I never understood the debate over who was the better 80’s artists between Prince and Michael Jackson.

Prince put out 10 albums in the 80’s, and 4 are undeniable classics. That doesn’t include all the great albums he wrote and produced by the likes of The Time and Vanity 6.

Michael jackson put out 2 albums in the 80’s. Thriller, which is a classic, and Bad, which isn’t as good.

There’s no contest.

I found this film on youtube almost 2 years ago and Michael to me clearly embarrassed Prince but I love them both so it doean’t really matter to me.

michael is way better, the stats prove it. maybe he put out one album, but that album sold 107 million copies and became the greatest album of all time. and every song on the album went number one except for one. michael has sold 750 million albums worldwide and broke nearly every musical record there is to break….next argument?

Michael put out two albums in the 1980’s. The multi platinum record breaking Thriller, and the Bad album which was the first ever to have the most number one singles on an album. Michael also embarked on the BAD tour which broke all box office records. Of course there is no question who is better, Michael Jackson at least in terms of commercial success. I don’t think MJ tried to embarass Prince I think he knew that James couldn’t possibly just acknowledge him and not Prince. Mike was being thoughtful as usual.

mj much better than prince. prince u try to make the biggest selling album of all time and every where you go people dressin like michael. when u tell people to dance like mike they kick they leg spin and do the moonwalk mike really has a trade mark that no one will forget

Michael Jackson is a genius and a creative being in whole other reality. There had never been someone like him before and there’ll never be in the future.

He is the one! The King!

Michael is clearly the greatest. Everyone loves Michael Jackson music. All the music you hear today, they wanna be Michael Jackson. It’s been that way for the past 25 yeas. Prince is good too, but no where near Michael Jackson.

No doubt about it Michael Jackson is 1 million times better than prince. I love every song Michael jackson has had and every album is great. That’s why he has sold over 750,million albums world wide. Michael Jackson has more talent in one finger than prince has in his whole body. Michael Jackson’s song are family friendly and prince writes about sex. Bottom line in the 80’s Michael Jackson released 2 albums but he sure sold a lot more then prince, and Michael was the most poulur.

umm… bad was a huge success it had 6 #1 hits. Michael is clearly the best… he certainly has his issues but hes the best. end of question

How many instruments can Michael Jackson play? How many songs that Michael Jackson has sung did he write? Prince is infinitely more talented.

Michael jackson can play instruments which is proven in the speical eddition of bad and off the wall.

And btw Beat it, black or white, heal the world, billie jean, bad,the way you make me feel, I just cant stop loving you, mani n the mirror, dirty diana,smooth criminal,leave me alone, remember the time, In the closet, they dont care about us, stranger in moscow dont stop till ya get enough,and Earth song where all written by michael jackson

Although prince is good he cant even compare to mj in dancing.

And if this isnt enough than ask any child or teenager to name/sing an MJ song.
Then ask them if they know any Prince songs

Prince writes, arranges, composes, produces all of his music and lyrics. Jackson may have written some lyrics and played some instruments but Prince far surpassees him in talent.

I think all you MJ lovers are proving my point. You’re talking about who sold more records and who was the better dancer. Does that make the Backstreet Boys and Nsync the greatest artists of the 90’s. I think not.

Yawn..old argument.. michael jackson is a great performer(yes) influenced.. usher, chris brown, etc etc with dancing and great singing that is a great thing..but usually when these guys grow up a bit..the prince influence and standard becomes is what they want to be measured against…prince’s influence can be heard on timberland, M.I.A, neptunes, NIN, rock groups, pop groups, jazz and in general oldermusician musicians, the list is endless. the real measure of prince’s cultural impact is mostly music but also..his absorption into the culture at large…when someone says.. party like it’s… or sign of the times (ny times favorite)..or formerly known as..those things move beyond mere pop music into the realm of culture’s life blood..michael concerned himself with records sold…prince concerned himself with music..no contest!

to be honest i cant see how that is even a fair point.

Michael jackson ifluenced most of 2days artists and music itself. If it wasnt for MJ then albums nowadays would only have one good song on them, Music videos would be dull and boring, and music as a hole would be really much duller.

Prince in all respect is popular, but MJ is idolised all over the world, If MJ where ever to be proven to be a pedofile it wouldnt affect him as bad as people think simply because he is Michael Jackson, and no matter what his acheivements will be idolised forever.

NERD and Timbaland where also influenced by MJ, And the reason they probably started was due to the fact that wanted to be like Michael Jackson, they all want the fame that he had.

Prince was a popstar Michael jackson like Elvis was a World re-nowned Superstar.

When Michael Jackson was making the song Bad, he asked Prince to do a duet with hium on it, however Prince refused because he stated that the song would be a Hit just with MJ anyway.

As a fan of both MJ & Prince I feel blessed to have not bought into the who is better argument so staunchly that it has denied me enjoying both their genius. Both are artists, both influence, and both have their own pros and cons. Let’s just enjoy and celebrate the artistry of both.

Prayers are with you

geez has any of you heard of “personal taste”? some like mj better, some prince. so what? and by the way thriller is a classic, but that doenst make bad less good. personally i prefer bad. and that mj put out 2 and prince 10 albums is a shitty argument.quantity isnt quality. for your information mj writes hundreds of songs for each album and then cuts most of them out. he could have made 20 more albums if he wanted to.

MJ is a legendary music icon.

From his early start as a child prodigy in J5 to his amazing solo career, it’s safe to say he will live on forever.

didnt any of u prince lovers wacth the bloody video?

mj sang some words, and done some dancing – the crowd went fuckin wild

Prince came up, made a twat of himself – the crowd where practically silent,

the only positive thing prince done was break the light in end of the video which i found very funny.

oh and btw the only reason prince did his shitty performance was because mj asked james brown lol

There really is no comparison. Michael Jackson had some hot joints, no doubt, but he is NOT, and has never been, a writer/performer/composer/prod ucer on the level of Prince. All you cats who get down more on some MJ are obviously pop-driven, but Prince’s music has substance. Like someone else said, selling the most records does NOT indicate better talent, and in many cases indicates the opposite.
As a musician myself, Prince will always have the larger impact on the musical community, due to his massive skills and innovations with ALL instruments.
OFF THE WALL is one of the best party records of all time, but the same can be said for EVERY Prince album from the blue, self-titled record all the way through Sign ‘O’ The Times. Dig that.

Only empty-headed pop listeners who have Britney Spears in their music collection think MJ is better than Prince. MJ’s biggest selling albums required the talents of Quincy Jones and other songwriters. MJ didn’t even write his hits “Thriller” nor “Off The Wall”. Prince is a musician’s musician. Prince is the writer, producer and the band. Michael Jackson will tell you himself that Prince is the far better talent. Michael wasn’t bleaching his skin and straightening his hair to be “white”; he was trying look like Prince and failed horribly. I’ve seen both in concert, and Prince is better. MJ requires dancers, special effects and props to put on a good show. Prince only needs his gifted musical talents (playing various instruments throughout the show) and his tight band behind him. I’ve seen Prince rock a concert simply using the venue’s house lights (”Turn the house lights on!’). People who truly understand music and the business of music know that Prince is the better talent hands down. Peace.

What it is about it ? one MJ lover said : ask any child about MJ?
so Child is the one who is going 2 decide 4 us ! I do not agree ! I will vote 4 prince ! MJ want only to sale but the value of music is very poor ! yes ! look at MJ LP names : Thriller, BAD ,
no human value here ! no meaning ! MJ music is made only 2 dance ! so keep on dancing ! Prince have it all , look at KISS ! great song ! MJ do not have song like KISS , is not mainstream music , KISS is from Planet of MARS , sign of times very creative song ! we love music because of Prince

so jus bcus u write ur own songs that makes u better!
dus that mean that all these local bands who play in bars are the best musicians of all time? i think not!

oh and how do u think prince made his name? bcus Michael jackson made the breakthrough of black artists on white-dominated mtv, which is why people like prince and whitney houstan cud bcum famous.

and of course it matters if teenagers, and children know the songs/artist, bcus it shows how suiccessfull and influential they are.

oh and u r right. MJ didnt have outdated songs like Kiss, instead he has billie jean, beat it and smooth criminal that are well know and still played preiodically to this day.

yh ur write MJ dusnt have songs like Kiss which are outdated( and probably princes only big song exept for purple rain which did average and didnt even reach number one on the billboard). Instead he had songs like Billie Jean, Beat it and smooth crimnal and black or white which still sound fresh and are still played(and MJ wrote them so f*** u)

ok prince worte songs for other artists.which is respectable

yet so did Mj

he wrote songs for 3T and he wrote we are the world, which is one of the best selling singles of all time. and he worte songs for janet jackson, and he choreographered some of her video’s.

not to mention hes also wrote other less market-succesful songs like What more can i give

Obviously Michael was better in this performance. Prince was high or something. LOL

But anyway, I personally don’t acknowledge any kind of rivalry between Prince and Michael. They are two very different artists and both are geniuses in their own right.

Yeah, I prefer Michael (all the way back to J5), but I really like Prince too. It doesn’t have to be one or the other. They both rock.

Quit trying to get two successful black men to rival each other.

prince is the greatest of all time. much respect to mike but prince hands down is far a better talent. mike got all the hype but PRINCE ROGER NELSON IS THE TRUTH.

well everybody name one artist who want to sound like MJ. Name the song.
I can name dozen songs that are Prince influenced by other artists.
Ever heard of the Minneapolis sound?? The sound Janet adapted and later also MJ for his History album. So who wants to be like who??
But its all good cuz MJ and Prince r both great.
But yall ignorant and dumb people gotta get ur facts straight and study some music.

YOu know what Im 45 years old and I have alway been a michael jackson and prince fan. I might have like prince a little more back in the day. But since michael jackson has died they show his video over and over again. And I said this man is great. He can dance so well and he makes wonderful video’s and I do love his music. But Michael Jackson and prince are great. I love them both there different so I will never compare the Two. July 19 2009 Rest in peace michael jackson

millions and millions of people around the world…not just here in america….got it right. MJ is the true icon…Prince can’t sell out all those concerts, he is good but the world voted, MJ is the king!!! BTW, I watched the video, the only reason Prince was up on stage was Michael Jackson told JB to call up also Prince…you see MJ supports other talents. Even taking off his clothes did not create the same excitement as when MJ did a little song and dance. Prince, is a great talent but he does not have the universal appeal like Michael Jackson have!!!

To Kevin,

Yeah… I traveled the world and when I ask people young and old alike to name a Prince song, it’s like ahh, well maybe only 2 out of 6 or 8 people knows him or sometimes I even get blank stares. BUT, mention Michael Jackson and oh boy their eyes pops out and say “Thriller” or “Ben” and etc…this for me is the measure of MJ’s success. His music was universal, I remember in the 1980’s in Yemen or a small village in India MJ music is all over- no need to speak the local language just mention MICHAEL Jackson and a connection is made. That is the wonder and magic of MJ!

WHAT?

R U PEOPLE 4 REAL?

I traveled the world and when I ask random ignorant people young and old alike to name a Prince song they don’t know one.

But on the same trips, when I ask cultivated people about Prince, they know the whole catalog.

For me is the measure of MJ’s selling out, a man that turn his music into a product for everybody, like sardine cans.

Prince is the genuis here. No doubt. Michael and Quincy Jones knew it! Michael, the jealous one, even named his dermatologist’s sperm donated child after who? PRINCE. The Sign O The Times and Lovesexy Tours will blow anything Michael’s ever done away.

Michael is better than prince. Michael’s talent says for it all. Regardless what prince has, it still did not make more money and sells as michael’s talent did. Michael made people cry, faint, and want to be him , prince had none of that,prince is funny style looking, little shrimp with his head to big for his body. And michael named his child after his two dear he had back in 1983. He had two dear by the name of prince and princess. And maybe he named his son prince, as of being a prince in rolaty, not after little tiny purple prince.