Prince’s departure from the world in 2016 came amid a flurry of high-profile deaths. The singer-songwriter was one of many who passed away that year, including David Bowie and Leonard Cohen. That’s not to say that it dampened the celebration of his life; it just that, in any other year, Prince’s death would have been the only news story worth mentioning in the annual in memoriam features. The reason being that Prince is a cultural behemoth.
A figure of vast musical ability and unwavering style, Prince captured the hearts and minds of millions of people worldwide, who adored his music, aesthetic, and vision. To encourage such devotion is to remain timeless, and while incomparable on many levels, the same can be said for The Sopranos.
At its core, The Sopranos documented one man’s battle against the age-old truth that all ducklings eventually fly the nest. The 86 culture-changing episodes that followed simply dealt with the repercussions as the pains of their parting came home to roost. As panic attacks beset Tony Soprano’s high-flying ways, it became clear that no matter how high a duck flies, it must come down for water. The ducks left, and the tribulations that followed were mere ripples in the water.
The show was the talk of the town and has continued to be considered culturally relevant decades after its first release. Much of the is down to the impeccable performance from James Gandolfini and his castmates, some of it is because the storylines were simply too captivating to ignore and another reason is that it featured many iconic musical moments. From John Cooper Clarke’s take on the mayhem of civility with ‘Evidently Chicken Town’ to Tinderstick’s melancholy dirge with ‘Tiny Tears’ and back to the beautiful use of Steely Dan’s ‘Dirty Work’.
It was a show that allowed musical icons the correct space to flourish and offered a genuine support beam to the scene. However, Prince was adamant that he would not lend his own work to the show’s eclectic music canon as the ‘Purple One’ refused to license the use of his music for the crime show.
Apparently, Prince knew well in advance of even being asked that his work would never feature on the show after displaying a dislike for the cast. As Michael Imperioli, who is best known for playing Christopher Moltisanti in the show, told the Talking Sopranos podcast, at an after-party for Spike Lee’s Girl 6, he approached Prince. “Then his two bodyguards — a man and a woman — stepped in front of me,” Imperioli recalled. Before continuing: “And one of them says, ‘Can you not look at him, please?’ I was stunned.”
It is unclear why Prince had an issue with Imperioli, and it seemed equally inexplicable to the actor himself. Whether this is the reason why Prince turned down The Sopranos offer is unclear, but as producer Martin Bruestle revealed, his management certainly told them in no uncertain terms that the ‘His Royal Badness’ would never lend his art to the acclaimed series.
Prince himself, however, was no stranger to featuring in TV series. The ‘When Doves Cry’ singer was featured in the comedy New Girl, where he routinely mocked his public persona as an eccentric party-lover and appeared to have a pet butterfly. And he once again exhibited his comedic side on Muppets Tonight in 2007, where he played a southern country denizen named Jed and offered up a rendition of ‘Raspberry Sorbet’. Perhaps these appearances prove that he simply preferred the lighter side of TV that suited his religious ways a little better.
Whether James Gandolfini would’ve been disappointed not to be able to churn out an on-screen rendition of his work is another matter entirely. In a recent Instagram Q&A with Imperioli, he revealed that the late actor’s favourite record was probably Dookie by Greenday. “He would play the vinyl of Dookie in his trailer at work. Totally serious,” Imperioli wrote. He added in another comment, “No joke. He loved Green Day.”
Adding in a later Stereogum interview: “Gandolfini would also sing ‘Basket Case’ and make up his own lyrics about HBO and the writers and producers of the sopranos,” he told the publication. “Usually when he was feeling overworked and overexposed, and his lyrics would reflect that. Some of the more musical crew members would add a verse or two. Great fun.”
Imperioli added, “He also named his dog dookie and used it in his email address.”
Sadly, the combination of Tony Soprano belting out ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ over the corpse of his former partner or screaming ‘Let’s Go Crazy’ ahead of a bar room brawl never came to fruition. But if there was one musical man big enough to turn down arguably the greatest television show ever made, then it was Prince.
