- According to Sheila E., Prince once recorded a version of Michael Jackson’s “Bad.”
- However, she revealed he immediately deleted it.
- Sheila E. also revealed she also re-recorded Jackson’s 1987 hit with Prince.
It’s no secret that Prince once said he was asked to duet with Michael Jackson on his 1987 hit “Bad.”
But now, Sheila E. is detailing how Prince actually recorded his own rendition of the popular Jackson title track, before immediately deleting it.
Speaking with Jason Matheson of The Jason Show, the legendary singer and drummer, 66, denied rumors that Prince and Jackson had any jealousy between them. “They hung out, we all hung out,” she said, then revealing she was ready to share a Jackson-Prince story she’s “never told” about the “Bad” duet that never was.
“So we get the song ‘Bad’ from Michael and we’re here at Paisley [Park]. And Prince is like, ‘Wait a minute.’ He said, ‘Michael wants me to sing this song with him.’ So he played it for us. He goes, ‘Your butt is mine…’ He said, ‘What?! Your butt is mine?’ And he just walked away, he said, ‘Uh, uh.'”
As Sheila E. now recalls, Prince’s consideration of “Bad” didn’t end there, as she joined him to “re-record” the song at his iconic Paisley Park home studio in Minnesota. “It was so funky, it was so amazing. It was an incredible rendition of what it should’ve been,” she said on The Jason Show. “And then after we recorded it, we’re like, ‘Oh my God, we can’t wait for Michael to hear it.'”
But, for whatever reason, Prince didn’t wish to. “Then Prince went like this,” she said, signifying him pushing a button. “And he erased the whole thing. Right there.”
As audience members gasped during her TV appearance, the “A Love Bizarre” singer clarified that re-recording songs wasn’t all that uncommon with Prince and his fellow musicians. “Oh yeah, it was fun. We did that all the time, though. I can name so many songs that we re-recorded that was sent to us. Ahhh. That’s another show.”
The first first part of Sheila E.’s story — Prince’s reaction to “Bad” — appeared to fall in line with what Prince previously told Chris Rock and MTV in 1997, when he said he had questions about Jackson’s opening “Your butt is mine” line, asking: “Who gon’ sing that to whom? Cause’ you sure ain’t singing it to me. And I sure ain’t singing it to you. So, right there we got a problem.”
“That Wesley Snipes character, that would’ve been me,” Prince added of the song’s music video. “Now you run that video in your mind.”
When asked at the time if he had any rivalry with Jackson, Prince clarified: “Not to me, no.”
Gary Gershoff/Getty
It’s been a big year for fans of Prince, who aside from now discovering some new details about his song-covering habits, can look forward to the “Purple Rain” singer getting a posthumous star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
The honor comes over eight years after Prince’s death in April 2016, as the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce released his name as part of the list of honorees for the Hollywood Walk of Fame Class of 2025 last month.
Prince was previously approached twice about having his name cemented on the Walk of Fame, having turned it down both times. Walk of Fame producer Ana Martinez told PEOPLE that before Prince’s death, a Walk of Famer discussed the nomination with the musician, who said he was “not ready.” An official date for Prince’s ceremony has yet to be announced.
