TY - JOUR
T1 - Pop stars and idolatry
T2 - An investigation of the worship of popular music icons, and the music and cult of Prince
AU - Till, Rupert
PY - 2010/4
Y1 - 2010/4
N2 - Prince is an artist who integrates elements from the sacred into his work. He uses popular iconography to present himself as an icon of consumer culture, as a deified 'rock god' worshipped by his fans, and as a preacher leading his audience like a congregation. His personality cult mixes spirituality and sexuality, and deals with issues of ecstasy and liberation, a transgressional approach that draws both controversy and public interest. This paper investigates Prince's work and the role of the pop star as an icon within contemporary culture, an icon that contains a physicality and sexuality not present in contemporary Western religious traditions. It discusses to what extent popular musical culture operates as a form of religious practice within contemporary Western culture, and the implications that this has. The paper investigates the construction of Prince's public character, his manipulation of the star system, and how he uses popular iconography to blur the distinctions between spirituality and sexuality, the idealised performer and the real world, the sacred and the profane, and the human and the divine. It explores how he possesses and is possessed by the audience, who enter into the hollow vessel he offers up to his fans.
AB - Prince is an artist who integrates elements from the sacred into his work. He uses popular iconography to present himself as an icon of consumer culture, as a deified 'rock god' worshipped by his fans, and as a preacher leading his audience like a congregation. His personality cult mixes spirituality and sexuality, and deals with issues of ecstasy and liberation, a transgressional approach that draws both controversy and public interest. This paper investigates Prince's work and the role of the pop star as an icon within contemporary culture, an icon that contains a physicality and sexuality not present in contemporary Western religious traditions. It discusses to what extent popular musical culture operates as a form of religious practice within contemporary Western culture, and the implications that this has. The paper investigates the construction of Prince's public character, his manipulation of the star system, and how he uses popular iconography to blur the distinctions between spirituality and sexuality, the idealised performer and the real world, the sacred and the profane, and the human and the divine. It explores how he possesses and is possessed by the audience, who enter into the hollow vessel he offers up to his fans.
KW - icon
KW - iconography
KW - popular
KW - Prince
KW - star
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=77958115069&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/13617671003666761
DO - 10.1080/13617671003666761
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:77958115069
VL - 31
SP - 69
EP - 80
JO - Journal of Beliefs and Values
JF - Journal of Beliefs and Values
SN - 1361-7672
IS - 1
ER -