Prince Turned Down A Joint Tour With Madonna

Christina Lee | April 22, 2016 1:55 pm
Prince's Final Show: Listen
Prince's Final Show: Listen
Everyone there would tell you the exact same thing: Prince didn't seem ill that night.

Upon hearing of Prince‘s death, Madonna‘s manager Guy Oseary revealed what could have been.

On Instagram, he remembers how he approached Prince with this idea: a joint tour with Madonna. After all, the Purple One appeared twice in her 1989 album Like a Prayer. And besides, Madonna had come up with a pretty good name. “We can call it the Royalty Tour … The Queen and the Prince,” she said, according to Guy. But Prince wasn’t having it.

“The world isn’t ready for this, it’s too big,” he told Guy. Too. Big.

Prince was found dead on April 21 at his Minneapolis studio compound Paisley Park. The cause of death is unknown, as the Midwest Medical Examiner’s Office in Ramsey, Minnesota, is conducting an autopsy today.

Read Guy Oseary’s full account of that pitch below.

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I met Prince when I was 12 years old. I asked for his autograph. He wrote “Love God”… My walls were covered with prince posters.. I lived in a two bedroom apartment with my dad and you could see my Prince posters from the street.. Many many years later I connected back with Prince.. And we have remained friends.. I called him a few years back with the idea of @Madonna and Prince going on tour together. I pitched it to Madonna and within a second she said “I like it, we can call it the Royalty Tour… The Queen and The Prince”…. I love the way she thinks… When I told Prince the idea he said: “the world isn’t ready for this, it’s too big”.. I always felt like one day I would pull it off.. @Madonna performed in #stpaul last year and Prince was generous enough to host us and perform for us after that show at his home #paisleypark .. He didn’t go on stage until 3am, and per usual the show performance was mindblowing.. He joined me this last New Years in St Bart’s and performed for my friends party at what will now be the last time I saw him.. It’s the one and only time I was able to actually work with him directly.. I won’t forget that electrifying performance.. Or the smile on his face that night.. And the love that he gave me.. He always treated me with kindness.. We didn’t always agree.. We would argue for hours… But he understood that I respected him dearly and cared for him.. I tried my best to help him on record business matters.. And even in his passing I’m here to help.. I would have done anything I could and wish I achieved more for him on his very clear issues.. The man had the strongest of opinions on contracts and on artists rights.. This photo was taken summer of 1999.. Yes.. “1999”.. You can see from the photo that I’m focused on one thing… Prince!!.. I have the original lyrics to “purple rain” on my wall and I was always too embarrassed to tell him.. Maybe he would think I was crazy for paying so much years back for those lyrics or maybe he would just take it off my wall and say “thank you, I was looking for this”.. Who would stop him?.. Not me.. Today not only will doves cry, we all cry.. You will be missed.. I love you.. Rest in peace..

A photo posted by Guy Oseary (@guyoseary) on

[via Billboard]

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