Prince and his backup singers Shelby J., Liv Warfield, and Elisa Dease covered Rihanna's song "Rude Boy" last Monday. Before I heard it I thought, oh no a Rihanna song, why? I just have to be completely honest here, I don't dig her or her music at all. When I heard Shelby J's amazing voice sing it along with Prince on the guitar and Sheila E on the drums I found myself humming along on "Rude Boy". Wow what a difference, it just became a different song for me! Prince just let Shelby J do her thing, and she sure did! It's also great to see that the security staff got down on it too, how fun! Watch it below and let me know what you think.
UPDATE: THE BELOW VIDEO WAS REMOVED FROM YOUTUBE, CHECK IT OUT HERE.
Misty Copeland, the first African-American female soloist for the American Ballet Theater, has become a true American national treasure. Tonight, you'll be able to get to know her a little better if you don't already, on the Tavis Smiley show. Go on the Tavis Smiley website to check local for local listings.
Misty Copeland began her ballet studies at the age of 13 at the San Pedro Dance Center, and was soon called a prodigy after that. At the age of fifteen she won first place in the Music Center Spotlight Awards. She then began her studies at the Lauridsen Ballet Center. Misty Copeland has studied at the San Francisco Ballet School and American Ballet Theatre’s Summer Intensive on full scholarship and was declared ABT’s National Coca-Cola Scholar in 2000. She has danced Kitri in Don Quixote and the Sugar Plum Fairy and Clara in The Nutcracker.
Misty Copeland joined ABT's studio Company in September 2000, she also joined the American Ballet Theater as a member of the corps de ballet in April 2001 and was appointed a Soloist in August 2007. In 2008, she was a receipient of a 2008 Leonore Annenberg Fellowship in the Arts.
Misty Copeland has performed with Prince in Nice, France and more recently at Madison Square Garden during Prince's "Welcome 2 America" Tour. She also featured in Prince's cover of "Crimson and Clover". Magazines such as People Magazine, Time Magazine, O Magazine, New York Times, BET, and Fox News have featured her.
Larry Graham just announced the dates for his "Funk Around The World" Tour! Anyone going to Prince's concert tomorrow in Oakland will have the pleasure to see Larry Graham and Graham Central Station!
"Funk Around The World" Tour dates:
February 23rd
Oracle Arena Oakland California
Prince - Larry Graham - GCS
April 8th & 9th
Yoshi’s San Francisco, California
Special VIP offer, only $60! Click Here to purchase Ticket Package
June 3rd
BB Kings New York City, NY
June 4th
Merriweather Post Pavilion Columbia, Maryland
August 13th
Aarons Amphitheatre Atlanta, Georgia
August 14th
Hollywood Bowl Los Angeles, California
Check out Larry Graham and "Jamie Starr" performing "Free", it's beautiful, click here
Drfunkenberry just tweeted the news that a third date to Prince's "Welcome 2 America" tour has been added at the Oracle Arena. Prince and his fabulous band will also perform on Thursday, February 24th.
The official Facebook page of the Oracle Arena has also confirmed the news, check them out now! Tickets will go on sale tomorrow at 10am.
Wow what a treat, have fun tonight everyone enjoy the one and only PRINCE, his incredibly talented band, Sheila E, and Larry Graham, what a funky night it's going to be!
Prince has asked his very good friend Larry Graham along with the Graham Central Station to open up tonight's show at the Oracle Arena in Oakland. What a great way to start off Prince's West coast shows! Great hits such as "Every Day People" and "I Wanna Take You Higher" will most likely be played. That's just my hunch, I haven't heard of anything official. In any case, whatever they play will be phenomenal!
Larry Graham and the Graham Central Station will be officially launching their "Funk Around The World" Tour at tonight's show.
More venues and dates for "Funk Around The World" will be posted shortly. Check out http://www.larrygraham.comfor further details.
I was thinking of Prince's debut today and listened to his first album "For You" (released on April 7th, 1978). Prince composed, arranged, performed, and produced the nine songs listed on "For You". He did it all by himself, and that before reaching the age of 20! By that time, he was already mastering over 23 instruments. What a way to start off a music career!
"For You" showcases the musical genius of this incredibly talented man, anyone who appreciates his music should listen and have it. The album starts off with a soft a cappella, and with Prince singing: "All of this and more is for you. With love, sincerity, and deepest care, my life with you I share." The album ends with "I'm Your", which is a rock track with superb raw energy. If you want to find out what's in between then what are you waiting for, go to your nearest record store and get a copy!
Here's my favorite track (although I like all!), what's yours?
Track listing:
1. For You 2. In Love 3. Soft and Wet 4. Crazy You 5. Just As Long As We're Together 6. Baby 7. My Love Is Forever 8. So Blue 9. I'm Yours
Before the last show of his "Welcome 2 America" tour last Monday, Prince donated $1 Million to the Harlem Children's Zone and $250,000 each to The Uptown Dance Academy and The American Ballet Theatre. Ballerina Misty Copeland, who recently featured in Prince's tour during the "Beautiful Ones" was one of the recipients present at the press conference. With this donation, Prince's goal is to pave the way for the next generation to embrace the arts and achieve greatness. He also donated his solid gold Fender Custom Stratocaster guitar which he played with during the "Welcome 2 America" tour. The proceeds of the auction went to the Harlem Children's Zone.
A press conference was given for the donations, during which 30 students from the Harlem Children's Zone were invited to meet Prince. The students also met with the NPG band, and interacted backstage with make-up, wardrobe and technical professionals for the show. Prince also gave out some delicious Dylan's Candy bar to the kids.
Geoffrey Canada, Harlem Children's Zone President released the following statement about the donation: "I want to thank Prince. I am touched and blown away by his generosity. This is unprecedented in my lifetime to see an artist come forward and invest in today's children." Canada said he got a call from Prince who said, “I heard about what you’re doing and I want to help invest in America’s children.” The $1,000,000 gift will benefit the thousands of children that HCZ serves.
It has been said that Prince will move his tour to new cities across the U.S. where he will make similar donations to other outstanding organizations.
Picture taken from "Welcome 2 America" tour, Monday, February 7th, 2011:
Last night, Prince performed the final show of his "Welcome 2 America tour" at Madison Square Garden. Cee-Lo opened with his hit single "Forget You", he later came back to perform "Crazy" with Prince playing guitar. Prince's guitar play during "Crazy" made the song extra special, great combination!
?uestlove, Chris Rock, and Kim Kardashian were among the celebs who attended the concert. Kim was booted off the stage from Prince after she refused to dance. She literally just stood there. It must be very impressive and maybe intimidating to be in front of Prince, but come on this is a concert just go with it!
Misty Copeland joined Prince during the "Beautiful Ones", her performance was so graceful, elegant, truly mesmerizing. It would be a delight to see her collaborate with him in the future again.
When singing "Nothing Compares To You", Prince dedicated the song to his former drummer from The Revolution, Bobby Z. "A lot of people helped me along the way, Bobby was one of them. Recover soon Bobby."
Prince played so many hits during his concert, what a beautiful way of finishing this tour! "Pop Life", "Mountains", "When Doves Cry," "I Would Die 4 U", "Sign O' the Times", "When U Were Mine" were among the many gems Prince played last night.
Corinne Bailey Rae's new album "The Love EP" is set to be released on Valentine's day on February 14th. A very fitting day given the name of the album. The album includes five covers of Bailey's favorite love songs. These include Prince’s “I Wanna Be Your Lover,” Belly’s “Low Red Moon,” Bob Marley’s “Is This Love?,” a Stevie Wonder influenced take on Paul McCartney’s “My Love” and a Sly & The Family Stone inspired live version of Doris Day’s “Que Sera Sera”.
Corinne Bailey Rae's version of “I Wanna Be Your Lover” is truly beautiful! Great job Corinne! Prince should have definitely added her on his list of guests who joined his "Welcome 2 America" tour.
Corinne Bailey Rae recently explained why she picked each song, and the story behind them. Taken from her official website.
01. I Wanna Be Your Lover
I met Prince in London at his gigs at the O2 and he gave me loads of encouragement. I was amazed by the gig but even more impressed by the aftershow he did in a small venue where he tore up on the guitar and played other people’s songs too. This is one of my favourite Prince songs and gives me the chance to sing the kind of sexy, rhythmical music I love but never seem to write. Getting the chance to do this song was a dream.
02. Low Red Moon
Belly were one of the prime influences on my first band Helen, where we had a real indie/DIY ethic. I was addicted to their album ‘Star’ as a teenager and learnt loads about guitar playing just listening to them. They made me realise the most important thing in music was to express yourself and get your ideas across, without worrying about playing like a virtuoso. We had such fun playing this song, it’s like an aggressive 60′s science-fiction soundtrack.
03. Is This Love?
My mum was the Bob Marley fan in our house which I loved, because although my father is Caribbean, he didn’t much care for reggae. Little examples like this meant I grew up learning that you could be yourself and never had to be a cliché because of your ethnicity. And Bob Marley is such an incredible songwriter, which means you can approach his songs in so many ways. I wanted to put ‘Is This Love?’ into 6/8 and bring the tempo back to underline the poignancy of the lyric, and then Steve Brown arranged the piano part into something reminiscent of Carole King or Aretha Franklin’s gospel-soul piano style, which gave it a whole extra level. When guitarist John McCallum added in this Hendrix/Curtis Mayfield sound, it brought in a whole American doo-wop dimension too. So it’s like a whole bunch of my favourite influences in one beautiful song.
04. My Love
I first heard ‘My Love’ at an event for Paul McCartney at the White House, where I was invited to play. A string section played the song and I was struck by the fragility of that ascending melody on “My love does it good”. I was also really touched by Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney’s relationship; their mutual respect and the fact they had known each other so long. When we recorded this song the harmonies and keyboards were definitely influenced by Stevie’s sound.
05. Que Sera Sera (live)
‘Que Sera Sera’ is a song we have been closing our gigs with all over the world. I love Sly and the Family Stone’s version, how he takes what feels like a nursery rhyme in Doris Day’s lovely hands and turns it into a philosophical outcry, declaiming “The future’s not ours to see”. Sometimes I attack this lyric angrily, sometimes I’m all peaceful and surrendered to it. What an amazing song. We recorded this super-long version in Washington D.C one night when the magic in the air meant we didn’t want to get off stage. I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as we enjoyed playing it.
In my opinion Prince did the best Super Bowl Halftime performance ever. Who else can perform like THAT in the pouring rain?! Here are the songs which Prince performed “We Will Rock You,” “Let’s Go Crazy,” “1999,” "Baby I’m a Star," "Proud Mary," "All Along the Watchtower," "Best of You," "Purple Rain.” He truly showed what a musical genius can do! Check out what my other top 9 performances of the Super Bowl halftime are below.
My Top 10 Best Super Bowl Halftime Performances:
1. Prince
2. Michael Jackson 3. U2 4. Diana Ross 5. The Rolling Stones 6. Bruce Springsteen 7. Janet Jackson 8. Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
9. No Doubt, Sting, Shania Twain
10. Aerosmith
What's your top 10 and where do you think the Black Eyed Peas will be placed?
Who do you think is going to win the XLV Super Bowl? The Green Bay Pakers or the Pittsburgh Steelers? I'm leaning towards the Green Bay Pakers.
Bobby Z (Robert Rivkin), former drummer of Prince's band The Revolution suffered a heart attack yesterday. He had three arteries blocked, doctors managed to unclog two and are waiting for him to get stronger to unclog the third.
Bobby Z is helped create the "Minneapolis Sound" in the 80s and holds until today a very special place in the music history of Minnesota. He also helped Wendy & Lisa with their first album in 1986, after they left the band.
He joined Prince on tours, videos such as "Uptown", "1999", "Raspberry Beret", the movie "Purple Rain", and more.
Wendy & Lisa are on their way to join Rivkin's family to give them their love in support in this difficult time. Prince also called Vicki Rivking, Robert Rivkin's wife.
Cee-Lo Green who is famously known for his hit single "Crazy" and more recently his newest hit single "F%#k You" will be the opening act to Prince's last Madison Square Garden concert on February 7th.
Although Prince has been playing "Crazy" in previous concerts along with one of his vocalists Shelby J, some might be surprised that he selected someone who uses profanity.
I don't think it's something we should really be concerned about, these are just details. If Prince selected him, it means that he appreciates his music and that's about it.
I personally saw Shelby J perform "Crazy" at an after party in London and she did an amazing job, she's incredible!
Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings opened for Prince in NYC's Madison Square Garden on Tuesday, January 18th and Prince invited Sharon Jones, Binky Griptite and the Dap-King horn section to join him during his encore performance of "A Love Bizzare".
Here's what Sharon Jones had to say:
"Out of all my years coming up, I never got a chance to see Prince live, so sharing the stage with him at Madison Square Garden was a dream come true. It was an honor and a privilege to perform with him, and as you can see in the video I was on Cloud 9. He’s such a spiritual, humble, warm-hearted man and I feel blessed just to be able to meet him."
Watch Sharon Jones and Prince perform a special performance of "A Love Bizarre". What a joy for Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, the energy is so electrifying, you can truly feel the love and happiness everyone is sharing on this stage!
New York, New York, New York, what a privilege! Prince has been performing some of his best concerts to date at the IZOD and MSG! The sold out Welcome 2 America Tour has been receiving great reviews, great crowds, and lots of celebrities have been attending the shows. Some of the most talented artists such as Maceo Parker, Cassandra Wilson, Sheila E., Mint Condition, Esperanza Spalding, and Shelby J have all made appearances during his concerts.
The Rolling Stone magazine has issued beautiful pictures of the showhere. There are plenty of videos streaming on the internet of all concerts, however I decided not to add them to this post. I know that Prince fans will always know where to find them.
The next show will take place on February 7th at Madison Square Garden. Where is Prince heading next? Time will tell...
Tickets for Prince's "Welcome 2 America" tour were on sale today for five dates in New York and New Jersey. Anyone privileged enough to attend these concerts are sure to witness a show they will never forget. Hopefully, Prince will expand his tour in other locations in the United States and in Canada where he is much appreciated.
If you haven't bought your tickets yet, then make sure to do it now. Ticketmasteroffers tickets for the following dates and venues:
IZOD Center, Rutherford New Jersey: December 14, 15, 17
Prince's new album 20Ten has been released today through UK newspaper The Daily Mirror and Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad. The album isn't available online through these newspapers, it is only available through print copies of each newspapers. Prince doesn't want to distribute his music through the internet anymore, and I do understand why. His new album however has leaked on the internet, in this day and age it's practically impossible to avoid that from happening. Someone will always leak an artist's album online as soon as they get their hands on it.
I've listened to it and I love it! It brings me back to the 80s, which I love! It's one of the best albums he's made in the past couple of years. My favorite songs are "Future Love Song", "Sticky Like Glue", and "Act of God". What are yours?
20Ten track list:
Compassion
Beginning Endlessly Future Love Song Sticky Like Glue
Act of God Lavaux Walk in Sand Sea of Everything Everybody Loves Me Laydown (Bonus Track)
For those of you who like me already heard the album online, but don't have a copy of 20Ten yet, because you don't live in Europe, buy it as soon as Prince will distribute it through North America. That's what I plan on doing myself. Support the artists that you love.
Prince performed in Berlin yesterday and completely rocked the crowd once again! Check out Shelby J's Facebook page she shares how much fun she had! It must be getting real hot Europe, you can feel the heat rising from here, have fun funk soldiers!
The tack list isn't definite, however these are the songs which were included amongst the ones Prince performed.
Now Prince, his musicians and vocalists will have a short break in beautiful Paris before continuing to Arras.
Start @ 19h50
Let's Go Crazy Delirious 1999 Little Red Corvette Play That Funky Music @Cover[Wild Cherry] Love Bizarre / Sheila E solo Crimson & Clover Peach Spanish Castle Magic Hot Summer Nothing Compares To You Old School Funk Controversy My Name Is Prince Sexy Dancer Le Freak / C'est Chique Housequake Forever In My Life Seven (Mash Up) Guitar Kiss Purple Rain Dance 4 Me
Prince will be all over Europe this summer, and started off by making a surprise performance at Stevie Wonder's concert in Paris last week. Last night he performed in Denmark at the Roskilde Festival which came to a close after his concert. Shelby J. and Sheila E. were among the many talented artists to perform with Prince. If you were there, please feel free to send in your pictures, videos, comments etc... Did he play some of the songs from his upcoming new album 20Ten? There will surely be more news about this soon, in the meantime enjoy the video and pictures!
Stevie Wonder started his European tour in Paris at the Palais omnisports by celebrating his 50 year long career in the music industry!
This music genius released his first album "The Jazz Soul of Little Stevie" when he was only 11 years old and since then has continued to impress people worldwide.
Accompanied with his orchestra, he managed the voe the crowed to popular songs such as "My Cherie Amour", "Free", "You are the sunshine of my life", and there also was another special surprise... Prince and Sheila E. accompanied Stevie Wonder while he was singing "Superstition". What a great way to start off his European tour and celebrating his 50 year anniversary of music! Congrats Stevie, you're awesome!
