Prince: The (New) Billboard Cover -ownership!

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More than three decades into his career, Prince is still selling out arenas, recording amazing music -- and fighting as hard as he can for the ownership of his songs. 

Prince: The (New) Billboard Cover 

 

Prince is rehearsing with this trio for performances that he cryptically says will begin in two days. He announces six last-minute shows at Minneapolis' Dakota Jazz Club. Tickets for all six, ranging from $70 to $250, sell out in one morning. The ever-slender Prince-a strikingly ever-youthful advertisement for the maxim "black don't crack"-is garbed in yellow pants and a long, oversized button-front white-and-yellow jersey emblazoned with "MPLS" on the front. His Afro is covered by an incongruous hat in the shape of a lion. His other eye-catching accessory: wedged silver shoes adorned with periodically flashing red lights. A full-fledged rock star, even in rehearsal.

Prince alternates between guitar and keyboards, and the songs they play spark to life with every touch he adds. "What If" is followed by new arrangements of two Prince songs-the springy funk-rocker "Cause and Effect" from 2010 and the vintage "Around the World in a Day" B-side "She's Always in My Hair"-and all three songs provide a bird's-eye view of Prince's skills as an artist and multitasker. There's the singer/songwriter for whom music remains a deep-rooted passion-and above all, fun. There's the mesmerizing instrumentalist on guitar and keyboard, sounding just as improvisational, energetic and fresh as he did when he hit the scene in 1978. Then there's also the teacher/mentor who gets off on finding and molding new talent.

He suggests the drummer take a solo on the end of the last song and has the trio go back and practice the last four bars with that in mind. Despite the cavernous feeling of the room, a camaraderie and warmth permeate the premises as he and the ladies go through their paces. Signaling the end of the practice session "We work for 15 minutes and then take a break," he says with a chuckle."

There was a time in Prince's career when "the 'O' word" might have had a more lascivious connotation. But the O word he's referring to now is "ownership."

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