*As previously reported, Prince’s former band The Revolution is planning a reunion tour to honor their former leader and celebrate the music created during their time together.
In a new interview with The Oakland Press, Revolution keyboardist Matt “Doctor” Fink gave a status update, revealing that Prince’s family has requested that they hold off on touring until after their planned large-scale memorial event in Minneapolis takes place in August.
Fink says The Revolution will shortly thereafter begin touring North America and several dates overseas – with guest singers likely tagging along.
“It’s something that we’ve tried to do over the years — with Prince. And he really didn’t want to, so we just put it on hold,” Fink said. “Now we feel like it’s more timely than ever to do it.”
Fink says his follow Revolution members, who last reunited in 2012 for an American Heart Association benefit in Minneapolis, have been on the phone “consoling each other” ever since Prince’s death on April 21.
“We’re all incredibly shocked and saddened by his passing. We loved him quite a lot,” he said. “Even though I’m pretty far removed from working with him, I never stopped communicating with him over the years and always respected him as a musician. You can’t deny what a talent he was.”
Fink says he’s also reached out to Prince’s family about releasing some of The Revolution’s music currently collecting dust in the singer’s vault.
“At the end of 1986 there were definitely two albums in the can that never saw the light of day,” Fink says. “It’s stuff that was recorded with the group and co-written with the group, just a continuation of what we were doing after the ‘Parade’ album and before Prince made the decision to disband the group at that point.
“We’ve made an open offer to Prince’s family to put those out as soon as possible. Hopefully that will happen.”
Currently, Fink is part of the Prince tribute band The Purple Xperience, formed in 2011 and fronted by Marshall Charloff. The group had a show booked in Chicago the night after Prince died. They thought about cancelling, but decided to play in his honor. Fink says bookings have been piling up ever since, and the Purple Xperience was even part of Fink’s last conversation with Prince, during the fall of 2014.
“I assured him that everything we were doing was in the utmost respect and that we were promoting his band and probably helping him drive some record sales,” Fink recalls. “It’s all about respect and our love for this music.”