Was the Rock Star Prince an Adventist?
April 24, 2016: The world was shocked last week when a superstar of popular music known simply as “Prince” died in his home in the suburbs of Minneapolis. Questions about his death and the work of the medical examiner continue, but a number of journalists have reported that Prince Rogers Nelson was “raised a Seventh-day Adventist” and later joined the Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Journalists are not permitted to check the membership records of church clerks or conference offices; that is a violation of individual privacy. As a result, Adventist Today has no direct method by which to confirm or deny Prince’s connection with the Adventist faith. It is also true that the Valuegenesis research has shown that about a third of the young people growing up in Adventist homes are not baptized and therefore not on the official membership list. As adults, almost all of these individuals will tell interviewers that the religious preference or background is Adventist.
“Prince was raised as a Seventh-day Adventist,” states unequivocally Adherents.com, which has a reputation as the most reliable source on the Internet for information about religious affiliation and preferences. It cites the Associated Press, Reuters and other well-respected sources. It said that he “always had a spiritual bent” and followed a vegetarian, if not a vegan diet, in part, because it “is a component of his religious background as a Seventh-day Adventist.”
A report on an interview with Prince in the November 24, 2008, issue of The New Yorker, a journal legendary for its fact checking, identifies him as having an Adventist background. It points out religious sentiments in his creative work. But a 1998 profile in The Times Magazine published in the United Kingdom reported that “he was brought up in several denominations, Seventh Day Adventist and Baptist among them.”
Despite the fact that he was a flamboyant rock star and wrote and performed x-rated lyrics, Prince clearly had a strong commitment to faith. “I’m in love with God, he’s the only way,” he sang in one of his own compositions. The Christian magazine Sojourners published an editorial last week describing how his faith influenced his music; 39 albums, seven Grammy awards, an Oscar and one “ranked among the greatest albums of all time.”
There were many references to sex in his songs, but a biographer states there was twice as much material about “religion and spirituality and God and Jesus.” For example, Prince’s song “Dear Mr. Man” quotes Christ’s Sermon on the Mount. And the song “I Would Die 4 U” has many Christian themes. Aleksandra Rozens, writing for Reuters, quoted Prince as saying, “Everything I do is inspired by God.”
In 2001, Prince joined the Jehovah’s Witnesses primarily because of the personal ministry of another rock musician, Larry Graham, who started out with the group Sly and the Family Stone and eventually became a bass player with Prince’s band. There are reports in Minneapolis and Huntsville newspapers of Prince actually going door to door with Jehovah’s Witnesses much to the shock of fans in the homes they contacted. This sect shares the Adventist belief in the second coming, with some differences.
Prince is the kind of public figure that some Adventist leaders may find embarrassing and leave them inclined to deny any connection. It is also possible that his Adventist faith is part of his creative genius and contributed to his impact on millions of young people and others who continue to listen to his music. God works with human gifts to share the good news of His gracious and forgiving love through channels that will never be voted by denominational committees nor promoted by denominational bureaucracies. He is not dependent on them and sometime uses the most unlikely individuals, including a rock star on a spiritual journey.
If you know something about an Adventist connection with Prince, please contact the editors of Adventist Today either by Email at atoday@atoday.org. Please put in the subject line: “Was Prince an Adventist?” And be sure to describe the source of your knowledge.
Featured Image: Prince performing at Coachella in 2008. Featured Image Credit: By Micahmedia at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=13466179.
Just Google the lyrics to Prince’s song “7” and substitute SDA for “7” and you will get some idea of Prince’s attitude to Seventh Day Adventists. Yes, he’s very spiritual, but unfortunately he’s on the wrong side. The Bible literalists are spoiling his experience of “love”.
What, do you think the Bible is literary fantasy? You need to be an atheist. If it’s not totally accurate, then it’s useless. You’d want your money back if you bought something based on an advertisement that said it contained specific things, then when you got it, it didn’t really have what it promised.
Maybe you’re right, or not. I don’t know. I had never heard of the song before, so I Googled the lyrics. One could substitute many other names, or nouns, to replace “7” if so inclined. I’m not sure why I would do that, or why it would be an indication of anything other than a corruption of the original lyrics. Your premise reminds me of the theory about playing one of the Beatles’ songs backwards to hear it say “George is dead”. And from this suspicious perch on which you have placed yourself, you judge Prince as being on the “wrong side”… Perhaps, simply by saying that, you have shown that you are not on the right side either. And I see no more value in speculating about Prince’s prior SDA experiences than speculating about Tom Cruise’s Scientology beliefs, or the beliefs of anyone about anything.
So what did Jesus mean by: “Wherefore, by their fruits, ye shall know them”? Is worldly fame important to God? And why it is that so many of us spend so much time excusing and glorifying the obscene things of this world and think that because we like it, and we claim to be Christians, God has to accept it? Small wonder our children are confused and think that we are hypocrites. They are right. Did Prince abandon his music or seek to serve two masters, expecting God to accept that, BECAUSE THE CHURCH MEMBERSHIP DID? get real, people! This is hero worship at its worst.
“What? his connection to Adventism may have been part of his genius?” Do you believe that lucifers connection to heaven is part of his genius and therefore some people will be persuaded by for eternity with Jesus?
great thought. My sentiments exactly!
I don’t like it when we Adventists jump to claim a famous member, as though that will somehow legitimize us. It’s happened many times through the years, from Sojourner Truth to Little Richard to Clifton Davis to President Obama’s mother. How have these turned out for us?
I think Prince was very talented, but I find little benefit to the church in claiming him as a Seventh-day Adventist. And I wonder if the Jehovah’s Witnesses weren’t a little embarrassed to have him when they heard the lyrics of his songs.
As a JW, I do not hesitate to call Prince, Brother Nelson, since he died as a faithful brother. The X-rated songs you are referring to we’re recorded prior to his Witness conversion. Following his baptism, Brother Nelson applied Bible principles in his life and made many changes. I don’t judge him for his past life anymore than I judge Paul for persecuting Christians before Paul became a Christian. I think as Christians, we’re all encouraged to emulate Paul’s faith.
Thank-you for your input, Emily…it is interesting how you saw him as a member of your own denomination. Your perspective is valuable in seeing him as a more complete person.
My main response to the title question is, “So what?”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/whitny-braun/what-the-seventhday-adven_b_9768966.html
I am complete agreement with the above comment by Loren Seibold.
Prince practiced spiritual syncretism…cafeteria style belief and practice. This is the zeitgeist of this age. He managed to combine belief in God and Jesus with sexual promiscuity, as if that’s compatible. It sounds like the biblical description of pagan worship that found its way into Israel in the name of YHWH.
This article seems to characterize those who would fail to see God’s hand in Prince’s oeuvre as being narrow minded. That’s pure nonsense. While one needn’t buy the whole ball of wax, and while God could use a donkey to speak truth, one must also recognize spiritual confusion when it is encountered, and call it by its right name…even if it comes from a popular, creative genius.
Thanks…
Frank
It appears that composers, down through time, have assimilated ideas from various sources, much more often than actually preaching dogma through composition and performance. To my knowledge The Beatles (probably the best-known musical group of the past 50 years) scavenged ideas from many sources, some religious, usually not. But to my knowledge neither that group, nor any other like them, actually set out to promote a particular point of view, except in the matter of protest. The ideas that formed the basis of their music more often than not were derived from their personal experience and mental meanderings through their culture (at times influenced by reaction to chemicals they ingested), not from any set structure of belief. Prince seemed omnivorous, drawing material from many, many parts of the culture of his audience. In that sense he reflected the culture of the audience of his day. That his views on the divine seem polluted and even sacrilegious is probably more a reflection of what he saw in society, rather than his desire to directly promote such a society. Prince recognized that rock music is probably not the best vehicle for promoting change; that said, it’s a wonderful way to generate superstardom. And as a superstar, he was in a position to donate money to causes of his choice, which he is reported to have done in anonymous abundance.
Well said Ed. The thing about Prince that is/was so amazing included mattering over 25 instruments and figuring out how to control his music production in a crooked industry. Then using that success to donate liberally to many causes, without seeking any credit for his generosity. We should all be proud of that part of his character. Human yes, flawed absolutely, just like all of us, but better than nearly all of us at helping those he saw fit to support. There are several generations awed by his music, but that was only a small part of his story.
I never recall ever hearing of prince before his death and am disappointed that AToday would even show a scintilla interest in this guy. We need to focus on real heroes not the idols of the great unwashed.
I suppose that you are not into current events, past or present,if you have not heard of Prince before now considering his career has spanned decades. Despite this, it is interesting to explore his religious/spiritual influences…especially since he was raised an Adventist.
If you don’t care- why comment at all ? Don’t feel like you need to respond- I think I know the answer.
Why does it matter?
It doesn’t matter now.
The spirit moves in mysterious ways. How is it that we’ve come to embrace men like David or Solomon? Thousands of years don’t change the reality these men modelled. Yet we embrace the good they had to give while turning away from their sexual promiscuity, slave ownership, murder, arms dealing, Idol worshiping, adulterous, and child sacrificing behaviours.
If God can speak through Nebuchadnezzar and even provide prophecies related to the Messiah through a wizard who rode a talking donkey and tried to curse Israel, is it not possible that he could use someone in our age embodying less of the evils then those we frequently turn to and reference in the Bible?
I’m not sure where it comes from, but there seems to be this constant craving in our hearts for a kind of sanitized spirituality. Yet the Bible rarely provides us with examples. From Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to the New Testament writers and protestant reformers, we see a bumpy and often messy picture of the human struggle to restore and live out a thriving relationship with our Creator.
The challenge we experience when we embrace this attempt to live out a sanitized version of biblical instruction is that it often leads to pride, arrogance, and an insatiable appetite to judge who’s in and who’s out.
Instead let’s pursue the inclusive model Jesus provided – living with and even embracing the tension between the real and the ideal.
I have yet to see a comment by any Adventist about Prince’s joining a blatantly heretical cult like the Jehovah’s Witnesses, who deny the very deity of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Instead many SDAs want to embrace him as one of their own. Says a lot about Adventism.
I don’t think it matters at all whether he ever had a connection to Adventism. I think a more significant and relevant question is whether he was Christian–something which none of us is qualified to judge.
I agree with Jonathan. Whether Prince was connected to Adventism in his childhood (there are reports that his grandmother was Adventist and even that he attended one of our boarding schools for a very short period), or accepted Christ at any other time or moment in his life (we cannot know this), we should pray that God wrote his name in the Lamb’s Book of Life. So glad He is the judge and not us. He is the Redeemer and Savior, not us. I, for one, pray I make it in and have the privilege of meeting the psalmist David, AND the artist Prince.
What’s more interesting is the attention that Adventists give to celebrities along with the attempts to “connect the dots” so we can claim these celebrities as our own. I’m not going to suggest that I understand the pathology behind this, but that it definitely appears to be an obsession of some sort. Brad Pitt made a comment one time about the attention that celebrities get from obsessive fans, saying something to the effect that it is because of “something that is missing within themselves”. Maybe Jesus isn’t “enough” for us? Maybe we also need Prince.
I think any of us growing up Adventist are familiar with at least a dozen famous folk who are rumored to have SDA backgrounds or “would b SDA but they feel their ministry is more important as nondenominational” (e.g. Billy Graham). It’s like the folk here in Hawaii who like to claim Obama is “local” because he lived with his grandma for a few years here. I would agree with the comment above… or in other words, “yeah… and…? ” or “why does this matter? “
Why are we so worried about anyone’s religious affiliation? Shouldn’t our concern be more for if he knew Jesus? I don’t think it’s about sides, ‘Leo H’, and if it is, it’s certainly not about what church we attend. I think we, as humans and especially as Adventists, spend way too much time and concern over whether we think someone else was saved – and precious little about our own salvation (which Paul tells us to do…).
Prince: a phenomenal musician and entertainer, and child of God-just like me. The end.
PatiC said on April 29, 2016 at 9:05 am;
“I don’t think it matters at all whether he ever had a connection to Adventism. I think a more significant and relevant question is whether he was Christian–something which none of us is qualified to judge.”
ABSOLUTELY…Double AMEN to that statement by PatiC.
Many people have spiritual connections that wax and wane, this world is a tough place to live, and Satan is sooooo clever at finding ways to distract us.
Some attend church as children and give it up as adults only to return when they are older. It is impossible for us to gauge where a person is in their spiritual journey just by observing their outward behavior. We cannot determine their closeness to God merely by their words or actions, only God knows their innermost thoughts.
There are numerous reports of Prince being generous with his money, donating anonymously to charities. If true that suggests a person who cares greatly about his fellow mankind.
The complaints I read of SDA trying to claim Prince as one of their own sound to me like haters looking for something to speak negatively regarding SDA. None of the SDA I know have tried to claim him or deny him.
Since he had SDA background, and the lyrics of his music eventually ceased having outright sexual content, I live in the hope, he was strengthening his relationship with God, making a comeback to his roots.
Many adventists consider all Rock music to be satanic. I make no accusation that Prince was satanic, but in cases such as this, if Satan was furious with a person who was turning away from him and toward God, would Satan take action to end such a comeback?
Probably.
Would he be able to slay a person in that situation?
I have NO way of knowing, but one day, all will be revealed.
“What’s more interesting is the attention that Adventists give to celebrities along with the attempts to “connect the dots” so we can claim these celebrities as our own.”
Why, why, why? I call it the Penny Edwards syndrome. An actress became an SDA and the publicity heaped on her was stifling. Then she recanted or some such thing. How quickly her fame among the SDA PR promoters disappeared. We still haven’t learned the lesson that pandering to the high and mighty is incompatible with the tenets of the Sermon on the Mount.
In older days, it was assumed by many Adventists that belonging to the Remnant (at least post-1844) was a prerequisite for salvation and a strong indicator that a person was a candidate for redemption. Many no longer see as strong a connection between observant church membership and salvation; Prince’s family may have at one time been observant Adventists, but maybe they didn’t have solid faith in the Sabbath message, maybe their (and his) departure from fellowship were indicators that they had lost sight of the Blessed Hope and had fallen irredeemably from the narrow pathway, to most certain spiritual death (not all would phrase it this way, but in my early years this would have stated well the conservative position on apostasy and its deadly results). Of more interest today is the somewhat more academic question of what motivating factors led the Nelson family to turn their backs on the Church, and what long-term effect did that departure have on Prince himself? Was he perhaps on a trajectory back to his boyhood denominational roots? If not why not; if so, why so. Perhaps in time biographical material will appear on this question. Meanwhile we mourn the man’s death and wonder how we could have served our brother more winsomely in the name of Christ…..
“Embarrassment” or not, Prince was a great guitar player and a talented performer, Sample his guitar solo on “While my Guitar Gently Weeps” during the George Harrison tribute [YouTube]
Prince was an awesome guitarist, though few understood his prodigious abilities as a soloist. Yes, his talent is the stuff of which undying legends are made….
I’m a guitarist. Classical and electric. The man could play in his style. He communicated emotion and could solo melodically, rather than just spinning notes like a lot of other players. What a shame.
Thanks…
Frank
Prince has gone and his work here on earth is done whether he sings a song about God and other times about sexual material stuffs that was his choice and not for us to judge. I mean we can say all we want does that make you any better than him. Certainly not ! In the eyes of God we are all the same For he loves us all the SAME whether your a sinner or not , or you sin less than your neighbour His love for us will always be the same. Thats why i Love Him so much He does not show favouratism and he gives us free will ! And just because you are making the right choices does not give the right to talk about others in a degrading manner that is judging them and you will be judge the same. So learn to love and pray for the brother that you personally think is not doing what God pleases other than that live it all to Him let God alone be the judge of every good and bad choices we make. So for us talking about prince is pointless it only causes more problems. For he is sleeping and waiting for God our Father on His return. For us let us praying for spiritual healing and draw others to our Merciful Gracious God so we can be saved THATS THE MAIN WHY WE HERE ON EARTH not to judge the world BUT TO GET THEM TO HEAVEN thats where God wants us all to be ! So lets get to work My dear brothers and sisters????
God Bless
Josaia
Gotta agree about the George Harrison concert. Amazing solo.