12. Prince
Prince was common ground for me and my brother – although not for my mother because she hated the Prince poster that I put up on the wall. She said he looked like a witch. Of all the people who we’ve lost, I feel his loss the most because I feel like his death was pointless. He was so prolific, he would have produced so much more music, he would probably have written five more of my favourite songs of all time in the time he’s been gone. What an incredible talent. And this song just shows you how talented he was because I was looking up and it was written for Patrice Rushen, but she turned it down. I think his version is really good. The version most people know is Chaka Khan’s, there’s great stories about how he persuaded her to do that and revive her career. But I think the story of this song shows you his incredible diversity. There’s a demo version they released recently, and he plays on an acoustic guitar. This song covers a full range of his talents. When this comes on… I can’t dance, but it makes me want to dance. I remember my brother and I drove in his battered second hand Ford Orion all the way to Wembley Arena to watch Prince play and then I took him to the O2. I’m so glad I saw Prince live several times. My brother and I are complete opposites in so many ways. We could have drifted apart but we really love each other. And I think music is one of the places – Prince is one of the places – we can unite.
