A 2014 feature that had been buried by Rolling Stone, was resurrected on Monday (May 2), to posthumously share where music icon Prince stood on everything from the untimely death of contemporary, Michael Jackson, to the possibility of a woman being elected into the office of the presidency. During the course of the interview, with contributor Brian Hiatt, the topic of forgiveness arose [considering their rumored history, it was perhaps not coincidental that it came following his thoughts on MJ]. It was in that moment that the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer reveals having once approached a mentorship of Chris Brown.
"I don't want to talk about it. I'm too close to it," Prince hesitated, before continuing on in reference to Jackson, with an implicit response that presents a young Chris as an example. "He is just one of many who have gone through that door—Amy Winehouse and folks. We're all connected, right, we're all brothers and sisters, and the minute we lock that in, we wouldn't let anybody in our family fall. That's why I called Chris Brown. All of us need to be able to reach out and just fix stuff. There's nothing that's unforgivable."
The quote seemingly touches on Brown's 2009 assault on then girlfriend Rihanna. In follow-up to the statement, Hiatt dug deeper on the matter, reminding the male-feminist (who declared in the interview that society has experienced a paradigm shift towards feminine times), that many considered Brown "unforgivable" for his actions. "Unforgivable?" he replied. "Goodness. That's when we go check the master, Christ. ... Have you ever instantly forgiven somebody? It's the best feeling in the world, and it totally dismantles that person's whole stance."
The Paisley Park exclusive would have been the artists' 9th RS cover, with his bust having appeared front and center on issues 394, 429, 456, 472, 589, 855, 949, and 1000.
Source: complex.com
