What Happened to the Revolution After Purple Rain?

Music and style icon Prince has gone through many phases throughout his career, but for many fans one era stands out above the rest: the years that Prince was with The Revolution. It was during those years that a movie was released starring members of the band with Prince in the lead role. The movie, "Purple Rain" was released in 1984 and continues to be aired on television stations to this day.

The movie takes place in Minneapolis, Minnesota, which is where The Revolution was formed. Prince plays a character known as "The Kid," the singer for a band trying to make it in the cut-throat local club scene while competing with acts such as The Time. The Kid is the typical misunderstood, sensitive creative type who has a difficult home life. His father, who used to be a musician, is abusive towards his mother. The Kid spends many nights in his basement room listening to cassettes at high volume trying to drown out the arguing, when he isn't trying to intervene. There are internal conflicts growing in The Revolution, as two of the female members, Wendy and Lisa, want The Kid to let them play one of the songs they had written, which winds up being Purple Rain. Things get more complicated when Apollonia arrives in Minneapolis looking for a singing career of her own. She and The Kid embark on a playful romance which turns sour when she is offered a spot in Morris Day's singing group. When Apollonia tells The Kid about this venture, he slaps her. She leaves that night crying, but lets him keep the guitar she bought him after pawning her ankle bracelet. When the scantily clad Apollonia 6 debuts their song "Sex Shooter" The Kid is in the audience, but he is still in completion for her attention with Morris Day, who is actually hilarious in this movie despite being a jerk. The Kid's family life continues to deteriorate along with his romance and band morale, but the film magically ends on a positive note when The Kid leads The Revolution in "Purple Rain" followed by a high energy encore where the club owner who doubted him looks on proudly and even Morris Day is seen enjoying the set. The film will have an appeal to fans of Prince and The Revolution, as many have called "Purple Rain" an extended music video with some acting and a plot thrown in. The ornate, over-the-top costumes, heavy make-up, and music will have any child of the 80s waxing nostalgic, which is why the movie succeeded where other movies about bands have failed.

What happened to The Revolution after Purple Rain? Prince went on to release music with The New Power Generation and as a solo artist (remember when he was "The Artist Formerly Known as Prince"?) but some of the other musicians seemed to fade into obscurity. What seemed to be such a promising line-up in 1984 was soon to fall apart. At the time of the movie the line-up consisted of Brown Mark, Bobby Z., Wendy Melvoin, Lisa Coleman, Mark "Doctor" Fink, and Prince. In 1985 several additions were made to the line-up from members of The Family and Sheila E.'s group. One of the new members was Wendy's twin, Susannah Melvoin, who was romantically linked to Prince. After a successful tour, real life imitated the film as tensions in the band grew to a fever pitch. Older members were unhappy with the newer members, it was even reported that Wendy didn't like sharing a stage with her twin. In 1986 Wendy and Lisa left to perform as a duo and Bobby Z. was replaced by Sheila E. after the "Parade" tour. Susannah left The Revolution when she and Prince broke up and worked with Wendy and Lisa. Brown Mark eventually left, leaving Mark Fink and Prince as the only two original Prince and The Revolution members. While none of the backing members of The Revolution remained in the spotlight, several have continued to have careers composing music for television, acting, or playing in back-up bands.

Sources:
IMDB.com