Ingrid Chavez on Prince Collaborations: ‘His World Was Like a Fairy Tale’
Prince called Ingrid Chavez the “Spirit Child.” She was his muse and collaborator at Paisley Park while he made his conceptual 10th album, Lovesexy, and she her poetry-driven LP May 19, 1992. The mutual inspiration is most clearly heard on songs like Prince’s sensual “I Wish U Heaven” and its sister work, Chavez’s “Heaven Must Be Near.” Prince was so rapt by Chavez’s poetry that he halted all progress on The Black Album while they were together for an intense three-month period during a bitter Minneapolis winter. Later, Prince cast Chavez as his love interest in his final film, 1990’s Graffiti Bridge, which was also the last time she appeared on screen.
At the time she met Prince, Chavez was a 22-year-old single mother raising her son in an apartment, trying to get her music career off the ground. Prince, Chavez tells Rolling Stone, inspired her to put her poetry to music, which led to her writing Madonna’s sultry hit “Justify My Love” with Lenny Kravitz. We spoke to Chavez about her collaborations with the late legend.
What do you think of when you listen to Lovesexy today?
I think of us just hanging out, playing pool with him and his dad in Paisley Park. Prince loved pool. Lovesexy is like a snapshot of our time together. It was created in 1988 with the poetry record. It was a period of creativity for both of us, and we were inspired by each other. Stepping into his world was like a fairy tale. Being exposed to his creativity and spiritual epiphanies was unreal. When I met Prince, he was unshaven, wore casual clothes. It was like we ran into each other on the playground. It was magical. He seemed so relaxed in that period.
I read that you first met Prince at a bar in Minneapolis.
Yes. It was December in Minneapolis, so it was cold, and my friends dragged me out. I wasn’t going to go to the bar. [Prince] strolled in and he kept looking at me, so I passed him a note at the bar and we got talking. I introduced myself as Gertrude and he said he was Dexter [laughs]. And that’s who we were to each other forever.
When did Gertrude and Dexter start working together?
He asked me if I wanted to go for a ride to Paisley Park that night, so we went. That was it. I remember he left me alone in a room for quite some time. I had a notebook on me, so I did some writing. Later, I heard accounts of that evening that he’d gotten on the phone with producers and said, “I’ve met an angel,” and stopped work on The Black Album.
How quickly after that night did you start writing poetry for Prince? Did you have any hesitations?
Prince told me to write 21 poems and we would make a poetry album, so I worked endlessly, 24/7, for the next six weeks before bringing them to the studio. I wasn’t nervous to show him my work. Prince had this ability to see creative potential in a person before they saw it in themselves. He made me feel better as a writer than I felt about myself.