Fashion Week in Milan was a star-studded seven days that featured appearances from Janet Jackson, Kanye West and Amber Rose. Now that Paris is celebrating its Fashion Week, a whole new batch of musicians have made their way to France to gawk at models and celebrate fashion. Katy Perry is there, and she has been tweeting about the experience, including a hilarious observation about hearing two models attempting to smuggle McDonald's without anybody seeing them for fear of outside judgment. Fashion Week has also welcomed Prince to the fold. The singer walked the red carpet at the Chanel show yesterday, and it gave him the opportunity to show off his latest, greatest ensemble.

Actually, this particular outfit is not unlike the one he wore at the Apollo Theater a few months ago, which was the last time we parsed one of his ensembles. Why he's standing in front of bales of hay is still not clear, but his ruffled silver shirt is an incredible addition to his wardrobe. But it's missing the accessory that has defined Prince's public appearances in the past few years.

Or is it? Read more...

By Selina Kaye

I love all things Prince — his music, his movies, his clothes and his hair. Most of all, I have a very special appreciation for "Purple Rain," because my parents went on their first date to see the movie. So on the 25th anniversary of the opening of the film, this is my official thank you to Prince for bringing my parents together. I couldn't have made it here without you.

When Prince first hit the music scene in 1979, he was eccentric, daring and reclusive. Read more...

After a few weeks of rumors and nail-biting, Phish have announced that they are returning to the festival game with an event they are simply calling "Festival 8," which will take place at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California (the same venue that houses the annual Coachella festival). Over three days this Halloween weekend, the band will play a total of eight sets, and one of those sets will be another grand Phish tradition: The "musical costume," where the band plays a set that consists only of a classic album in its entirety.

In past years, the group has taken on epics like the Beatles' White Album, the Velvet Underground's Loaded and the Who's Quadrophenia. We've already made a handful of suggestions about what the group could tackle this year (it'll remain a mystery until they play the first note on Halloween night), but here are a few more ideas.

U2, The Joshua Tree
Trey Anastasio probably wouldn't be able to handle Bono's vocals, but the rest of the band would be able to capture the grandeur of "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For," and Larry Mullen, Jr.'s rhythms would be excellent fodder for expert skinsman Jon Fishman.

Jimi Hendrix, Axis: Bold As Love
Anastasio has borrowed a lot of his guitar technique from Jimi (who hasn't?), so it only seems right that he pay homage to the man. The bluesy runs on "Little Wing" would probably melt a face or two.
Read more...

By Selina Kaye

Last night I went to a special secret show — announced via Twitter — for R&B singer/songwriter/producer Ryan Leslie at the Diesel store on 5th Avenue in New York City. The makeshift venue was filled with mostly female fans buzzing about Leslie's gratis concert, which was designed to showcase his two new singles from his new album Transition, which drops in September.

Before his performance he talked about three artists that influence his career the most: Prince, Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson. "Prince is the total package," he told me. "Stevie as well. Their full talent really ranges across the spectrum of singing, songwriting and producing."

He would have made his idols proud, as he gave electrifying performances of "You're Not My Girl" and "Something That I Like." His manic stage presence made it difficult for the adoring audience members to snap pictures, but they hung on to his every kick, twitch and flex regardless. Leslie — best known for writing and producing for the likes of Beyoncé, Danity Kane, Cassie and JoJo — did his heroes proud.

It's surreal to think that three of the men most responsible for reinventing funk and R&B and dancing into the mainstream with it all could have shared the same stage at the same time. But it happened at least once during a James Brown concert. In the video below (which isn't dated but must be from right around 1980), the Godfather of Soul invites Michael Jackson up on stage to do a little freestyling and dancing, and then brings up Prince just for good measure. Prince's appearance is fantastically surreal: He gets a piggyback ride, strips, dances and growls like a velociraptor (not necessarily in that order).

Of course, Jackson did have a mini-rivalry with Prince, so this may be the only time the two shared a stage. Add Brown to the mix and you get a truly memorable few minutes. The video below isn't the greatest quality, but you can tell it's amazing regardless of the camera work.

The senior who slid the phrase "F--- All Y'All" onto the cover of the Shaker Heights High School yearbook has managed to pull off one of the great subliminal pranks of all time. As we know all too well, rock and roll is rife with subtle messages and "backmasking," dating back to the Beatles' "Paul Is Dead" conspiracy 40 years ago. Here are our favorite subliminal messages in rock history.

Prince, "Darling Nikki"
The 1980s version of Prince was a dance-crazed sex maniac who hadn't yet found the Lord. Or had he? At the end of "Darling Nikki," one of the filthiest songs Prince has ever recorded, there's a bit of garbled speech that translates to "Hello, how are you? I am fine, because I know that the Lord is coming soon" when played backwards.
Read more...

This week I got to meet two of my biggest musical idols. I value each of them for different reasons, but both have been incredibly instrumental in shaping how I listen to music.

I was at a club on Saturday night celebrating a birthday party. As I was sitting talking to a friend, I saw a group of five walk up to us. I've been around enough to recognise a security team when I see one, but this time they were a little more difficult to spot. Especially here in the States, bodyguards tend to be these giant hulking mountains of men with no necks who you can spot a mile away. The visual-intimidation factor of bodyguards is the first line of defense, after all. But this time, these two guys dressed all in black were a little different. They were ... short. No taller than 5-foot-4. Don't get me wrong, they were both as wide as a bus — but boy, were they short! Finally, I saw their boss.

Standing at 5-foot-3 (in high heels, no less) was one of the biggest names in music: Prince.

I was amazed at how young the 51-year-old Prince looked. Whatever his secret — whether it's his diet, sex life, no smoking, bathing in milk, whatever — Prince is doing something right. No word of a lie: Prince looks the same as he does in Purple Rain. I was stunned and left with many questions. I wonder if he clones himself to stay forever young? I wonder if he purposely hires bodyguards who make him look tall? Am I heightist? Is that even a word? I'll ask him next time.

A few days later I was invited to a lunch with His Royal Highness Prince Edward of England, who gave a speech to various business types, philanthropists, investors and me. But HRH wasn't the only royal in the room, as one of the guests was king of producers Quincy Jones.

There isn't enough room on this blog to talk about all the great work the man has done in sculpting the world of music, but one thing is for sure: The guy is one very cool cat. Jones worked the room like it was his first, giving everybody a hello handshake, never tiring of meeting new people. When he came to me, he asked, "So ... who are you?" Taking it as an invitation, I told him ... everything! And you know what? He listened to every word and gave me advice that I will never forget. Want to know what it was?

You'll have to ask Quincy next time you see him.

The 75th Anniversary Gala for the Apollo Theater in New York brought together Mariah Carey, Jamie Foxx, Steve Harvey, Fantasia Barrino, Bill Cosby, Quincy Jones and — perhaps most notably — Prince, who appeared on stage to help induct a handful of legendary divas into the Apollo Legends Hall of Fame. Minneapolis' favorite son has kept his wardrobe relatively tame over the last few years, but last night he appeared in an outfit so yellow he would have been mistaken for Big Bird if he wasn't so diminutive. There's even more than meets the eye in this particular ensemble, so let's take a look at the various components:

» The Shirt: What goes better with gold? Even more gold. The sleeves and buttons are trimmed with a shiny-looking gold lamé, which give the garment an even more blinding finish. Normally famous folk wear loose-fitting clothes to mask weight gain, but Prince probably does it to hide that fact that he's even tinier than we think.

» The Glasses: Bono brought those fly-eye shades to the masses, but Prince made them amazing. Most people look aloof when they wear sunglasses indoors, but Prince manages to sidestep that. No matter what's going on below his neck, Prince always has a cool head.
Read more...

By Cara Alwill

Prince has never been shy about calling out to women in his songs, and with his new track "Valentina," he's at it again. This time, the object of his affection is Salma Hayek, according to UsMagazine.com.

In the song, he sings, "Hey Valentina, tell your mama she should give me a call/ When she get tired of runnin' after you down the hall/ And she's all worn out from those late-night feedings/ And she's ready for another rock and roll meeting," making it fairly obvious that he's talking about the actress, since Valentina happens is the name of her 18-month-old daughter (with her husband, French businessman Francois-Henri Pinault).
Read more...

By Daniela Capistrano

Prince fans have something new to look forward to this month: His first official book!

"21 Nights", a photographic essay about the singer's European tour last summer, co-created with photographer Randee St. Nicholas, is a lavish collection of photos, poetry and music that offers a rare glimpse into the life of one of the world's biggest stars.

The singer performed two intimate benefit shows in New York on Friday night to help promote the book's release.

Fans can peruse more than 100 never-before-published images from his sold-out 21 concerts while listening to Indigo Nights/Live Sessions, the exclusive CD that is included with the book and features 15 live recordings along with one new song. The 77-minute CD attempts to invoke the spirit of his raw after-show sessions while providing a soundtrack for the reader. Fans can follow Prince on his journeys through London and Prague, sharing in escapades with his band of musicians, singers and dancers captured in full color and black and white. The book provides an intimate look at what life on the road is like for one of music's biggest stars — from the frenetic pace backstage to his solitary moments in hotel rooms.

Juxtaposed within these scenes readers will also find poetry written by Prince, pieces that touch on a multitude of inspirations: love, the nature of desire, our current political climate, the price of fame and more. The poetry provides a dreamlike narrative that borders on stream-of-consciousness and is, not surprisingly, similar in theme to the lyrics of many of his songs.

Check out our sneak peek at five images from "21 Nights" after the jump!
Read more...