Jimmy Jam recalls meeting Prince in junior high, where they both joined a school band together
NEED TO KNOW
-
Prince’s unmatched talent and work ethic left a lasting impression on Jimmy Jam, shaping his musical career
-
Prince died on April 21, 2016
Jimmy Jam still looks back on his memories alongsidePrincewith fondness, 10 yearsafter the music icon's death.
When talking to PEOPLE at the Hollywood premiere ofMichaelon April 20, the songwriter and producer says “there's not a day that goes by that I don't think about him or think about what he would do in a certain situation.”
The 66-year-old notes that he met the late rock star in junior high and they took a piano class together.
“We both already knew how to play. And I remember at the end of the semester they said, ‘Hey, we're going to put a band together for a play. Who wants to be in the band?’ And we both raised our hands," he recalls. "And they said, ‘Jimmy, what do you want to play?’ And I said, ‘Drums.' And he looked at me like, ‘Drums?’ They said, 'Prince, what do you want to play?' And he said, ‘Guitar.’ And I looked at him like, ‘Guitar?’ "
During practice one day, however, Jimmy Jam went to use the bathroom, only to overhear someone else take over his instrument.
“I'm thinking it's [the] drum teacher," he says. "It's Prince on the drums."
"So literally at 13 years old, I'm watching this wunderkind. It's just like nothing I'd ever seen before,” the producer adds.
Advertisement
Jimmy Jam notes that Prince, whodied at the age of 57on April 21, 2016, could “play every instrument and do everything.”
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE'sfree daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
As the pair got older, they continued collaborating, and when Prince rose to fame, he assembled The Time, a protege group under his Warner Bros. contract that consisted of Jimmy Jam, Morris Day, Jesse Johnson, Terry Lewis, Monte Moir and Jellybean Johnson. The group served as Prince's opening act in the early 1980s.
“When we got a chance to get signed as The Time, which Prince made happen, and go and tour with him, it was every musical education that we needed, but really, it was about the work ethic," Jimmy Jam shares. "Nobody outworked Prince. He'd rehearse us for 12 hours. He'd rehearse his band for 6 hours. He'd go to the studio all night. And something about that work ethic was amazing."
Even after Jimmy Jam and Lewis were fired from The Time in 1983, they went on to have prominent careers in music — and Jimmy Jam doesn't look back with any animosity.
“Prince was the one that fired us from The Time, but as my partner says, ‘He freed us,'" Jimmy Jam shares.
“He was the person that gave us our opportunity twice. He gave us our opportunity by bringing us into the fold, and he gave us our opportunity by letting us fly and separating us from the fold. And so I thank him to this day."
Read the original article onPeople
