Prince’s legendary band The Revolution have announced their first European shows in 33 years.
The late ‘Raspberry Beret’ hitmaker’s group – who featured on all his albums from ‘1999’ to ‘Sign O’ The Times’ – are set to perform select dates, including a stop at London’s O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire on February 13, next year.
Keyboard player Doctor Fink – who has performed in the band since 1979 – has revealed that he and drummer Bobby Z held talks with the music legend, who sadly passed away from an overdose in April 2016, to get the band back together, though sadly nothing came of it.
On how special these shows will be, he said: "Back in 2014, Bobby and I met with Prince.
"and he opened the meeting with his desire to reunite with The Revolution for some future shows.
"Sadly for us, this did not come to fruition, which makes our reunion all the more poignant."
Lisa Coleman – who played the keys from 1980 onwards – added: "We’re the ones that he held on to.
"We walked on the moon together – he would say, ‘You guys are the only ones who know what I know about this.’"
The band – completed by Brown Mark and Wendy Melvoin – started performing again following the ‘Kiss’ singer’s death two years ago, starting with three concerts in Prince’s hometown of Minneapolis at the First Avenue Club in tribute to the icon.
They’ve gone on to perform shows around the world and will touch down in Europe when they play Copenhagen’s Vega on February 8.
It follows the news that a new Prince album is set to be streamed on Jay-Z’s streaming service TIDAL next year.
The rapper said: "Our only goal is to share Prince’s music with his fans as he wanted.
"After thoughtful and honest conversation with him, he chose TIDAL as his partner for ‘HITnRUN Phase One’ and ‘HITnRUN Phase Two’, and we will continue to respect and honour Prince’s enduring legacy and wishes with this new collection."
The Revolution’s European tour dates for 2019 are as follows:
February 8, Copenhagen Vega
February 10, Amsterdam Paradiso
February 11, Paris Cigale
February 13, London Shepherds Bush Empire