Besides being one of the most influential guitarists and songwriters of all time, Keith Richards is also known for being quite sincere. Even when giving his opinion on other artists, he has never had a problem saying if he didn’t like their music, sometimes being impolite when describing some of them.
One of the artists he had a dubious opinion on was the late legendary singer, guitarist and songwriter Prince, who curiously already was the Rolling Stones opening act once.
What is Keith Richards’ opinion on Prince
Prince started his musical career in 1975 and in 1981, when he had four studio albums, he had the chance to be Rolling Stones’ opening act. Although the musician was not that well known at the time, Mick Jagger was a big fan. But Keith praised and criticized Prince over the years, calling him “a true original” but also an “overrated midget” and that he was “trying to be Stevie Wonder”.
When Kiss tragically passed away in 2016 at the age of 57, Richards shared a message on his Twitter, praising the artist. “A unique talent. A true original. So sad, so sudden and, I will add, a great guitar player. We are all going to miss him.” This was really one of the few times he praised Prince in interviews.
In his memoir “Life”, released in 2010, Richards described him as an “overrated midget”. In the same book he called John Lennon a “silly sod” and Elton John “an old bitch”.
He once compared Prince with Pee-wee Herman
Richards criticized Prince a few times in the 80s, even criticizing his hit “Little Red Corvette” released in 1983, which was featured on the album “1999”.
In an interview with Musician magazine, Richards talked about the song, saying Prince was trying to be Stevie Wonder. “(He is) trying to be Stevie Wonder. He’s got a problem with his attitude and it comes across on record. Prince has to find out what it means to be a prince. That’s the trouble with conferring a title on yourself before you’ve proved it. That was his attitude when he opened for us on tour, and it was insulting to our audience. You don’t try to knock off the headliner like that when you’re playing a Stones crowd. He’s a prince who thinks he’s a king already. Good luck to him.”
A few years later, when speaking with Rolling Stone magazine in 1988, he was asked if his opinion on Prince had changed. Although this time Richards noted that he admired the musician’s energy, he criticized him once again.
“Prince, I admire his energy, but he’s riding on a wave. To me, Prince is like the Monkees. I don’t see anything of any depth in there, I think he’s very clever at manipulating the music business and the entertainment business.”
“I think he’s more into that than making music, I don’t see much substance in anything he does. Too much appealing to … a Pee-wee Herman trip. And I like Pee-wee Herman better than Prince. He’s appealing to the same audience. To me, it’s kid stuff,” Keith Richards said.
During his career, Prince released 40 studio albums and 5 live albums. He sold an estimated amount of more than 100 million records worldwide.