Michael Jackson and Prince may have been in competition with each other on the charts, but ultimately, they respected each other. That is, according to Jimmy Jam who has worked with both of them.
talking with People At Michael’s Hollywood premiere on April 20, the songwriter and producer shared that they felt they were “probably both competitive, but they also had a lot of respect for each other.”
He shared, “The way he does what he does is completely different. I always say Prince would start a record at the beginning of the day, and at the end of the day, the record would be completely done, mixed, ready to go. Very spontaneous. That’s just the way Prince did it.”
Jimmy Jam, on the other hand, says that “Michael was very meticulous.”
“I remember, but screamWe literally spent three days changing one line, and he just said, ‘We have to challenge ourselves.’ And eventually we were like, ‘Okay, we’re done challenging it.’ it sounds great. it sounds great.'”
Jackson died of a heart attack at home on June 25, 2009, at the age of 50. Meanwhile, Prince died of an accidental fentanyl overdose at his home and recording studio, Paisley Park, in Chanhassen, Minn., on April 21, 2016, at the age of 57.
In Jimmy Jam’s mind, they were “two different people in the way they composed,” but he insisted that “they both admired each other,” even though they seemed to feud throughout their career, with it even being rumored that Prince backed out of the supergroup recording of We Are the World in 1985 because of Michael’s involvement.
Jimmy Jam says, “It doesn’t mean that they would have gotten along in the studio production, because they did it differently, but Prince was definitely influenced by Michael, and I think Michael was definitely influenced by Prince.”
Jimmy told about Prince People“Not a day goes by that I don’t think about him or wonder what he would do in a certain situation.”
