Prince was never an easy artist to impress. Known for his uncompromising musical standards and often fierce independence, The Purple One dismissed many cultural touchstones that other musicians revered. For years, The Beatles were one such case — a band he saw as overrated. But one iconic album eventually changed his perception and led him to embrace their genius.
Prince’s Harsh View of The Beatles
In the 1990s, Prince openly criticised The Beatles’ decision to reunite without John Lennon, using technology to revive his voice on the posthumous track ‘Free As A Bird’. Speaking to Guitar World, Prince condemned the move:
“That’s the most demonic thing imaginable. Everything is as it is, and it should be. If I was meant to jam with Duke Ellington, we would have lived in the same age. That whole virtual reality thing… it really is demonic. And I am not a demon.”
At that stage, Prince wasn’t convinced by the hype around the Fab Four, seeing them largely as a pop act rather than innovators.
The Turning Point: Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
Prince’s first real introduction to the band came with the track ‘Good Morning Good Morning’, from Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967). While John Lennon himself once dismissed the song as “a throwaway,” it sparked something in Prince.
Hearing it reframed his view of The Beatles. No longer just a pop group, he realised they had a strange, experimental edge hidden beneath their hits.
As one friend recalled in an interview with Diffuser:
“He said, ‘What’s that?’ We said, ‘That’s Sgt. Pepper.’ He went, ‘The Beatles. Ehhh? Really?’ … I know he went back and listened to that song and realised that The Beatles were more than he thought. He just kind of swallowed them up.”
From there, albums like Sgt. Pepper and Magical Mystery Tour seeped into Prince’s creative world. It’s often suggested that their influence can be heard in his own psychedelic-tinged record Around the World in a Day (1985).
From Critic to Admirer
Prince’s newfound respect for The Beatles grew over time. He later covered ‘Come Together’ at Coachella, and in 2004 delivered a powerful tribute to George Harrison at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
The admiration was mutual. In 1989, Paul McCartney called Prince “probably my favourite modern act” during a TV interview, praising him as an innovator after attending one of his concerts at Wembley.
Legacy of Influence
What started as scepticism transformed into one of the great stories of mutual respect in modern music. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band became the gateway that helped Prince understand The Beatles’ artistry — ultimately shaping how he absorbed and reimagined music in his own revolutionary way.
