MINNETONKA, Minn. — Music megastar Prince was known for throwing parties that stretched into the wee hours of the morning, but his faith and the Bible could also keep him gabbing until sunrise, according to his longtime friend and “spiritual brother,” bassist Larry Graham.
Prince, who died in April at 57, was a Jehovah’s Witness, and that helped shape his music as well as his lifestyle, according to Graham, who first met the star decades ago, and became a confidante and tour mate.
Prince would knock on doors, talk with visitors at his studio-compound Paisley Park in suburban Minneapolis and share his faith with small groups after a show, said Graham, the 69-year-old bassist.
“That brought him joy. That brought him real happiness,” Graham said.
Graham said Prince was a private person who didn’t openly discuss his health issues. He said he saw Prince three days before he was found dead at Paisley Park and that, besides recovering from a cold, he seemed “pretty normal.”
Law enforcement officials determined that Prince died from a drug overdose. Graham said he had never seen Prince take any prescription drugs.
The two met while playing separate shows in the mid-1990s in Nashville, Tenn., and Prince asked Graham, who was a Jehovah’s Witness, to come on tour with him.
Graham said Prince was deeply interested in the Bible and they would talk about it for hours.
“He asked me questions every day, every week. Sometimes, we would bring up the sun talking about the Bible,” he said.
Later, Prince asked Graham if he would move to Minnesota to continue teaching him about God and his faith. He accepted, and Graham and his family left Jamaica, where they had been teaching Bible school.
Prince’s interest in the Bible grew and eventually he came to the conclusion that he, too, wanted to become a Jehovah’s Witness, Graham said. Later, Prince began worshipping at a Kingdom Hall just outside Minneapolis. Graham said he considered Prince to be his “spiritual brother.”
It was important to Prince, like many artists, to give his fans joy with his music, Graham said. But the most important thing to him was not just giving people a “temporary feeling” from an album but being able to share scripture, he said.
“His joy — his biggest joy — was sharing the hope of everlasting life,” he said.
