The Bangles’ 1986 single “Manic Monday” remains one of the most iconic pop songs of all time. Now, 40 years after its release, co-founder and lead singer of the group, Susanna Hoffs, is reflecting on its success and recalling that Prince gifted the song to the group.
Prince Gave ‘Manic Monday’ To Susanna Hoffs for The Bangles on a Cassette
GettyHoffs was interviewed by PEOPLE in September 2026, amid the 40th anniversary of “Manic Monday,” after Prince gifted the song to the group in the 1980s. She recalled that the late singer had instructed her to pick up the record while he was recording. Notably, he had sung the demo.
She recalled, “There’s so much about the connection with Prince that was so important to me: that friendship with him. And the fact that he gave me ‘Manic Monday,’ and I still have the original cassette.”
The Bagles singer then said, “I had picked it up. He was recording at the time … I was told, ‘Prince has something for you, come to the studio.’ But when I got there, he was recording. He had given it to the front desk, the cassette, and I kept it all these years.”
After that, Hoffs discussed how Prince had come to know of The Bangles. She explained, “He had seen the video of ‘Hero Takes a Fall,’ which was the song I co-wrote with the other guitarist in the band, Vicki [Peterson].”
She continued, “It was the most cheesy ‘80s video. It was just cheesy in the greatest way. But that’s what Prince saw when he saw me in the French maid outfit. That’s when I got the ‘Manic Monday’ cassette. He was a fan of the band.”
Hoffs then said that being gifted the song “completely changed [her] life.”
The Bangles Stayed in Touch With Prince
GettyHoffs continued her interview with PEOPLE by discussing the connection she and The Bangles maintained with Prince. Notably, she shared that she remained in touch with him “as much as [she] could.”
She recalled, “When we did The Greek Theatre, he followed us, and then he was renting a place in Beverly Hills. He was very cheeky and very mischievous. He said, ‘Let’s go to Sunset Sound and just play music.”
Hoffs continued, “We played music with him. He only wanted to play Bangles songs, and then all of a sudden we realized he had just left and didn’t say goodbye. I was like, ‘Okay, we’re done. All right. Thanks, Prince. That was fun.’ It was genuinely fun. He was such a character.”
After that, she spoke about the “Purple Rain” singer’s legacy, stating, “I don’t think there’ll ever be someone like Prince. I think he was one of a kind, brilliant human artist.” She also called him an “iconoclast, a brilliant, genius iconoclast.”
She added, “The gift of ‘Manic Monday’ [is that it] really did change the trajectory of The Bangles world. It was on the radio all of a sudden. It was really the first radio hit. It was pretty amazing.”
Hoffs Previously Discussed the Song in 2023
Hoffs gave a similar story about the origins of “Manic Monday” in 2023 in an interview with The Big Issue. She said, “He wanted to play me a song. So I went over there, and he was busy recording. But he left behind a cassette with this song ‘Manic Monday’ on it.”
The singer added, “I still have that original cassette. He’d recorded it with his own band but told me he thought it was perfect for The Bangles. When I first sang it, I thought to myself, ‘How did he know?’ Some songs just fit like a glove.”
“Manic Monday” peaked at number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in April 1986.
