Prince's 1981 single 'Controversy' was his defiant response to the intense media scrutiny he faced over his sexuality, gender and race as he rose to fame. Rather than answer the invasive questions being asked of him, the song deliberately left them unresolved, asserting that his music and identity should speak for themselves rather than being reduced to media speculation.

The track's opening line, "Am I Black or white? Am I straight or gay?", directly echoed the press's fixation on Prince's androgynous image, while a spoken recitation of the Lord's Prayer partway through led some Christian conservative commentators to brand the song "blasphemous". Despite that backlash, 'Controversy' has endured as one of Prince's most celebrated electro-funk anthems, still popular on dancefloors 45 years after its release.