Since his passing, folks have celebrated the life of Prince in different ways. Some have visited Paisley Park, others put on concerts, and Sting even wrote a song about it. But it’s those who knew him best that can really remember him as he was just as a person, not a music icon — which is exactly what they’ve done in a new extensive feature from GQ.
The magazine interviewed a handful of Prince’s closest friends and confidents to get the real story on what the Purple Performer was like off stage. Some things we already knew — like his obsession with Finding Nemo, which would always be playing in Paisley Park, and the fact that he constantly smelled of lavender — but tucked away in the tales are some fascinating tidbits that only add to the enigmatic and wonderful existence of the mononymous musician.
For one thing, he used to pre-draft insults when he was a kid. There was apparently a kid named Jerry who would bully others in his town, and Prince had prepared a whole notebook of comebacks. “… Prince literally had a spiral notebook with jokes that he was ready to tell in case the kid said anything to him,” recalled André Cymone, an early collaborator and long-time friend. “He had them written down. Literally. He had all this stuff.”
Fans of Chapelle’s Show already know about Prince’s habit of cooking his guests pancakes, but it turns out the legend is greater than that. Though a guitar god, his skills in the kitchen were limited, except when it came to breakfast. “Scrambled eggs,” specified former backing vocalist Jill Jones. “He put curry and a little bit of Cheddar cheese in them. It was really good, actually.”
There are plenty of other interesting stories to be read about the real day-to-day life of Prince, so head here to read more. Below, revisit that famous Chapelle’s Show skit, and imagine those are curried eggs instead of fluffy pancakes.
