Prince Reveals He Had Epilepsy as a Child

April 28, 2009—Legendary and often reclusive rock star, Prince, revealed he had epilepsy on PBS’s Tavis Smiley show last night. The Grammy and Oscar award-winning musician said, “I used to have seizures when I was young and my mother and father didn’t know what to do and how to handle it, but they did the best they could with what little they had.”

Prince said he had to deal with a lot of things in life and attributed his past extravagant behavior to being teased as a kid. “Early in my career I tried to compensate for that by being as flashy as I could and as noisy as I could.” He said he had never spoken publicly about his epilepsy before, but he is enjoying this time in his life when he can reflect on his experiences and talk about them openly.

To get past the teasing from his peers, Prince said, “I went into self and taught myself music.” He stayed with it, practicing constantly, and soon the neighborhood kids were talking about him—this time with admiration instead of derision. He said, “Once I got that support from people, then I believed I could do anything.”