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Greatest Pop Stars

1986 Prince: Vintage Pop Stardom (with Jem Aswad)

April 23, 2026·1h 37m
Episode Description from the Publisher

After making the leap to superstardom with 1984's 'Purple Rain' film and accompanying album, Prince quickly moved on to his next project — and the next one, and the next one. This episode of Vintage Pop Stardom catches up with him in 1986, as host Andrew Unterberger is joined by Variety executive director of music Jem Aswad use the occasion of Prince's tragic 2016 death's 10-year anniversary to dive deep into one of The Purple One's weirdest, wildest and most wondrous years, including the mega-smash single "Kiss," the mega-flop film 'Under the Cherry Moon,' and more albums that went unreleased than many artists drop in a whole career. Check out a YouTube playlist of Prince's biggest 1986 moments, all of which are discussed in the episode, here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjyxjlx5MpVC7_vQEsdfkpgoCumxQ_C20&si=4GcTaSG7A0Zcl9qv Find Jem's Billboard interview with backing band The Revolution following Prince's death here: https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/the-revolution-prince-final-moments-7604454/ And if you enjoy the pod, please consider donating to the following causes: Transgender Law Center https://transgenderlawcenter.org/ Trans Lifeline https://translifeline.org/ Destination Tomorrow https://secure.givelively.org/donate/destination-tomorrow-inc Gender-Affirming Care Fundraising on GoFundMe https://www.gofundme.com/c/gender-confirmation-surgery-fundraising Human Rights Campaign - In Your Area https://www.hrc.org/in-your-area Also, please consider giving your local congresspeople a call in support of trans rights, with contact information you can find on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠5Calls.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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