Prince's former manager, David Libert, is revisiting early memories of the late icon and sharing his first impressions of the star.
Speaking during an interview with Ultimate Classic Rock, Libert admitted Prince could be a "tough guy to handle." They first met in the early 1980s at a Thanksgiving dinner hosted by George Clinton.
Libert was managing Sheila E., who would go on to open for Prince during his Purple Rain tour. It was during this time that he became acquainted with Prince.
"I liked Prince," Libert said. "He was a tough guy to deal with, but not for me. He was very nice to me. Prince was very antisocial; he felt awkward in social situations. He didn't really know how to deal with people on a certain level, so he just pretended he was angry all the time.”
That said, Libert explained that Prince was kind to him.
"He was nice to me because, I guess, he didn't want to look stupid in front of me, which is amazing that Prince would even care what I thought about him," he said. "But I was older than anybody else in his inner circle, and because I worked with George Clinton, that got me some respect. But I’m guessing on all of this."
Libert did however admit that Prince's company would sometimes be too much and he would find ways to avoid or escape the music legend's company.
"I liked him, but I didn't want to be obligated to have to go to his room every night with the select group of people he invited," Libert explained. "Prince was not fun to hang out with, that's for damn sure. But, yeah, it was an interesting experience. I seemed to go there every once in a while and it seemed like he was happy to see me whenever I did, so that was nice."
Prince died in April 2016 at age 57 from a fentanyl overdose. The Sun reported that he lay dead for several hours in an elevator at his Paisley Park home before he was found by his drummer Kirk Johnson and his personal assistant Meron Berkure.
According to reports, his private jet was forced to make an emergency landing in Illinois shortly after a performance in Atlanta, and he was briefly hospitalized days before his death.
The "Purple Rain" singer and cultural icon was born Prince Rogers Nelson and made headlines in 1993 when he changed his name to a symbol.
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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