Prince’s Band, The Revolution, Announces Reunion Shows After Singer's Death

Prince’s old band, the Revolution, is back. The group will reunite in honor of their late friend, they announced Tuesday in a video posted on Facebook.

“We have decided, after spending three or four days together now grieving over the loss of Prince, that we would like to come out and do some shows,” guitarist Wendy Melvoin said. “We want to let you know that we’ll be there soon.”

The band members — including Melvoin, Lisa Coleman, Bobby Z, Brown Mark and Matt Fink — gathered for the announcement but did not release details about show dates or locations.

Prince, who died last Thursday, played with several bands over the course of his music career. But the Revolution was a major part of the singer’s iconic “Purple Rain” film and soundtrack in 1984, as well as other albums, such as “Around the World in a Day.”

The group disbanded in 1986 after the “Hit n Run” tour, though some members have gotten back together a few times over the years. In 2000, some of the band’s members appeared at a Prince concert in Minneapolis to perform the song “America,” and in 2003, Sheila E. put together a charity event featuring Revolution and several other musicians — but without Prince himself. Then the group also appeared with Prince at the 2006 Brit Awards.

After Prince’s death last week, Melvoin and Coleman told TMZ they were headed to Prince’s hometown of Minneapolis to meet up with the other band members. “We’re gonna [sic] go back and get together with our bandmates and grieve,” Melvoin said Monday.

Prince, 57, was found dead last Thursday at his Paisley Park home in Chanhassen, Minnesota. He was cremated Friday and remembered by family and friends at a private memorial service Saturday, CNN reported.

The cause of Prince’s death is not yet known, and controversy has already begun over what will happen to the famous singer’s estate. He did not have a will, his sister Tyka Nelson said in court documents filed Tuesday, and because Prince had relatively few living family members, the question of who receives his money could be complex.