Rock Star Prince: New Book Suggests His Music is Rooted in Adventist Faith and Upbringing

by Adventist Today News Team
A new book about the pop star Prince explores the connections between his childhood in an Adventist family and a number of his songs. Prince Rogers Nelson is widely known simply as Prince and has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. He owns a production company and has promoted the careers of a number of younger popular music stars.
The book is entitled I Would Die 4 U based on a line from one of Prince’s songs. It is written by Touré Neblett, using only his first name as his byline, a music journalist, critic of popular culture and television personality on MSNBC. It was published by Atria Books, a division of the major New York publisher, Simon & Schuster.
Prince has done more to connect with the largely unfulfilled spiritual needs of younger Americans than any other pop figure, Touré writes. “He packed his music with religious messages and gospel tropes but, more than that [he] was the best in history at articulating himself as a “Messiah figure.” In fact, Toure’s interviews with people close to Prince revealed that they “wondered if he thought he was some sort of Messiah.”
In 2001, Prince joined the Jehovah’s Witnesses, but was raised a Seventh-day Adventist, often attending with his grandmother at Glendale Church, a historically African American congregation on Glenwood Avenue in Minneapolis. “Both of his parents believed in the strict faith as did Bernadette Anderson, who took him in after he left home.”
“The teachings and iconography of Adventism show up repeatedly in Prince’s music, which I didn’t understand until I spoke with several Seventh-day Adventists,” Touré stated. “All the Adventists I spoke with said music is a crucial part of the Black Adventist experience. … The list of successful Adventist musicians includes: Little Richard, Kirk Franklin, Brian McKnight and Pepa from Salt N Pepa.”
Touré said that the music was the most important part of the young Prince’s experience at church. He quotes Prince telling comedian and movie star Chris Rock, “a lot of the message was based in fear, what will happen to you if you do something and I don’t think God is to be feared that way. I think he’s a loving God.” Nonetheless, Touré found that many themes from Adventist theology are expressed in Prince’s music.
“Prince’s music is … often concerned with the apocalypse and the Second Coming,” Touré wrote. The rock star’s Adventist background “unveils the real meaning of the refrain ‘May you live to see the dawn’ [and] also speaks to why he seems to be so evangelical, using his music to spread a message about Christ.”
In a song from that time entitled 1999, one of the lyrics Prince wrote was, “This morning when I woke up coulda sworn it was Judgment Day.” In the book, Touré observed, “The proximity of Armageddon in this vision is very Adventist. This gives new color, perhaps, to the lines, ‘Trying to run from the destruction. You know I didn’t even care.’ If Prince is looking forward to Judgment Day, then it’d make sense that he’d be sitting pretty, ready to go to Heaven, while others are running scared. So, in 1999 , Prince sees others running from the apocalypse because they don’t know better, or because they fear death, but Prince doesn’t run and isn’t afraid because he knows what’s happening and he welcomes the end of days. … The apocalypse … would not be frightening for Prince, but could be thrilling. … He sings, ‘Can’t run from Revelation, no,’ and he doesn’t want to.”
“Many Adventists believe that Judgment Day will be accompanied or preceded by war,” Touré explained. “The downward spiral of society is a typically Adventist perspective. They believe the world will get much worse before the Second Coming and that the return of Christ will usher in a millennium of peace. [This] perspective fits with Prince’s dour, hopeless, pessimistic, look-at-the-messed-up-world songs like America, Pop Life and Sign O The Times. Interestingly, there is a popular Adventist magazine named Signs of the Times.” Touré continued, “Prince gave us an album that shares the name of an Adventist magazine, with a title track that speaks of the end of days scenario that would precede the return of Jesus. [Then] he pivots 180 degrees to create his most openly spiritual album to that point.”
“All the Adventists I spoke with said one Prince song employs far more SDA language than any other: 7 from the Symbol album. ‘It’s about the end of time,’ one told me. ‘It is exactly what we have been taught from a young age.’” Touré quoted an interview with Adventist writer Jason Hines. “What Prince describes in 7 is particularly in line with Adventist eschatology. The entirety of Prince’s 7 is a description of this final battle … after the Millennium [when] the New Jerusalem will come to Earth.”
Touré stated that in this song “we hear the forces aligned with Satan, and White’s certainty that the Army of God will defeat them” in Prince’s lyrics, “They stand in the way of love. And we sill smoke them all.” Touré quoted Hines pointing out that the first verse begins with a common phrase from Revelation, “And I saw an angel come down unto me,” and that visions in Scripture are often associated with the appearance of angels.
“In this vision, Prince sees or hears ‘an Army’s marching feet,’ which refers to the army Satan is using to attack the New Jerusalem. Prince then says that they ‘lay down on the sand of the sea.’ Hines said he may be talking about laying on the shore by the sea of glass, which is said to be in the heavenly city. Then, Prince says, ‘Before us animosity will stand and decree that we speak not of love, only blasphemy, and in the distance six others will curse me.’ This is Satan’s army being evil, lying about them, and cursing them.”
“Other Adventists said the second verse is quite common in their teaching,” Touré continued, quoting now from the Prince song, “And we will see a plague and a river of blood.” These are specifically mentioned in Revelation, Touré points out, and then quotes again from Prince’s lyrics; “And every evil soul will surely die in spite of their seven tears.” The song goes on to describe the defeat of Satan’s army and the eternal bliss that follows. “This is totally SDA,” Touré quotes an Adventist hearing the recording.
“Prince has shown an obsessive affinity for the number 7 throughout his career,” Toure stated. In addition to the song 7, the writer listed 19 more uses of seven in titles, key refrains and even graphics from various Prince recordings. Young people in his generation often shortened the label “Seventh-day Adventist” to simply a “Seven” in common speech.
The media have reported that Prince is a vegetarian. In 2006 he was voted the “world’s sexiest vegetarian” in the annual online poll conducted by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). The liner notes for his album Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic featured a message about the cruelty involved in wool production.
When Prince became a member of the Jehovah’s Witnesses he said he didn’t consider it a conversion, but a “realization … like Morpheus and Neo in The Matrix,” referring to the science fiction movie that focuses on philosophical and theological issues from a postmodern perspective. He attends meetings at a local Kingdom Hall and occasionally knocks on people’s doors to discuss his faith. Prince has reportedly needed double-hip-replacement surgery since 2005 but won’t undergo the operation unless it is a bloodless surgery because Jehovah’s Witnesses refuse to use blood transfusions. The condition is rumored to be aggravated by repeated onstage dancing in high-heeled boots. However, when Prince was interviewed in 2010, journalist Peter Willis said he believed the rumors of Prince needing double hip surgery to be unfounded and untrue because Prince appeared to be agile.
“The leaders of the denomination and the theologians may not be happy with the way Prince has expressed Adventist faith,” a veteran pastor told Adventist Today. “But the reality is that he has shared those concepts with many times more people than any of the denomination’s media ministries, publishing activities or evangelism campaigns. And that is the primary way in which faith is shared; it is outside the parameters of any training programs or media over which the organization has control.”
Very interesting.
I can only imagine how mighty a warrior for God he might have become had the Adventist Church remained attractive enough to him for him to stay in the church.
What’s the deal with the auto-response or reflex to blame the Adventist Church for those who leave it (and become iconic Jehovah Witness pop music sensations, no less).
Let me get this straight, to some, Adventism is responsible (or to blame) for David Koresh and now Prince. How about adding basketball greats Magic Johnson and Bob Lanier while we’re at it (their mothers were or are active/practicing SDAs); and let’s not forget jazz’s Al Jarreau? I suppose Adventism should also take the ‘blame’ for Barry Black, Ben Carson, and Clifton Davis.
Should we blame the Catholic Church for not being sufficiently "attractive" for all of the celebrities who grew up Catholic and have since rejected their strict Catholic upbringing?
Reflexive blame? Call it that if you wish. We're losing up to two-thirds of our youth. That's the future of the church going out the door en masse. We're losing a growing portion of our adults. Traditional evangelistic efforts are failing to produce more than minimal growth and what results they deliver is far less than what is needed to make up for losses. If it were not for growth among immigrant groups the membership of the church in North America would be shrinking. The failure of the church to retain memers is so great that there's plenty of blame to go around. I was just lamenting that we'd lost a person with musical talent who could have played a great role for God.
Please, don't count me among those blaming the church for David Koresh. I think he was demon possessed. I'm not going anywhere close to hanging blame for that on the church.
Stephen,
For those of us old enough to remember, there were also Earl Battey in MLB and Henry (aka Henrik) Abadi (aka Ahmadabadi, Abrahamian) in the NFL.
“en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earl_Battey”
“news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1979&dat=19740513&id=92giAAAAIBAJ&sjid=F6oFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1165,1954504”
“www.getreading.co.uk/news/local-news/how-keepy-uppy-lads-4238155”
“sabr.org/bioproj/person/df593af3”
Where would the black singers be had they not been church goers! I can't name one that didn't begin in church. They know how to sing–and their style freaks out most white conservative Adventists. Nothing is more beautiful and emotional than a black Gospel choir swaying to the music with full emotion, an expression anathema to their white brothers. Only recently, in some churches, has clapping accompanied the rhythm of the music. Does that ever occur in LLU's church services? Or in the SDA D.C. area?
Elvis Presley also started out in the church…. May "Jesus take the wheel" of Carrie Underwoods "Two Black Cadillacs" as she continues down the road.
Eveybody knows were living in the toes of the statue in Daniel two…that iron and clay our world today, Gods prophecy is True. With no hesitation the Book of Revelation is going live Johnny said, what will it take to get us awake and heed those letters in red?
opps "like" instead of "live" before Johnny….
They might as well leave with the worldly music in the church. Ellen White gives council on the music which is totally rejected in these black Pentecostal Adventist church. It’s disgusting, God , His commandments, His standards did not change but the 3 wavey line Adventist herotic church did. No more three angels horrific.
*Not privy to black churches but they are leading the liberal way.
Prince also has a lot of ~very~ sexual songs. And I mean quite graphic..too much for me to put on this board. But you might want to check it out to get the whole picture.
Anyone remember Little Richard who dumped rock & roll to attend Oakwood College? How about movie producer Ralph Winters, and starlet Penny Edwards? I attended the Hollywood SDA Church when they joined. The members treated them as celebrities…autographs, photos, etc. Even worse, 'church ladies' went to their home to purge it of 'wordly' distractions. Their careers, and church membership were short.
Those like myself who grew up reading and studying Adventist apocalyptic emphases are often suprised at the incredibly dramatic impact it has on writers and producers who find in these teachings of the church sensational grist for songs and scripts.
I will hazard yet another observation, with which undoubtedly some here will fervently disagree: An individual who bonds to the apocalyptic of the church alone will generally not remain any period of time in the church, except as a member of a sectarian element of the church that deals almost constantly with apocalyptic studies. This is one reason our individual churches are not at all off-base (at least initially) in sponsoring Sabbath School classes that deal with "end-time studies" and the like, and for pastors from time to time to break stride and talk about these matters from the pulpit. There is an element in Adventism that requires study and discussion of this material. It is the lifeblood of their Adventist experience.
But in addition to this we must do what we can as members to encourage those dedicated to apocalyptic studies to break up their intense study of some of these highly visionary writings. Too much continual study of this material alone can lead to what a writer has called the "Stephen King" effect of Adventism, and there are some sensitive devourerers of this fare who can be utterly torn apart by too much meditation on these things. The constant study of apocalyptic can become an immense psychological and spiritual burden if indulged constantly and to the exclusion of other verities of our faith….especially if there is a failure to bond to the personal Jesus. Apocalyptic, in and of itself, is generally not good news—though it alludes to the good news of the gospel, as an adjunct of warning and stern rebuke….
I have yet to see a “conversion” solely attributable to a single influence. The whole science of persuasion teaches us that many, many exposures, testimonies, and influences are required to guide an individual to sample, and finally to accept, a change in lifestyle, especially of a religious kind.
It was more customary in the 19th century for a person to sit down with a heavy, didactic book such as “Daniel and the Revelation” and after reading it from cover to cover, contact the publishing house and seek additional studies and the address of congregations that shared the views of Uriah Smith. The percentage of the population that possesses this level of single-mindedness concentration seems much lower, today, in part perhaps because we live in an information age where we seek to synthesize a great deal of information from a huge array of sources. We tend to assimilate information from here and there, and as the word “7” or “seventh-day” crops up repeatedly, we may be led to “Google” those words and find out more. In that sense, Prince has impregnated in our culture a much broader awareness of the imminence of the teachings of the Adventist Church, though he may have never sat down and given a Bible study on the 2300 days, or the significance of 1844.
Erratum: My previous post should have said 'worldly' distractions rather than 'wordly' distractions. I tried to edit it, but seemed the AT edit function was inop at the time.
It is very doubtful, as I see it, for rock music to lead anyone to Christ.
Maybe instead of trying "to encourage those dedicated to apocalyptic studies to break up their intense study of some of these highly visionary writings" maybe we should encourage a balanced study of Scripture with a defensible exegesis; Adventism is well balanced although I realize that certain ones militate against any instruction that touches on their personal inclinations.
Maranatha
Truth Seeker,
You wrote: "It is very doubtful, as I see it, for rock music to lead anyone to Christ."
I respectfully disagree. Where does God reach us? Where we are. How does God communicate to us? In familiar ways. He speaks to us where we are to show us His love, then nurtures us into His ways. God remains as willing and able today to save "unto the uttermost" as always.
The demographic group where I am probably seeing the greatest church growth is among young adults whose primary musical preference is from a range of more currently-popular styles some simply lump together as "rock" music. I have no doubt about their love for and devotion to God. Their faith experience challenges me to grow, and vice versa. Are their musical preferences today the same as when they first became believers? No. Just don't invite them to a pipe organ concert because you'll be going alone.
I’m surprised that the author of this book didn’t connect Prince’s “7” with the Sabbath. While he didn’t specifically state anything about the day, it seems to me that Sabbath as the seal of God as opposed to Sunday worship as the “mark of the beast” is as much implied in these words, “Before us animosity will stand and decree that we speak not of love, only blasphemy, and in the distance six others will curse me,” as is a generalized reference to “Satan’s army”.
So while folks are desperate to defend or destroy…. how about we try to figure out how to continue to win souls to Christ. Let Christ do what He does to transform people… Like He transformed each one of us. It will be Christ who remains… Not Adventism or any other religion. #bornandraisedinthischurch #LetChristTransform
Amen
I find it interesting that the response dates jump from
“May 5, 2013 at 1:26 pm” to “April 22, 2016 at 4:53 pm!”
Is this an old article with a few new responses?
I’m not comfortable with casting Prince as some sort of religious figure, any more than I see Madonna as a religious figure because of her name and she wore crucifixes. One can’t help, I suppose, bringing in to your art some of what you were taught as a child. But I find him much more an iconic cultural and sexual figure than a religious one. Here (and I warn you, this is graphic) is a Harper’s essay about him from 2012, by an admirer who makes him almost godlike. http://harpers.org/archive/2012/12/i-am-your-conscious-i-am-love/
It is disappointing that there is so much comment in defence of the church, an organization, while little is being said about love for Prince as an individual for whom Jesus died. Some would prefer to defend the church and its traditions than investigate how we can reach our exiting young people with love. The love of Christ is seriously lacking among us who call ourselves children of the kingdom.
To be “raised SDA” means much more that attending an SDA church frequently and having “parents who believed.” Although I have never listened to his music it is apparent that his lifestyle and music are not that of someone who had dedicated his life to God. I am saddened that this talented young man made very poor choices or perhaps was not given the opportunity to understand the true meaning of the book of Revelation or the real blessing of the Sabbath.
I just want to weigh in on the comment about SDA “losing our youth”. I raised my child in the SDA church and I focused on the love of God and Christ. Raised her vegetarian. I explained that no matter where she went Christ would never leave her (even in the club). The scripture I cited was “nothing can separate us from God which is in Christ Jesus”, Romans 8:28 – Romans 9. Guess what? My child is grown and never left the church! Yes if we teach the Love of God and Christ we won’t lose our youth!. We are not iffy we are acceptable by the spirit of adoption! I was not strict religiously because making your kids fear God doesn’t work. Satan put forth that image of God. Christ showed us His love and the depth of that love. Wow we are so fortunate to be loved like that. Let your kids know that! Oh btw she is active in the church and she is respected (even without a dad in her life). My point is that we have the solution. Teach God’s love. The relationship that develops in praying to the Heavenly Father and having your child read the Bible to you is powerful. Temper all with love.