Royal decree: let’s go crazy

PRINCE has confirmed he will retire his classic hits after a world tour starting in Melbourne on October 21.

“We’re constantly creating new things and we want to express ourselves in the ‘Everlasting Now’, as opposed to the restrictive nature of set-lists,” Prince told the Herald Sun by e-mail yesterday.

The interview is the first Prince has conducted in three years.

Prince, 45, says he will revisit his best known songs for the last time before focusing on the future.

“Everything eye want, eye already have,” he wrote.

Fans, he noted, “have seen the older material with several different crews.

“And since the music has matured now, it’s time 2 move the material out of the house 2 make room for the new kids!” he wrote.

As Prince revealed his world tour plans, his first Rod Laver Arena show broke ticket sales records early yesterday.

His October 21 show sold out in 20 minutes, and spilled to a second show on October 22.

Those ticket sales show Prince still has clout, even 20 years after his biggest record, Purple Rain, was released.

“Xpect one lifelong party!” Prince said of his coming shows.

“No gimmicks and no prisoners.”

Prince last toured Australia in 1992, playing sell-out shows at the then National Tennis Centre and a secret gig at the Palace.

Lately, many critics have urged Prince to go back to basics.

His Melbourne show, the opening night of a world tour, will attract global attention.

In his rise to fame, Prince borrowed from Little Richard, James Brown and Jimi Hendrix and influenced a new generation of performers to fuse funk and rock.

His sexual image and risque live shows pre-dated Madonna’s.

His decision to return to the spotlight as Prince and perform his hits is a landmark one. He has spent the past decade in the commercial and critical wilderness.

In 1993, he changed his name to a symbol and then to The Artist Formerly Known As Prince as a protest against his recording and publishing deal with Warner Bros.

He said the deal, which ended in 2000, amounted to slavery.

Prince’s hits include When Doves Cry 1999, Kiss and Let’s Go Crazy.

The top five fastest concert sell-outs at Rod Laver Arena are: Tool (11 minutes 2001); Pearl Jam (17 minutes 2002); Prince (20 minutes 2003); Kylie Minogue, (24 minutes 2002) and John Farnham (30 minutes 2003).