Supermallet

Except in this case you're comparing the more musically diverse and adventurous group (The Beatles) with the more play it safe and deliver what the masses want artist (Jackson). When in fact, between the Beatles and Zeppelin, Prince is much more like The Beatles.

SoSpacey

In the last 3 years he has won like 3 grammys and a golden globe. Not that we disagree since I am on the Prince bandwagon as well.



Eh. Zeppelin is not The Beatles. When The Beatles rerecorded someone else's work, they actually gave credit to the artist.


As someone who likes both (Jackson churned out an amazing amount of hits), Prince is the correct answer to the OPs question. He is, without a doubt, the better musician.

westerbergrules

Neither is very relevent anymore, but Michael Jackson is dead as a touring and recording artist. Has been for 15+ years. Price is still sticking with it: Touring, recording, appearing in public. Releasing a "comeback album" that isn't but keeps him in the public eye. And dancing? MJ has nothing on Prince on stage. And whoever was down on Emancipation? That was his last great album (unfortunately it was spread out over three CDs).

hdtv00

Jackson dead on tour you say one day after he sells out O2 52 shows although with the way ticket master scammers are lately they were mostly probably bought by companies to resale later at massive profit lol. I agree with you at least for the most part but he's now about to do something. And only because he's broke as shit, not because he's an artist.

I agree with you 100% on Emancipation it was a great set. Prince has done extremely well on tour with Musicology it was the top concert gross that year. His album was also #3 although by including it in tickets sales. 3121 was #1 album when it dropped, his first since 1985.

2008 Grammy Award Won Best R&B Male Vocal Performance
2007: Won NAACP Image Award
2007: Won Golden Globe
2005: Won Grammy Award

I don't know how you don't call that run a come back of sorts. Sorry come back doesn't mean he sold another 13 million like purple rain, but Prince at least it still very much a relevant artist.

Supermallet

Prince hasn't had a #1 album since 1985!? Sign O' The Times and his Batman album didn't hit #1? That's shocking to me.

nothingfails

Batman hit #1, Sign O' The Times somehow only got to #6.

However, in the UK, Prince churned #1 albums effortlessly into the mid-90's. Even Come hit #1 there.

Supermallet

So 3121 was his first #1 album since 1989. That sounds more right to me.

hotsexyboi

I like both equally but I have to go with Prince on this one!

hdtv00

Correct sorry 1989 and Batman is correct, threw me off because it was a soundtrack. Either way prince has been on a role of late. And I just hope these two new cd's are worth a crap and not more Planet Earth worthlessness.

nothingfails

I always thought Planet Earth just seemed like a way of promoting the 21 nights at the O2. This should be more interesting since one disc is going to be a return to rock for him, and the other disc will be largely beat/dance oriented, two styles of music Prince always thrives at but doesn't do enough these days since he seems to do more and more slow jams. So I'm excited for it.

kurupt

I've always thought that Around The World In A Day and Lovesexy were both great albums that had the misfortune of following Purple Rain and Sign 'O' The Times, respectively, which were the two most well-received works of Prince's career.

As far as the comparison, Prince is by far the better overall musician and has done more for music over the course of his career and most who know anything about music will remember it that way. That's not to discount what Michael Jackson and company did with Off The Wall and Thriller. The pure pop craftsmanship of Quincy Jones and Rod Temperton on those two albums is almost unparalleled and Jackson developed his own style of singing and line delivery that is still being bitten by current r&b musicians.

In terms of their recent work, I though HIStory was MJ's best album since Thriller, but his last album was completely forgettable. While Princes recent albums haven't been, from start to finish, up to the standards he set in the late 70's through the 80's (plus I loved both The Gold Experience and the sprawling Emancipation), there have been tracks on each album that deserve a place with Prince's greatest hits. Musicology had "Call My Name" and the underrated "On The Couch", 3121 had a great title track, "Lolita", and "Black Sweat" sounded a lot like an updated version of the early 80's funk. Planet Earth is the weakest of the newer albums, but had, what I think is the best Prince song in the past decade in "The One U Wanna C". If I close my eyes I can almost see him and the Revolution circa 1983 playing that song live.

Lucy

MJ was awarded the World Music Awards' Best-Selling Pop Male Artist of the Millennium, the American Music Award's Artist of the Century Award and the Bambi Pop Artist of the Millennium Award. He was the only artist ever to be inducted twice into the American Rock and Roll hall of Fame. He was also an inductee of the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2002.

His awards include multiple Guinness World Records (eight in 2006 alone), 13 Grammy Awards, 13 number one singles in his solo career—more than any other male artist in the Hot 100 era—and the sale of over 750 million units worldwide.

In the 1980s, Time described Jackson as "the hottest single phenomenon since Elvis Presley". By 1990, Vanity Fair had already cited Jackson as the most popular artist in the history of show business.

Tickets for his "This is it" tour sold out so quickly they were the fastest ticket sales ever.
Oh and about the ticketmaster thing, tickets were limited to 4 per person, although people probably did try to get more

So every one saying that he is famous for no reason is wrong.
MJ is awesome and i'm seeing him in his last show of the 50 dates which will b wiked!

Supermallet

No one is saying he is famous for no reason, just that Prince was more prolific and talented.

In other words, if MJ is a 7 out of 10, Prince is a 10 out of 10. If MJ is a 10 out of 10, then Prince is a 12 out of 10.

The Cow

If you are talking about the HOF in Cleveland, your statement is incorrect.

nothingfails

"Multiple inductees"
Eric Clapton (Yardbirds, Cream, solo)
Jeff Beck (Yardbirds, solo)
Johnny Carter (The Dells, The Flamingos)
Sam Cooke (Soul Stirrers, solo)
David Crosby (The Byrds, Crosby Stills And Nash)
George Harrison (The Beatles, solo)
John Lennon (The Beatles, solo)
Curtis Mayfield (The Impressions, solo)
Paul McCartney (The Beatles, solo)
Clyde McPhatter (The Drifters, solo)
Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin, The Yardbirds)
Paul Simon (Simon And Garfunkel, solo)
Stephen Stills (Buffalo Springfield, Crosby Stills And Nash)
Sammy Strain (The O'Jays, Little Anthony & The Imperials)
Young, Neil (Buffalo Springfield, solo)

Being inducted twice is very impressive, but MJ's in a league with 15 others, not just himself.

nothingfails

Funny that you use sales and the sort as facts about why he's the better artist. Britney Spears is one of the top 10 biggest selling female artists in America, does that automatically make her superior to Joni Mitchell, Kate Bush, Deborah Harry/Blondie, Annie Lennox/Eurythmics and other female artists she sold more albums than? If you say the answer is yes, then something's wrong.

If you knew anything about Prince's career, you'd know that the last thing Prince ever wanted was MJ's level of success. He recorded Around The World In A Day to get rid of the fairweather fans who latched onto Purple Rain. If he'd been like MJ, he would've duplicated Purple Rain and made another surefire smash hit. He didn't give a shit, he knew if he was expected to sell 13 million again, he'd have to compromise a lot of his artistic stands. Stevie Wonder is a better artist to compare Prince with than MJ.

Mabuse

Anyone care to reevaluate their vote?

Chrisedge

I voted for MJ when I voted a while back...Still stand by that. But Prince is unreal!

DeltaSigChi4

I originally voted for Prince and keep it unchanged. I am just bummed I never got to see Michael Jackson live in concert.

E

Matt

Not me. MJ's death really sucks, but it doesn't change anything.

Supermallet

Why would I want to change my vote? Did the quality of MJ's music suddenly change in comparison to Prince's?

NORML54601

yup

nodeerforamonth

Prince.

Michael Jackson wasn't a musician. He couldn't play any instruments.

freshticles

Prince is a much better musician. HE's an amazing musician actually.

PopcornTreeCt

I voted for MJ. No one is going to care when Prince dies.