Foto: AFP via Getty Images, KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI. All rights reserved.
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On Sunday (October 24th) the Rolling Stones performed at the US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, honoring the city’s greatest son: Prince. In two of their songs, they sprinkled snippets of two hits by the musician who died in 2016. In “Midnight Rambler” Mick Jagger intoned the line “I want to see you in the Purple Rain” from the song “Purple Rain”, or the modified line, because Prince sang alternately “laughing in the Purple Rain”, “ bathing … “or” underneath … “. And in “Miss You” Jagger intoned the 1981 classic “Controversy” – not without making a mistake in the lyrics: “People call me rude, I wish I was a nude” – instead of “I wish we all were nude, ”which also makes more sense.
All of this can happen to anyone live, especially when improvising. Unintentionally funny, however, is less the insecurity of the text than the intonation: While Jagger’s reference to “Purple Rain” can with a good will pass as snotty, the legendary “Controversy” mantra sounds less like an incantation chant than like marching music. The band doesn’t really know how to deal with it either:
The Rolling Stones and Prince had a long history. The legendary anecdote when the still unknown Prince and his band were booed from the stage of the LA Coliseum in 1981 – they were booked as a support act for the Stones. After that, a dejected Prince vowed never to have to appear in the opening act for anyone again, which he would soon no longer need.
Finally, in 1986, when Prince had long been a superstar, he brought not only Sting but also Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood onto the stage at Wembley, where they covered “Miss You”. Wood was also a guest at an aftershow concert in London in 1988 (see video above), where he sang “Miss You” again – a song that he wished he had composed himself. Mick Jagger returned the compliment by saying that while jogging, he prefers to listen to the “Black Album” – which he must have somehow got into possession, even though it was not officially released at the time.
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