a limo with four bodyguards and
tailor-made suits. Pity that all Witnesses aren't given the same latitude - but
they can't contribute millions to the cause like Prince can. You don't suppose
that has anything to do with it, do you?
A recent issue of Entertainment Weekly
provides some insight into the new Prince:
Two nights after the L.A.
concert, Prince is backstage before a sound check at the Glendale Arena outside
Phoenix, a city named, appropriately enough, after the fiery, feathered avatar
of resurrection. Clad in a black sleeveless tunic and cranberry pants, Prince
takes a plate from his bodyguard and loads it up with fruit, pasta slathered in
cream sauce, and salad. Yes, Prince eats. He also goes to the multiplex. Last
night, after his show in Bakersfield, Calif., he and his band unwound by
checking out Kevin Smith's latest flick, Jersey Girl, a so so departure from his
usual lewd-and-crude comedies. Prince was unimpressed. Not that the 45-year-old,
happily married, devout Jehovah's Witness can't appreciate a cleaner act; he
himself has scrubbed from his set list staples like "Head" and "Jack U Off."
It's just that according to Prince, Smith didn't replace it with anything
interesting. "We walked out after an hour," he sniffs. "Guess that's what
happens when the potty mouth don't work for you anymore."
....
Hearing him talk about ordinary
things is almost a shock. He speaks in hushed-voice gushes-megabyte downloads of
wit, logic, and Christian evangelism.
The second off-limits topic is
Prince's past...which rules out almost everything else you'd want to discuss
with him. "I've changed. I'm a different person. I'm about the present and
moving forward. New joke, new anecdote, new lesson to be discovered," he says."
"You know that old lady in Sunset Boulevard, trapped in her mansion and past
glories? Getting ready for her close-up? I don't run with that." Even so, Prince
begins concerts with a self-venerating video quoting extensively from a speech
by Alicia Keys at his Hall induction.
Much of what has changed in
Prince's life has occurred in the several years since he committed to the
Jehovah's Witness faith. His music has always wrestled with Christian-tinged
spirituality, but Prince says he didn't start reading the Bible until he'd
become a Witness. His religious fervor was evident in the 2001 concept album The
Rainbow Children, which was roundly knocked by critics. (Prince also attempted
to produce an evangelical video based on the album directed by...Kevin Smith,
whose surreal tale of working with Prince can be found on the DVD An Evening
With Kevin Smith. "I'm cool with him not liking Jersey Girl," says Smith. "I
f---ing hated his album Crystal Ball, so now we're even.")
As a result of his faith, Prince
has developed an uncharacteristic modesty. In concert, he's taken to changing
"I'm your messiah and you're the reason why" in "I Would Die 4 U" to "He's your
messiah..." Still, it appears he has some kinks to work out in squaring his
dogma with his golden-god persona. Asked if he feels he's alienated his fans
over the years, Prince says: "No. The love has never left. I've always felt that
there were people in my corner. It's a gift, that God gives us the chance to
feel such love. Arid it's all for His glory: I don't believe in idol worship.
That's why I don't sign autographs. When I get asked for my autograph, I say no
and tell them why, because I'm giving them something to think about." This from
a man who often prompts his concert audiences to scream his name. Ironies,
contradictions, and exceptions escape Prince like doves from a cage.
There is also the predicament of
his own potty-mouthed past-the one where he sang of erotic cities and a love
that is soft and wet. But Prince has this problem solved as well. He doesn't
perform those songs anymore. The founding father of the warning label freely
concedes he's come full circle since he scandalized Tipper Gore with the word
masturbating in "Darling Nikki." "Look at this situation with the FCC after
Janet: We've gone too far now. We've pushed the envelope off the table and
forgotten there was a table. You can't push the envelope any further than I
pushed it. So stop! What's the point?"
partial quotes from Entertainment Weekly, April 23, 2004, p. 29-32
Rolling Stone magazine offers some additional insights:
It's hard to tell precisely what
counts for the more easygoing Prince. He refuses to speak about any aspect of
his private life, but his becoming a Jehovah's Witness a few years back has
seemingly brought him a good deal of spiritual calm. The religion's combination
of absolute certainty and convoluted interpretive zeal suits him perfectly. He
began his remarks at the Hall of Fame induction by offering "all praise and
thanks to the most high Jehovah," and his additional declaration there that "too
much freedom can lead to the soul's decay" should be read as his acceptance of
the strict tenets of that faith. In consequence, he has expunged all
profanity from his language and refuses to perform any of his racier songs - no
"Darling Nikki," no "Head," no "Gett Off."
And speaking of sexual decorum,
Musicology, among its other subjects, is a paean to monogamy ("Eye see U picked
me out like U want something/But shame on U, baby, can't U see this ring?"). And
Prince has even become an unlikely advocate for cleaning up the airwaves. "This
culture is in big trouble," he insists. "All you see on television are debased
images...."
....
More personally, Prince's
marriage to twenty-seven-year-old Manuela Testolini in 2001 seems also to have
settled him. Beautiful, slender and soft-spoken, she was by his side virtually
every moment he wasn't on-stage in Cleveland. The past seven years or so have
not been easy for Prince. The child he had with his first wife, Mayte Garcia,
died from a rare illness after living for only a week. The couple's marriage
ended not long after that. Both his parents passed away. Amid all that loss,
remarriage and faith appear to have come as great, restorative gifts.
partial quotes from Rolling Stone, May 27, 2004, p. 56-60
All the signs are present for a typical conversion to Jehovah's Witnesses:
disaffection with the system of things (the world and especially its
entertainment), the intolerance of other religions or world views,
disassociation with one's previous persona and habits, and an active
evangelistic tone. Prince has revealed much of this in interviews. He goes
door-to-door, albeit in a fashion unlike any other Jehovah's Witness, but that
was also the case with Michael Jackson, a former Witness himself. (Michael used
to go in disguise however, Prince does not.)
How long will Prince remain a Witness? If he is still down deep as
independent as he has been in the past, he may ruffle some feathers with the big
boys in Brooklyn. Perhaps he will "reach an agreement" with the Watchtower
leaders to quietly disassociate himself once they are tired of trying to explain
him to the outside world. Or perhaps he will just become too conflicted with his
past and retire from the stage someday. Will he become another victim of
cult mind control breakdown? At any rate, for now it looks like he is
"dug in" for the long haul. Perhaps when he becomes aware that the Watchtower is
run by psychopaths, he may reconsider his devotion
to this self-styled "one true church."
I’m
not sure how Prince could go from not even casting a vote in the presidential
election,
saying “I got no dog in that race,” to wanting to work for President Obama
months later, but if the White House’s
Special Advisor for Green Jobs, Van Jones, is to be believed, that’s exactly
what happened. Check out this excerpt from
Jet magazine (not yet
available online):
Van Jones, Obama’s special adviser for green jobs at the White House
Council on Environmental Quality, told JET that celebrities including
Russell Simmons and Prince have contacted him looking for ways to join
Obama’s team.
Celebrities vying for jobs at the White House is certainly not news to me
(actor Kal Penn
left hit show House to be an associate director in the Office of
Public Engagement), but look at what Prince told Tavis Smiley in April on his
reasons for not voting (via
Jezebel’s Tracie Egan):
Well, the reason why is because I’m one of Jehovah’s Witnesses and we’ve
never voted. That’s not to say that I don’t think Barack Obama—President
Obama—is a very smart individual and he seems like he means well.
Prophecy is what we all have to go by now.
Perhaps he simply wants to bring said prophecy to the leader of the free
world. And far be it from Prince to leave his
Crystal Ball at home.
I’m
not sure how Prince could go from not even casting a vote in the presidential
election,