It turns out that musical legend Prince had no idea his concert organizers banned Whitney Houston from his shows.

The 52-year-old award-winning singer says Whitney, who has recently enrolled in rehab as an out-patient for drug and alcohol addiction, is “always welcome 4 all eternity” in his concerts.

TMZ first broke the news that Whitney was blacklisted from attending Prince’s shows after his people became fed up with her erratic behavior and constant ticket demands. Whitney apparently appeared to be “intoxicated” at each Prince show she attended in the last few weeks.

She also reportedly constantly badgered his staff to let her up on stage, although they refused because they “didn’t want her to embarrass herself.” They ultimately banned her from attending his shows.

But now Prince is saying he didn’t even know about the ban.

His manager recently tolddrfunkenberry.com in a statement,

“Whitney Houston is always welcome at Prince shows 4 all of eternity. Seeing her at 2 shows at The Forum in LA was a treat, especially when she sang with Chaka Khan and danced with Prince during his set. We love her always.”

Glad that’s all cleared up.

This is just NOT Whitney Houston‘s week! After entering an outpatient rehab program for drug and alcohol issues, TMZ is now reporting that the legendary icon will no longer be allowed to see any future shows for another legendary icon … Prince!

Reps for Prince have reportedly become so fed up with Houston’s erratic behavior and constant ticket demands that she is no longer allowed at any of the “Purple One’s” concerts.

Houston attended several Prince concerts in the last few weeks and appeared to be “intoxicated” at each show, sources say. She was reportedly badgering Prince’s staff to let her up on the stage, but was not allowed.

SMH … first Charlie Sheen, now Whitney. (Deep sigh) Cocaine is one hell of a drug!

Prince only recently kicked off his 21-night stand at the Los Angeles Forum and already he surprised the crowd with a special appearance from the soulful Alicia Keys.

Check out the iconic duo performing their own rendition of  “How Come You Don’t Call Me Anymore” below:

Prince made a surprise appearance last night on “Lopez Tonight” yesterday while on his “21 Night Stand” Tour in L.A.

During his visit, the R&B legend spoke on now charging $25 for concert tickets, being totally vegan, the impact the Internet has on the music industry and more. He also hit the stage with his band the New Power Generation and debuted two new songs “Laydown” and “You’re the One for Me” with female drummer Sheila E. The Purple One took the crowd back in time with “The Beautiful Ones” from the Purple Rain soundtrack.

Check out the interview and performances below:

Prince is getting sued by a group of people you never want to get sued by: a law firm!

A law firm in New York City claims that the Purple One owes them more than $700,000 in legal fees, and is suing the music legend for just that.

In a lawsuit filed in state Supreme Court in Manhattan Tuesday (Mar 1), Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler say that Prince failed to pay for handling cases in Ireland, California and New York, including a case in which the law firm helped to settle financial obligations with his former wife.

Among the cases in which PBWT represented Prince include a suit in New York where a perfume company sued him for failing to promote an endorsed product, one in California when he sued over a rented mansion in Beverly Hills, the finalizing of his divorce and several others.

The firm says that Prince, whose legal name is Prince Rogers Nelson, has only paid $125,000 out of what he owes them.

Prince and his New Power Generation band showed Rihanna some love at Monday night’s (Feb.21)  concert in Oakland’s Oracle Arena. The Purple One along with his female singers gave their own rendition of “Rude Boy.”

Peep the footage below:

Thoughts?

Multi-award winner Barbra Streisand was honored over the weekend (Fri. Feb 11) as the MusiCares Person of the Year in Los Angeles. Celebs who hit the stage at the L.A. Convention Center to pay tribute to the star included Stevie Wonder, Leona Lewis, Seal, Lea Michele, Faith Hill and more.

Other folks who attended the event were Prince, Will.i.am, Jordin Sparks, Fran Drescher, Quincy Jones, Randy Jackson and more.

Look below for 20+ pics!!

Apparently, Prince is VERY picky when it comes down to who gets to chill with him in VIP!

In fact, the Purple One is so picky that he (allegedly) didn’t even want Sean “Diddy” Combs hanging out with him in his private area at a recent industry event.

Peep the details below:

Earlier this week, the music legend and the Hip-Hop mogul were sitting in VIP booths adjacent to each other as they watched Janelle Monae performed as the guest of honor at Essence’s Black Women in Music event at the Playhouse nightclub in Los Angeles.

(Sidenote: Janelle Monae, who is signed to Diddy’s Bad Boy record label, is also good friends with Prince, and performed as an opening act for one of the singer’s recent concerts at Madison Square Garden in NYC.)

According to a source at the Essence event, as Janelle Monae hit the stage, Diddy (who co-hosted the bash) and Prince both stood, and that’s when Diddy proceeded to approach Prince (who had a velvet rope surrounding his VIP area) and gave him a quick handshake and a hug. And that was that.

The insider at the event told the NY Daily News that “You could see that Diddy wanted to hang out, but Prince was very cold. He didn’t have his security take down the velvet rope,” so that Diddy could actually sit down and join Prince’s private party.

Eventually, our source adds, Diddy returned to his table and “his Ciroc,”a reference to the brand of vodka that the hip-hop tycoon shills.

Prince’s camp declined to comment for this story, so it’s unclear why the fuchsia-loving funkster gave Diddy the cold shoulder. According to one music-industry insider, though, Diddy “isn’t Prince’s kind of guy,”says the source. “He’s a lot of flash and dash, and very bragadocious. Prince, believe it or not, is real down to earth. He isn’t about all that flossing.”

Despite Prince’s outrageous fashion and lyrics, the pomp and precision of his Garden gigs show that like James Brown before him, he is one of the hardest-working men in showbiz. Combs works hard too, though mostly at self-promotion.

Diddy’s spokeswoman responded: “There is absolutely no truth to this,” added that the two men “greeted each other.”

Source: NY Daily News

Well if both Prince’s AND Diddy’s people say there’s no beef, there’s no beef. But why the cold shoulder here lately, Prince?

Your thoughts?

Last night at Prince’s concert in Madison Square Garden, the R&B legend invited celebrity socialite Kim Kardashian on stage to dance with him…but things didn’t turn out how he or she could have expected.

Instead of dancing, Kim just kind of stood there nervously…and ended up getting kicked off the stage by the Purple One!

“OMG Prince just pulled me up on stage!!! I’m shaking!!!”

“I was so nervous I froze when Prince touched me!!” She tweeted.

Luckily she got a chance to redeem herself two hours later…and danced while he played the piano.

“Went up on stage AGAIN! This time I redeemed myself. We all danced while prince played the piano! Wow! What a night!”

Peep the footage from the concert below……

Kim should have known from the beginning….Prince wasn’t going for that!

Thoughts?

Prince made a surprise appearance on “The View” yesterday and made the ladies go wild!!

The Purple One stopped by to promote his upcoming series of concerts at Madison Square Garden. And everything was going just fine and dandy until Sherri Shepherd started sharing way too much information….telling Prince, “I have wanted to make love to you for my whole life”. Prince then chucked the deuces on everybody!

Peep the hilarious footage below:

R&B singer Prince hosted a press conference Thursday (Oct 14) in Harlem, New York City at the Apollo Theater announcing his new tour, due to kick-off this December!

Dates haven’t beem announced just yet, but according to US Magazine, the music legend will bring along Janelle Monae, Mint Condition, Esperanza Spalding and more, as supporting acts for the tour, dubbed the “Welcome 2 America” Tour.

Though no specific dates, cities or venues were announced, the shows are scheduled to kick off in December and will feature Prince playing a gold-plated Fender guitar that will be auctioned off at the end of the live run with proceeds beneftting the Harlem Children’s Zone.

“The nights of entertainment will feature some of the best artists this country has to offer,” Prince promised reporters. “They know what time it is. So come early and come often, because every time we play it’s always something new. No two shows will be the same. I have a lot of hits. Bring your friends, bring your children, bring your own foot spray — it’s going to be funky!”

Check out a few pictures of Prince at yesterday’s press conference below!

R&B legend Prince is on internet strike!! In a recent interview with Britain’s The Mirror, the king of funk expressed his frustration with the Web and how he feel as if it is coming to an end.

“The internet is completely over. I don’t see why I should give my new music to iTunes or anyone else. They won’t pay me an advance for it and then they get angry when they can’t get it. The internet’s like MTV. At one time MTV was hip and suddenly it became outdated. All these computers and digital gadgets are no good. They just fill your head with numbers and that cant be good for you.”

To prove his point even more Prince has shut down his official website and his new album 20Ten, to be released later this week, will not be download friendly. Prince ain’t play no games about his money!! (LOL)

R&B legend Prince recently announced that he will be releasing a new album this year entitled 20Ten.

The album will hit stores July 22nd here in the States and July 10th overseas. Prince will be releasing the album in Europe for free; they will be included with three newspapers: England’s “Daily Mirror”, Scotland’s “Daily Record”, and Belgium’s “Het Nieuwsblad”. The album will also be included in the German issue of “Rolling Stone’.

Peep the tracklisting after the break:

1. Compassion
2. Endlessly Beginning
3. Future Soul Song
4. Sticky Like Glue
5. Lavaux
6. Act Of God
7. Walk In Sand
8. Sea Of Everything
9. Everybody Loves Me
10. Untitled Bonus Track

Source

Paying homage to legendary R&B singer Prince, newcomer (and Bad Boy Records recording artist) Janelle Monae hit the stage and performed one of Prince’s hit songs “Let’s Go Crazy.” After her very animated performance, Jazz bassist Esperanza Spalding took to the stage and sang “If I Was Your Girlfriend,” which was followed by a performance from R&B singer Alicia Keys who performed “I Adore” and surprised everyone (including Prince) when her pregnant self climbed on top of the piano to finish off the performance. Last (but most certain not least) came R&B legend Patti Labelle who sang “Purple Rain” and kicked her high-heels off at the end of her act. (After Labelle kicked off her shoes Prince went up, grabbed one and held it in the air for all to see)

Once Patti Labelle wrapped up her tribute performance, Prince was then presented with his “Lifetime Achievement Award” by Patti and Chaka Khan. Peep 10+ pics of everyone below, and check out the video footage when you continue reading…

JANELLE MONAE – “LET’S GO CRAZY”

ESPERANZA SPALDING – “IF I WAS YOUR GIRLFRIEND”

PATTI LABELLE – “PURPLE RAIN”

PRINCE ACCEPTING HIS “LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD”

Singer Alicia Keys may be pregnant, but that’s not about to slow her down just yet. Last night at the 2010 BET Awards, Keys took the stage to perform her singles “No One,” “Try Sleeping With a Broken Heart,” and “Unthinkable (I’m Ready).”

But what really shocked viewers was when Alicia jumped on top of a piano during her tribute to music legend Prince, who was honored with a Lifetime Achievement award. Keys also was named “Best Female R&B Artist” and won best collaboration with Jay-Z for “Empire State of Mind”.

Click below to check out the performance:

“NO ONE” / “TRY SLEEPING WITH A BROKEN HEART” / “UNTHINKABLE (I’M READY)” MEDLEY

“ADORE” PRINCE TRIBUTE PERFORMANCE

BET has announced that at this year’s BET Awards, they will be awarding R&B legend Prince with the “Lifetime Achievement” honor. He will join the ranks of fellow music legends like James Brown, Whitney Houston, Diana Ross, and Al Green, all who have been previously honored by BET.

BET says the Prince tribute will stand out. Stephen G. Hill, president of programming, music and specials for the network, said BET will celebrate the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer’s “unique style.”

“Prince is dynamic. Prince is genius. Prince is music,” Hill said of the performer, who has 10 platinum albums and 30 Top 40 singles to his name.

The 2010 BET Awards will air Sunday, June 27th at 8 pm/7 c live from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.

Legendary R&B singer Prince wears all purple everything on the cover of the new July 2010 issue of Ebony Magazine. In Prince’s feature, he talks religion (he used to go door-to-door as a Jehova’s Witness!), his love life and more. He also shows off some never-before-seen photos. Peep Ebony’s excerpt of the issue, which hit newsstands yesterday, below:

In a rare interview, the incomparable Prince grants Ebony unprecedented access within the inner courts of the famed Paisley Park, just outside of Minneapolis. During this 12-hour encounter, the musical genius opens up in his own way about topics ranging from his experience going door-to-door as a Jehovah’s Witness and about his priorities regarding his relationship with Bria Valente. As the pop star approaches 52, fans can celebrate his life and music with this keepsake July issue featuring him in his own words and signature never-before-seen photos.

Internet personality (and friend to Gossip On This) B. Scott of LoveBScott.com recently debuted his brand new Derek Blanks alter ego photoshoot. In B. Scott’s alter ego, he mimics a classic Rolling Stone magazine cover (circa 1983) featuring legendary musician Prince.

Meanwhile, you will be able to hear “The Multimedia Maven” B. Scott on a regular basis outside of the Internet when he debuts his radio show on Jamie Foxx‘s “The Foxxhole” on Sirius XM satellite radio later this month. For more on B. Scott, subscribe to his YouTube Channel, follow him on Twitter and hit up his website: LoveBScott.com, which is re-launching with a brand new design next Monday (Apr. 19). He’s also working hard, pitching his TV show to different networks.

We see you B!! Peep an HQ version of the cover below…

Is that Prince, Denzel Washington and Pauletta Washington (Denzel’s wife)? Yup, it sure is! The three of them were spotted sitting courtside together yesterday (Christmas Day) at the Lakers/Celtics game last night in Los Angeles. The Lakers defeated the Celtics with a final score of 92 to 83. Continue reading to see who else hit up the game last night! I’ll go on and tell you Snoop Dogg and Samuel L. Jackson hit up the game too.

PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES