Prince Rogers Nelson, famously known as Prince, was an American singer-songwriter, actor, record producer, and filmmaker. He was an icon in the music industry who played various instruments and influenced generations of artists. Prince was also known for his wide vocal range, flamboyant stage presence, and wild fashion sense.
At age seven, he already wrote his first song, ‘Funk Machine.’ Ten years later, he signed a recording contract with Warner Bros. Records and released his debut album titled ‘For You.’ His 1979 album titled ‘Prince’ went platinum, and his next three albums—‘Dirty Mind’ in 1980, ‘Controversy’ in 1981, and ‘1999’ in 1982—advanced his success and showcased his unique style of music.
In 1984, he released ‘Purple Rain,’ the soundtrack album to his film debut (with the same title) which quickly became his most commercially successful album, selling over 20 million copies worldwide. He then released more songs and albums which gained much attention and praise.
On April 21, 2016, Prince died at the age of 57 due to an accidental fentanyl overdose at his home in Minnesota. That day, the world lost one of the most talented musicians in history. Although he’s already gone, he continues to inspire millions of people with his music and inspirational words.
Here are the top 104 Prince quotes and sayings that will inspire your day.
Table of Contents
Prince Quotes About Music
1. “Like books and black lives, albums still matter.”
2. “You can always tell when the groove is working or not.”
3. “The music industry is a matrix that is counter to what is natural and right.”
4. “People don’t understand real musicians anymore. Jack White is great – he’s the real thing – but he isn’t having hits.”
5. “You can’t understand the words of Cocteau Twins songs, but their harmonies put you in a dreamlike state.”
6. “Well, my musicians are my friends.”
7. “Most artists lose their voice, their hair, and their bands. That’s not going to happen to me.”
8. “Each audience is different.”
9. “What’s missing from pop music is a danger.”
10. “There’s this thing called compulsory licensing law that allows artists through the record companies to take your music at will without your permission.”
11. “You don’t need a record company to turn you into anything.”
12. “All these non-singing, non-dancing, wish-I-had-me-some-clothes fools who tell me my albums suck. Why should I pay any attention to them?”
13. “At one time, MTV was hip and suddenly it became outdated.”
14. “We have to show support for artists who are trying to own things for themselves.”
15. “Just sharing music with each other – that’s cool. It’s the selling that becomes the problem.”
16. “The key to longevity is to learn every aspect of music that you can.”
17. “Music is real. It affects people; it’s real.”
18. “Sometimes ideas are coming so fast that I have to stop doing one song to get another. But I don’t forget the first one. If it works, it will always be there. It’s like the truth: it will find you and lift you up. And if it ain’t right, it will dissolve like sand on the beach.”
19. “I’ve never stopped writing, never stopped recording.”
20. “I really believe in finding new ways to distribute my music.”
21. “I used to be more involved with every aspect of everything onstage. I’m way more relaxed now. It feels like anything can happen.”
22. “Hip-hop is very diverse, but if you only focus on one aspect of it, then what you get is this image of Black America that is completely contrary to what actually goes on.”
23. “I don’t live in the past. I don’t play my old records for that reason. I make a statement, then move on to the next.”
24. “When I started playing music, people weren’t selling 5 million records. That was not the standard; that was not the focus.”
25. “Music is music, ultimately. If it makes you feel good, cool.”
26. “When I first started out in this music industry, I was most concerned with freedom. Freedom to produce, freedom to play all the instruments on my records, freedom to say anything I wanted to.”
27. “I have a writing addiction.”
28. “When you don’t talk down to your audience, then they can grow with you.”
29. “I don’t see why I should give my new music to iTunes or anyone else. They won’t pay me an advance for it and then they get angry when they can’t get it.”
30. “No one can come and claim ownership of my work. I am the creator of it, and it lives within me.”
31. “There’s not a lot of pop music in the mainstream that makes you feel scared, that makes you wonder what’s happening.”
32. “Young people have decided they like to listen to music in a certain way, through earbuds, and that’s fine with me as long as it doesn’t bother them that they’re not hearing 90 percent of the music that way.”
33. “When it comes to the video channels and the programs, the radio stations, the music is geared towards kids, and it’s made by kids.”
34. “You ever get that feeling that you just have too many hits?”
Prince Quotes About Life
1. “In the tech-savvy, real-time world we all live in today, everything is faster.”
2. “I’m not entangled in a bunch of lawsuits and a web that I can’t get out of. I can hold my head up… a happily married man who has his head in order. There isn’t a bunch of scandal in my life.”
3. “People speculate on your personal life all the time anyway. So I just think it’s important to keep my private life private and my public persona more into music, you know?”
4. “To create something from nothing is one of the greatest feelings, and I would – I don’t know, I wish it upon everybody. It’s heaven.”
5. “I ain’t mad at anybody. I don’t have any enemies.”
6. “A strong spirit transcends rules.”
7. “I think you’ll always be able to do what your ear tells you.”
8. “I’m a fighter. I’m very competitive.”
9. “Despite everything, no one can dictate who you are to other people.”
10. “I like constructive criticism from smart people.”
11. “Instead of hate, celebrate.”
12. “Everyone has a rock bottom.”
13. “My mother told me one day I walked into her and said, ‘Mom, I’m not going to be sick anymore,’ and she said ‘Why?’ and I said ‘Because an angel told me so.’ Now, I don’t remember saying it; that’s just what she told me.”
14. “So much has been written about me, and people don’t know what’s right and what’s wrong. I’d rather let them stay confused.”
Prince Quotes About Religion
1. “When everyone recognizes Jehovah’s name, then everyone will be happy because everyone will know what to do and how to do it.”
2. “Being a Jehovah’s Witness, I don’t celebrate birthdays or holidays. I don’t vote.”
3. “I’m a Jehovah’s Witness.”
4. “I have friends that are gay, and we study the Bible together.”
5. “Every day I feel is a blessing from God. And I consider it a new beginning. Yeah, everything is beautiful.”
6. “Prophecy is what we all have to go by now.”
7. “If you look in the Bible, there are no birthdays.”
8. “It’s fun being in Islamic countries, to know there’s only one religion. There’s order. You wear a burqa. There’s no choice. People are happy with that.”
9. “The Bible is a study guide for social interaction.”
Prince, More Quotes And Sayings
1. “Contrary to what a lot of people think, I haven’t been domesticated.”
2. “I became merely a pawn used to produce more money for Warner Bros.”
3. “Most bands out there are basically pretty boring. I try to affect people inside their bodies.”
4. “I don’t know who was the one that came up with the notion that you have to play the same songs every concert.”
5. “It might be a shock to see me, but that’s no reason for people to act crazy, and it doesn’t give them license to chase me down the street.”
6. “A bootlegger is a bootlegger, a scalper is a scalper.”
7. “When Doves Cry came out – it sounded like nothing that was on the radio. ‘Let’s Go Crazy’ was number one on R&B stations, and there’s nothing that’s been like that on radio since.”
8. “I might just stop talking again and not do interviews.”
9. “I’m really easy-going.”
10. “I like to open people’s eyes.”
11. “I’m not one to get bad reviews.”
12. “Oh, I love critics. Because they love me. It’s not a joke. They care.”
13. “Art is about building a new foundation, not just laying something on top of what’s already there.”
14. “When I found out that there was eight Presidents before George Washington, I wanted to smack somebody.”
15. “Billboard needs to tell the truth, shake things up.”
16. “The internet’s completely over.”
17. “I used to have seizures when I was young. My mother and father didn’t know what to do or how to handle it but they did the best they could with what little they had.”
18. “I don’t vote and I got nothing to do with it.”
19. “All you see on television are debased images.”
20. “My father left his piano at the house when he left, and I wasn’t allowed to play it when he was there because I wasn’t as good as him. So when he left, I was determined to get as good as him, and I taught myself how to play music, and I just stuck with it, and I did it all the time.”
21. “Record contracts are just like – I’m gonna say the word – slavery. I would tell any young artist… don’t sign.”
22. “I don’t want anyone to fail, so if you can make money off music even though you can’t sing or dance, that’s genius.”
23. “I do pay performance royalties on others’ songs I perform live, but I’m not recording these songs and putting them up for sale.”
24. “My hair is capable of doing a lot of different things.”
25. “People say I’m wearing heels because I’m short. I wear heels because of the women like ’em.”
26. “From its conception and that one and only meeting, ‘HITNRUN’ took about 90 days to prepare its release. If that’s what freedom feels like, ‘HITNRUN’ is what it sounds like.”
27. “Time is a mind construct. It’s not real.”
28. “There are people who are unhappy with everything.”
29. “Technology is cool, but you’ve got to use it as opposed to letting it use you.”
30. “I learned from Jimi Hendrix. They all wanted him to do the tricks, and at the end of his career, he just wanted to play. I lived longer than he did, and I can see how those pressures can really play with your head.”
31. “I don’t talk about the past.”
32. “You don’t have to watch ‘Gossip Girl’ to have an attitude.”
33. “Anyway, all these computers and digital gadgets are no good. They just fill your head with numbers and that can’t be good for you.”
34. “There’s a dark side to everything.”
35. “My bankers are very happy with me.”
36. “Doing a residency in any particular city requires a large repertoire to ensure repeat business.”
37. “Most people don’t want to talk about politics and religion. They say, Let’s talk about something else.”
38. “Nobody sues their fans.”
39. “I’ve always understood the two to be intertwined: sexuality and spirituality. That never changed.”
40. “The gatekeepers must change.”
41. “If you lend your consciousness to someone else, you’re a robot.”
42. “I pushed the envelope as far as it needed to be pushed, and now it’s on the floor, and people seem to want it to stay there.”
43. “I like arguments.”
44. “I have a lot of parties.”
45. “Tell me a musician who’s got rich off digital sales. Apple’s doing pretty good though, right?”
46. “I don’t talk to old people; they try to find ways to stay static. Young folks are the ones with the ideas and constantly moving forward.”
47. “Too much freedom can lead to the soul’s decay.”
We hope you enjoyed this collection of quotes by one of the most enigmatic musicians of all time—Prince. If you’d like to know more about his life story, we would suggest you read Possessed: The Rise and Fall of Prince by Alex Hahn.