Prince did not mince words when he threw shade at both Madonna and Maroon 5 during a recent interview with Billboard for its new, rebooted magazine.
Prince subtly disses Madonna when speaking about the dissolution of his 20-year relationship with Warner Bros. in 1996, saying, "It was also about Madonna. She was getting paid, but at the same time we were selling more records and selling out concerts on multiple nights. It wasn't about her. This was about business."
UsWeekly's preview of the interview misquotes Prince, claiming he said "It was always about Madonna." In the Billboard article, the musician actually acknowledges that it wasn't her fault.
The feud between Prince and Madonna has gone on for decades.
The duo, who briefly dated in 1985 and dueted on her single "Love Song," have made some very public jabs back and forth -- Madonna calling Prince a "little troll" in an interview, and Prince making fun of her brood of children during a concert, according to Rolling Stone. Things were copacetic between the two in January 2011, when the Queen of Pop showed up in the audience of his Madison Square Garden show.
But back to the Billboard interview.
Prince goes on to call out Adam Levine and Maroon 5 for covering his hit "Kiss" on their 2012 album, "Overexposed."
"I do pay performance royalties on others' songs I perform live, but I'm not recording these songs and putting them up for sale," he told Billboard, then referencing "Kiss." "Why do we need to hear another cover of a song someone else did? Art is about building a new foundation, not just laying something on top of what's already there."
The song no longer appears on the delux version of the album on iTunes, allegedly because Maroon 5 learned Prince disapproved.
The 54-year-old's diss to Maroon 5 likely has its roots in his preoccupation with media ownership and creative rights, an issue that cropped up when he refused to let the Billboard reporter record their conversation.
"The Internet's completely over," Prince told the Mirror in 2010. "I don't see why I should give my new music to iTunes or anyone else. They won't pay me an advance for it and then they get angry when they can't get it." Adding, "The internet's like MTV. At one time MTV was hip and suddenly it became outdated."
Check out Prince's Billboard magazine cover below, then click here for Billboard's preview excerpt from the interview.
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