Happy Belated Birthday Jerome Benton 9.19.1962

Jerome Benton (born September 19, 1962) is an American musical performer, backup dancer and comedic actor. He can be seen in music videos by Janet Jackson and Prince, but he is best known for his association with The Time.

Benton is the half brother of Time bassist Terry Lewis and worked closely with the band behind the scenes in its initial stages. During one performance, lead singer Morris Day asked for someone to bring him a mirror. Benton responded by ripping a mirror out of the club's restroom and bringing it on stage for Day to comb his hair. This act elevated Benton's integration into the band as a comic foil to Day, along with his dancing and providing backing vocals. In 1983, when Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis missed a concert in San Antonio, Benton was tasked by Prince to pretend to fill in for Lewis on stage with his bass unplugged, while Prince provided the bass line backstage. Jam and Lewis were eventually fired after the tour.

Benton appeared in the 1984 film Purple Rain^[1] with the rest of The Time and assumed the role of Morris Day's bodyguard and valet.^[2] He also appeared in Prince's second film Under the Cherry Moon. The chemistry between Day and Benton was well received. Although The Time soon dissolved after Day started pursuing a solo career, Prince retained Benton, as well as Jellybean Johnson and Paul Peterson for the short-lived project The Family.

Benton reunited with The Family on December 13, 2003 for a single charity performance along with other acts formerly associated with Prince. According to a January 31, 2007 press release on St. Paul's website, The Family announced that the group is returning with a new record and a tour.

[Edited 9/21/15 9:54am]

Awww, happy late birthday Jerome! Seeing him with The Time always made me happy, he just had that kind of personality.

Jerome needs to do more. He needs to be more visible. He has the most unique position of any associated artist: a member of The Time, The Revolution and The Family, he has some of the most memorable lines in Purple Rain, Under The Cherry Moon, and Graffiti Bridge. Every Prince fan knows his name. The buzz at every Morris Day concert I've ever been to is , "I wonder if Jerome is still with Morris?" Everybody loves Jerome. He is as funny as Morris Day. He is as good a dancer as Prince. Yet he's pretty much M.I.A since he left Morris Day and The Time. I miss him. Happy Birthday JB!

[Edited 9/23/15 16:53pm]

funksterr said:

Jerome needs to do more. He needs to be more visible. He has the most unique position of any associated artist: a member of The Time, The Revolution and The Family, he has some of the most memorable lines in Purple Rain, Under The Cherry Moon, and Graffiti Bridge. Every Prince fan knows his name. The buzz at every Morris Day concert I've ever been to is , "I wonder if Jerome is still with Morris?" Everybody loves Jerome. He is as funny as Morris Day. He is as good a dancer as Prince. Yet he's pretty much M.I.A since he left Morris Day and The Time. I miss him. Happy Birthday JB!

[Edited 9/23/15 16:53pm]

I wish he would work on the next FDelux album with the Family

It would be good to see more of Jerome. I am all about the music, but Jerome just brings something extra that's missing without him. And his contributions to UTCM and PR are huge. Happy b'day!

OldFriends4Sale said:

funksterr said:

Jerome needs to do more. He needs to be more visible. He has the most unique position of any associated artist: a member of The Time, The Revolution and The Family, he has some of the most memorable lines in Purple Rain, Under The Cherry Moon, and Graffiti Bridge. Every Prince fan knows his name. The buzz at every Morris Day concert I've ever been to is , "I wonder if Jerome is still with Morris?" Everybody loves Jerome. He is as funny as Morris Day. He is as good a dancer as Prince. Yet he's pretty much M.I.A since he left Morris Day and The Time. I miss him. Happy Birthday JB!

[Edited 9/23/15 16:53pm]

I wish he would work on the next FDelux album with the Family

That would be awesome. I was watching one of The Family bootlegs and he was a good fit there too.
Really wherever Jerome shows up, he brings that Purple Rain feel to the situation. I wish he had a podcast or autobiography or something where he could share more about his experiences. He was a part of most everything great coming out of Minneapolis for a while. Even Alexander O'Neal and Janet Jackson with FlyteTyme. If MD and The Time do a new album without him, I think that would be like a bad omen. Jerome adds instant credibility to everything he's a part of.

funksterr said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

I wish he would work on the next FDelux album with the Family

That would be awesome. I was watching one of The Family bootlegs and he was a good fit there too.
Really wherever Jerome shows up, he brings that Purple Rain feel to the situation. I wish he had a podcast or autobiography or something where he could share more about his experiences. He was a part of most everything great coming out of Minneapolis for a while. Even Alexander O'Neal and Janet Jackson with FlyteTyme. If MD and The Time do a new album without him, I think that would be like a bad omen. Jerome adds instant credibility to everything he's a part of.

I HATE that we cannot post video images here

But I'm watching Jerome now on the PR tour during Baby I'm A Star where Prince gives him the stage for few minutes to do his thing. And he definately had his own charisma. It made long for a full Time:Ice Cream Castles era then.

OldFriends4Sale said:

funksterr said:

That would be awesome. I was watching one of The Family bootlegs and he was a good fit there too.
Really wherever Jerome shows up, he brings that Purple Rain feel to the situation. I wish he had a podcast or autobiography or something where he could share more about his experiences. He was a part of most everything great coming out of Minneapolis for a while. Even Alexander O'Neal and Janet Jackson with FlyteTyme. If MD and The Time do a new album without him, I think that would be like a bad omen. Jerome adds instant credibility to everything he's a part of.

I HATE that we cannot post video images here

But I'm watching Jerome now on the PR tour during Baby I'm A Star where Prince gives him the stage for few minutes to do his thing. And he definately had his own charisma. It made long for a full Time:Ice Cream Castles era then.

Yes. Jerome's charisma come through in every band he is part of. One of the hardest things for a band of musicians to do is connect to the audience in a non-musical, personal manner. Prince used to have his cigarette routine, his 'you don't love me' pout and silent argument with the audience. MJ talked about studying and incorporating Marcel Marceau and Charlie Chaplin into his performance. And that's one of the many techniques those guys mastered to reach across cultures, borders, language, gender, race, whatever, to connect on a human level with anyone watching.

Jerome Benton is a master of that technique as well. He doesn't sing or play, but what he brings to the stage through dance, humor and non-verbal ques is everybit as entertaining and important. Jerome is the knockout punch. He's the icing on the cake. He pretty much seals the deal no matter who else is in the band or what went wrong onstage that night. Jerome is the Master of Ceremonies and when he is present, it gives the band an advantage.

I miss his handkerchief routine at the end of The Time shows. It's never quite the same every show, but the game is when the handkerchief hits the stage, the band ends the vamp, and it's the end of the show. So everybody's keying on JB. And he knows it. So rather than throw it up in the air and simply let it fall, he grabs it at the last minute, does the splits, runs it around the stage, more splits, spins, throws it up again, 'What Time Is It?' pose, catches it, delay delay, wipes Jellybeans forehead with it... whatever he can to make them keep stretching, when all they really want to do at that point is get offstage. Usually the whole band is laughing along with audience, and it's a nice way to send everybody home with a smile on their faces. "We The BEST!", he'd say. And it was hard to argue.

I always wonder what the SOTT show would have been like with Jerome & Cat

Same with what the Dream Factory era would have been like, Cat probably still would have been pulled into the Prince camp

An interview from earlier this year, but it's always great to hear the story of The Time told.

He's aged well.