In an unreleased Rolling Stone interview from 2014, Prince opens up about wanting to mentor Chris Brown amidst his 2009 drama with Rihanna. 

Rolling Stone reports: 

“It’s past midnight when we begin talking again. He mentions a desire to mentor Chris Brown, says he invited him to Paisley Park. I note that some people think what Brown did to Rihanna was unforgivable. He’s shocked. “Unforgivable?” he says. “Goodness. That’s when we go check the master, Christ. … Have you ever instantly forgiven somebody?” I shake my head. “It’s the best feeling in the world, and it totally dismantles that person’s whole stance.”

He talks more about mentoring and helping peers, so I wonder aloud if he thinks he could’ve forestalled Michael Jackson’s fate. “I don’t want to talk about it,” Prince says at first. “I’m too close to it.” He goes on: “He is just one of many who have gone through that door – Amy Winehouse and folks. We’re all connected, right, we’re all brothers and sisters, and the minute we lock that in, we wouldn’t let anybody in our family fall. That’s why I called Chris Brown. All of us need to be able to reach out and just fix stuff. There’s nothing that’s unforgivable.””

It seems that Prince saw something in Chris Brown that the media didn’t allow Chris to see in himself. It doesn’t appear that the meeting ever went down, but upon the news of Prince’s death, Chris posted a message on Instagram saying, “I am thankful for everything this man has given us and he will live forever in my heart.”

It’s not every day a legendary great reaches out to you. I would have loved to be a fly on the wall of the meeting of these two minds.