Did Bob Seger Inspire Prince To Write ‘Purple Rain’? [Video]

As we get ready for Bob Seger's return to Grand Rapids this week, comes this interesting tidbit from an upcoming book about Prince:

Alan Light, a journalist, has written a book about the success of the movie "Purple Rain", which took Prince from a little known R&B star, and propelled him to superstardom. In his book, Light says Bob Seger was the main inspiration behind the song, "Purple Rain".

In an interview about the book with NPR, Light says Prince was touring the US in 1984 following the release of his hit album '1999' and he was curious about Bob Seger's ability to draw huge crowds.

What inspired him to write "Purple Rain" was that when they were touring on the 1999 tour, he was following Bob Seger into a lot of arenas, and was really interested in why was Bob Seger such a big star, especially in the Midwest. And Matt Fink, the keyboard player, remembers that he was talking to Prince and said, "Well, it's these big ballads that Bob Seger writes. It's these songs like 'We've Got Tonight' and 'Turn The Page.' And that's what people love." And Prince went out to try to write that kind of arena-rock power ballad that resulted in "Purple Rain."

 

Light's book is called "Let's Go Crazy: Prince and the making of Purple Rain" and is available now. It's an interesting look at how the film came about, mainly through a mild threat Prince issued to his then manager: Get me a Hollywood film deal or your fired!

That threat and the Seger inspired ballad led Prince to win the Oscar for best soundtrack in 1985. Not bad for someone who had never acted, written or scored a movie before in his life.