The Greatest Madonna & Prince Story Ever Told?

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The Greatest Madonna & Prince Story Ever Told?

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prince and madonna
L: Prince (Photo By John Leyba/The Denver Post via Getty Images), R: Madonna (Photo by Michael Putland/Getty Images)

As we celebrate the 30th anniversary of Like A Prayer today, one of Madonna’s greatest musical achievements, we’re drawn to a story which relates to one of the album’s collaborators.

While Prince and Madonna fans are generally aware the pair worked together on the Like A Prayer tune “Love Song”, it’s less well known Prince also once assisted Madonna with some quick home repairs. 

In J Randy Taraborrelli’s biography from last year, Madonna: An Intimate Biography Of An Icon At 60, he recounts how an argument between Madonna and her then-husband Sean Penn became violent after her past dating history with Prince was discussed. The Hollywood bad boy put his fist through a wall of their New York apartment when he learnt his wife had been briefly romantically involved with Prince after she crossed paths with the Minneapolis songwriter in early 1985 (he even designed her outfit for her Live Aid performance in July of that year). 

It’s not hard to see why Prince and Madonna were attracted to each other following their introduction at the American Music Awards in January 1985. Thanks to their individual successes with “Purple Rain” and “Like A Virgin”, they were two of the biggest names in popular music at the time. A union between the headline-grabbing pair was always on track to be pop dynamite. When the collaborative “Love Song” eventually appeared on the March 1989 release of Like A Prayer, Madonna’s marriage to Sean Penn was already on the rocks after less than four years of marriage. Whether autobiographical or not, the lyrics to Like A Prayer’s “Till Death Do Us Part” detailed a relationship marred by verbal and physical violence.

While reports suggest Madonna’s relationship with Penn was tumultuous from its earliest days, Prince was on hand to offer a little light relief. A couple of days after Penn had punched the wall following his argument with Madonna, Taraborrelli suggests in his biography the Material Girl singer called up Prince. Showing more front than the White House, Madonna told Prince he had to come and patch up the hole, “because you’re responsible for it, after all”. 

“As instructed,” Taraborrelli writes, “Prince showed up with plaster, and repaired the hole.”

The vision is mind-boggling. Prince as a home maintenance guru? Prince dropping by the local hardware shop for plaster and a trowel? It’s hard to imagine Prince keeping a straight face when Madonna called him about the damage, let alone later diligently dropping by like a purple Scott Cam to fix her pad.   

Given it’s 1000 miles between Prince’s homebase in Minneapolis and the New York apartment Madonna purchased with Sean Penn in the ‘80s, it’s not been explained how Prince managed to simply pop on over with his plaster, but what a ripper story!

Celebrate Like A Prayer’s 30th anniversary (featuring Prince contributions on the album’s tunes “Love Song”, “Keep It Together”, “Act Of Contrition” and the title track’s Van Halen-style licks in its opening seconds) by listening to the album today.

Listen to Like A Prayer on Spotify

Listen to Like A Prayer on Apple Music 

Listen to Like A Prayer on Amazon Music

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