Murphy’s Law

Prince Was Always A Guitar Hero, No Matter When White Folks Realized It

Posthumous praise from the music establishment is too little, too late

Prince performs along with Tom Petty at the 19th Annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony in New York City, 2004. Photo: Timothy A. Clary/Getty Images

Update 6/7/22: Level has a new home. You can read this article and other new articles by visiting LEVELMAN.com.

As a Prince stan, I’ve gotten used to people questioning his pedigree. There’s a certain kind of social-media rock critic — usually White — who can go on and on about how Prince is overrated. It’s a flawed opinion, but an opinion nonetheless, so I let it go. Most of the time.

But after going back and forth with one guy, he went too far. He said that songs like “Raspberry Beret” and “When Doves Cry” couldn’t compete with songs from Led Zeppelin, The Eagles, The Beatles — and Elvis.

Elvis?!

But my man couldn’t let it rest there. He followed up with a take that, even on a platform riddled with MAGA bots and a president who’s too stupid to know he’s stupid, has to be one of the most ill-informed statements I’ve ever seen: “EVERYONE thinks Pearl Jam has more memorable hits than Prince. EVERYONE.”

These kinds of conversations happened over and over, for years and years.