"Controversy" is a song by American musician Prince, the lead single and title track to his 1981 album. The song addresses speculation about Prince at the time such as his sexuality, gender, religion, and racial background, and how he could not understand the curiosity surrounding him.

The song has two main verses, a few choruses, with the title repeated throughout the track. Towards the middle he recites the Lord's Prayer in full, which fueled the fire for some to say the song was blasphemous. Toward the end is a repeating chant of "People call me rude / I wish we all were nude / I wish there was no black and white / I wish there were no rules." The song is straight funk with a steady 4/4 drumbeat, synthesized bass, guitar, and keyboards. The song was backed with "When You Were Mine", from his previous album, Dirty Mind.

In 1993, in support of The Hits/The B-Sides, "Controversy" was once again released in the UK as a single, this time as a two-disc EP containing several hits not on the collection. CD1 includes the edit of "Controversy", the William Orbit remix of "The Future", "Glam Slam", and "D.M.S.R.". CD2 includes the edit of "Controversy", "Anotherloverholenyohead", "Paisley Park", and "New Power Generation (Part II)". Like the "Peach" single, CD1 was a special foldout package with a place holder for CD2, which was sold separately. "Controversy" was also released on a 7" picture disc. It reached number 5 on the UK charts in December 1993.

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