Prince's Top 8 - Hot Female Proteges
Creating opportunities for new or emerging female musicians has been a significant part of Prince's legacy. Considering his impact in launching the careers of Vanity 6 and Carmen Electra to extending mainstream platforms for musicians Sheila E. and Wendy and Lisa, I thought it would be fun to take a look back at some of the most memorable lovely ladies who have been a part of the Purple fold.
Sheila E.
How can you not love a statuesque beauty that can play the
drums better than any guy you know? And do so while in a fur coat, high heels
and tossing the sticks into the air, catching them and staying on beat. Shelia
E., the daughter of percussionist great Pete Escovedo and aunt to Nicole
Richie, has always been my favorite. Her 1984 hit "The Glamorous Life" prompted
yours truly to write her a fan club letter in 1987. She has remained busy recording and touring. She is the third season winner of CMT's Gone Country. Watch her video "Glorious Train" by clicking here.
Vanity 6
Vanity 6 paved the way for the Pussycat Dolls and Lil' Kim.
The 1980s female R&B group performed in lingerie, sang unapologetically
about lust, and was fronted by arguably the sexiest woman in music at the time.
Prince's genius concept and production yielded the group the #1 dance hit
"Nasty Girl." The plan was so good that when lead singer Vanity (Denise
Matthews) exited after just one album, Prince quickly replaced her and renamed the group Apollonia 6 after its new, bustier frontwoman.
Wendy & Lisa
Unlike many of the other women who performed with Prince,
Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman mainly stayed in the background as members of
his band The Revolution. Prince enlisted them to work on his Parade and Under The Cherry Moon albums. While Wendy & Lisa eventually
stopped working with Prince because they felt that they were not receiving
proper credit for their contributions, they are said to have had significant
influence on Prince's sound. At times, Prince would give them skeletal tracks
for them to enhance. The childhood friends who come from music industry
families released five albums together and currently score the NBC hit series Heroes.
Sheena Easton
Not too many artists can boast of having a song on Tipper
Gore's Filthy Fifteen list of pop songs with objectionable messages about sex,
violence, drugs or Satanism. But with the help of Prince this Scottish singer
with an otherwise clean image and catalog got a taste of the bad girl
lifestyle. Her song, "Sugar Walls," written and produced by Prince, was a
controversial metaphor that resonated with fans. It scored her a top 10 hit and
a platinum album.
Apollonia 6
Apollonia 6 is nothing more than Vanity 6 with a different
front woman. After Vanity left, Prince held auditions to find a replacement.
Patricia Kotero not only snagged the spot, she also inherited a feature role in
Prince's film Purple Rain. Though Apollonia 6 did not achieve the same heights
as Vanity 6, the group did score a solid hit with "Sex Shooter."
Tamar Davis
As Prince prepared for the release of his 2006 3121 album, Tamar Davis was in tow. Prince
had heard some of Tamar's work when she was a teenager and expressed having
another listen when she was older. He actually invited her to his studio years
later, but still did not offer a recording deal until they met yet another
time. Tamar provides co-lead vocals on Prince's Grammy nominated "Beautiful,
Loved & Blessed," but her Prince-produced album, Milk & Honey, was never released. Tamar, who was a member of the pre-Destiny's Child group Girl's Tyme, is currently touring in
the latest Tyler Perry play The Marriage
Counselor.
Bria Valente
Prince's latest protégé Bria Valente may have the best
benefit of all of her predecessors. Her debut album Elixer is one of the discs in Prince's new three-CD package that
includes his two albums, LotusFlow3r
and MPLSound. While Prince says that
he wanted to release Bria's record because he was tired of waiting on a new set
from Sade, I don't hear Sade comparisons when I listened to her tracks "Another
Boy" or "Everyday." She does have a soft, pleasant voice, but it will be
interesting to see how she fares in the marketplace.
Carmen Electra
It is unclear why Tara Leigh Patrick showed up to a Prince
hosted audition for a female rap group in 1994. It is even more confusing as to
why Prince signed her to a recording deal. But that's what happened. He changed
her name to Carmen Electra and released her self titled rap album that was so
bad that it had to embarrass Marky Mark and Vanilla Ice. However, Prince
clearly had more than music talent on his mind when he met the Cincinnati, Ohio
native as her deadpan music career served as a great launching pad for her rock
star path that has included a Playboy
spread, stint on Bay Watch, numerous
acting credits, and marriages to Dennis Rodman and Dave Navarro.
Regardless he is totally sexy and he is aging quite well-
He is a phenom producer. He has wonderful music a style clearly his own that will always be played even beyond 1999 people are partying to him....
It doesn't matter how many of these women he was involved with or what his sexual preferances are, that's his business. What matters is that so many people enjoy his music as well as the music of many of his prodiges. Especialy during the years when he and his creations (literaly!)were at the top of the charts. Maybe many people don't know but he can play 28 musical instruments not to mention write tons of songs for others as well as for himself. I had the privaledge to see him live in a small club in Miami Beach and he was on stage for 3.5 hrs. This man clearly loves what he doese and is a true musician. This is a rarety these days.