Prince was "one of the most talented people who ever lived," Pat Boone told
Newsmax TV on Thursday, but the legendary singer said he once objected to a controversial song from "Purple Rain" that eventually led to warning labels on certain CDs.
"He absolutely is," Boone told "The Steve Malzberg Show" in an interview. "I won't talk about in past tense, because he still exists. His body is dead, and I don't know why."
Watch Newsmax TV on
DirecTV Ch. 349, Dish Ch. 223 and
Verizon FiOS Ch. 115. Get Newsmax TV on your cable system —
Click Here Now
The body of Prince, 57, was found at his Paisley Park home recording studio in Chanhassen, Minn., on Thursday morning.
His death was later confirmed to Variety by his publicist, Yvette Noel-Schure.
"But he is a genius and I met him only once," Boone said. "He was very shy in person — but upstage like Elvis, he came alive.
"Socially, he was generally quite shy and soft spoken and just timid. He was a nice man I'm sure and I'm saddened."
Boone said that he took "issue … on moral grounds" with Prince's 1984 song "Darling Nikki," from the autobiographical "Purple Rain" that came under fire for its sexually explicit lyrics, which referred to masturbation.
Citing the song and 14 others that touted drug abuse, violence and alcohol use, Tipper Gore and the wives of several Washington politicians founded the Parents Music Resource Center in 1985. She now is the former wife of Vice President Al Gore.
The center's efforts led to congressional hearings and negotiations with the music industry — and CDs with explicit lyrics are now marked
"Parental Advisory: Explicit Content."
"It's not censorship," Boone told Malzberg. "It's truth in advertising."
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.