The First Three Kisses of Prince’s Life—And Why They Meant Everything

In the pages he completed for The Beautiful Ones, Prince opened a window into his soul, revealing the intimate moments that defined his understanding of love, family, and identity. One of the most poignant and reflective anecdotes he shared was about the first three kisses of his young life—kisses that would leave an indelible mark on him forever.

Though Prince never specified his exact age, it’s clear from his recollection that he was around five or six years old at the time, and the object of his affection was his childhood friend, Laura Winnick. Laura, whom Prince described as resembling a “little Elizabeth Taylor,” was far more than just a playmate. She was, in his eyes, a master of imagination—a trait he found utterly captivating. In his words, “If not traditionally beautiful, what characteristic can a woman possess that still makes her irresistible? The answer is this—a fully cantonal imagination.”

Laura’s ability to weave vivid fantasies was something that left an impression on Prince, who had yet to encounter such a power of storytelling and charm. He marveled at how Laura could engage everyone around her with her creations, so much so that they might even begin to believe in her imaginary friends. It was through this lens of admiration for her creativity that Prince found himself swept into an innocent and unforgettable moment.

That day, Laura decided that Prince would play her husband. It wasn’t an unusual request, except that their portrayal of the relationship became a defining memory for Prince. Their interracial playacting was groundbreaking in its own way, even though, as Prince noted, they were not the first interracial couple in Minneapolis—just the youngest. The significance of their pretend marriage didn’t lie in their outward appearance, but in the way it bonded them at that moment.

Prince recalled how Laura kissed him three times that day: the obligatory kiss before he left for work, one when he returned, and the final kiss before going to sleep. These brief, innocent pecks—each no longer than three seconds in accordance with the Hayes Code of the time—meant everything to him. For Prince, it wasn’t the physical act of the kiss itself that stayed with him, but the feeling of being included, of being part of something meaningful, and of being seen through the eyes of a peer who dared to imagine beyond the ordinary.

To this day, Prince held a special place in his heart for the song “Laura,” a jazz standard that his father often played. The realization that his father’s favorite tune bore the same name as his first kiss, and as the girl who introduced him to a new world of possibilities, seemed to be yet another of those life-altering coincidences that Prince often marveled at.

This early memory reflects the complexity of Prince’s own understanding of love and identity—a love that wasn’t confined to a simple notion of attraction, but one that intersected with the very fabric of his existence: race, family, and creativity. It’s these early, formative experiences that shaped the man who would later write some of the most profound and complex love songs of all time.

The first three kisses Prince recalls might have been fleeting in their physical nature, but their emotional significance was immense. They became the foundation of his lifelong exploration of love—an exploration that never ceased to be thought-provoking, often complex, and always tied to the deep sense of connection that transcended the ordinary moments of life. In that brief, innocent moment, young Prince was introduced to something more profound than a kiss: the power of imagination, connection, and love itself.