Prince, the Grammy Award-winning pop star behind “Purple Rain,” told the Guardian in an interview that women forced to wear burqas in Islamic countries are “happy” to wear them.
“It’s fun being in Islamic countries, to know there’s only one religion,” Prince told the British newspaper. “There’s order. You wear a burqa. There’s no choice. People are happy with that.” (Burqa bans grow fashionable in Europe)
The Guardian pointed out that perhaps not every woman forced to wear a burqa is thrilled with the idea. The singer acknowledged: “There are people who are unhappy with everything. There’s a dark side to everything.”
Not wanting to open up a political can of worms, Prince seemed to backtrack later in the interview. “I don’t want to get up on a soapbox,” he said. “My view of the world, you can debate that forever. But I’m a musician … come to the show for that.”
Prince also shared some less controversial views on the issue of music piracy. He bemoaned changes in the industry caused by people who steal music online. “Nobody’s making money now except phone companies, Apple and Google,” he said. The singer has a meeting scheduled with President Obama at the White House to address the issue.
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The statements aren’t Prince’s first foray into politics. His song “Darling Nikki,” about a “sex fiend” who the singer meets as she pleasures herself in a hotel lobby, outraged Tipper Gore so much that she founded the Parents Music Resource Center, the group eventually responsible for parental advisory stickers on music intended for more mature audiences.