Justin Bieber sparks backlash after claiming Prince wasn't 'last of the living greats'

Since catapulting to fame in 2008 Justin Bieber has had his share of eyebrow-raising moments, and the 21 April news of music legend Prince's death prompted another. The pop sensation provoked fresh controversy after deciding it would be good idea to chime on Andrew Watt's emotional tribute, in which he declared the superstar his "guitar idol".

Prince was found unresponsive in an elevator at his Paisley Park home, days after he was briefly hospitalised for what was said to be a bad case of the flu. Confirming the sad news, his publicist, Yvette Noel-Schure said "It is with profound sadness that I am confirming that the legendary, iconic performer, Prince Rogers Nelson, has died at his Paisley Park residence this morning at the age of 57."

As tributes to the When Doves Cry singer poured in from around the world, Watts expressed his devastation in an emotional eulogy posted on his Instagram page. "Today waking up to this news I am truly beside myself...devastated...the last of the greatest living performers," he told his 56.7k followers. "My guitar idol...his connection to ALL his instruments yielded a sexual transcending aura and the world is just less fucking cool without him walking on it... "Electric word life It means forever and that's a mighty long time But I'm here to tell you There's something else... The after world"

For some reason, Bieber was pretty peeved about the statement, commenting: "Well not the last greatest living performer."

Although the Sorry hitmaker didn't quite disparage the Raspberry Beret legend, fans still accused him of speaking ill of the dead and were up in arms. Some added that was trying to belittle the pioneering musician's achievements by disagreeing with a mourning fan, when the pain was still raw.

"B**** you're barely mediocre, sit your entire scrawny delinquent a** down," one angry fan said.

Although Bieber swiftly deleted the offending comment and offered no explanation, it has been suggested that their relationship was somewhat fraught after Prince revealed that he was not a fan of the Canadian star's music in 2010. "The key to longevity is to learn every aspect of music that you can. I hope he does pick up an instrument and gets a new teacher," he said during an appearance on US chat show The View.