After the late 80's I don't remember Prince touring the USA much.

He had the Nude tour in Stadiums. And He did some theater shows in the US.
But there was no massive tour of the US hmm? I Dallas on the Jam of the year tour he said it was the first time he's been to Dallas since 1988.....9 years earlier.

I don't recall him come to(my home) Houston either. Just like Michael he'd abondoned the states.

are you referring to just the late '80s or in general?

Prince was pissed with the United States after he lost so much money on the Lovesexy Tour. The album had lackluster sales and a lot of shows did not sell out. In return, Prince decided to punish the United States by vowing to "never tour the United States again". That's why there was such a long time between tours.

He did?

But Prince was hot in the 80's. I thought he saw hot sales during the Lovesexy time.

VelvetJ said:

Prince didn't even start touring the US for Lovesexy until after the album and singles had fallen off the charts, but he still toured the US because he had a message to share. I still think most of the shows were full to capacity -- it was just an expensive tour for him. And many who went will say it was one of the best experiences they've ever had. Sounds like a success to me.

Prince's biggest American tours
1982-3 1999 (triple threat)
1984-5 Purple Rain
1988 Lovesexy
2004 Musicology

I know there's others, but nothing as big as the ones I listed.

Weird how after the early 80's alot of people lost interest in Prince and Michael Jackson in America.

Guess Rap really did change things.

Snap said:

He toured the U.S. because he had no choice at that point. Arenas had been reserved and business deals had been done. It was too late to "pull out" of the U.S.tour. Besides, he knew it was "time" after not touring with Sign O The Times and after seeing how well it faired at the theaters and practically everyone realizing (including himself, whether he ever admits it or not) he should have toured with Sign. If you think the only reason he toured the U.S. was because of a "message", you are fooling yourself. I still have reports on vhs talking about LoveSexy not selling places out, which was a big stretch from his previous nation wide US tour where he was selling out 2,3, 4, and 5 nights in a single city.

Also, no one said it wasn't a great show. Most have said it is his best tour ever in terms of concert performances. That was never a question.

You may call the U.S. leg of the tour a success, but you also have to ask yourself WHY would Prince say he would never tour the U.S. again after that tour. There was a reason for that,so let's face it. Prince was pissed with the United States because of the money he lost on that tour and the lackluster record sales.THAT'S why he didn't tour here for so long.
[Edited 12/9/04 10:14am]

Rick James tour (1980), Dirty Mind club tour (1980-1981)Controversy (1981-1982),1999 (1982-1983), Purple Rain tour (1984-1985), Lovesexy tour (1988), Jam Of the Year tour (1997), One Nite Alone tour (02) and Musicology tour (04)

1986, Prince's managers didnt want him to tour the U.S. with Parade because it was to soon after the Purple Rain tour (1984-1985).The Parade tour was the opposite of the Purple Rain Tour (The Parade tour was like a James Brown soul tour/the Purple Rain tour was like a Hendrix rock tour.)1987, Prince's Managers wanted Prince to tour the U.S. with Sign O' The Times, But Prince was mad that Sign O' The Times wasent sell better in the U.S., so Prince did the Sign O' The Times film, The film was Prince's way of geting out of doing the U.S. tour. Lovesexy was a flop in the U.S. So Prince's managers didnt want Prince to do the Lovesexy U.S. tour . Prince did the Tour anyway. Prince lost money on the Lovesexy tour. 1989,Batman was a hit, no Batman tour,1990, no U.S. Nude tour, 1991 Diamonds And Pearls was a hit, 1992 no U.S. Diamonds And Pearls tour. Prince was bad about the poor ticket sales, not selling out the Lovesexy tour. 1993-1996 was Prince's fight with Warner Bros.The albums from Love Symbol to Gold were not hits in the U.S. 1998-99, the albums New Power Soul and Rave were not hits in the U.S., so there were no U.S. tour.

You forgot the Hit N Run tours (1986, 2001, maybe others).

rude & Velvet J, I'm not buying it. Tours are done to create more interest in the album and to produce more sales.
[Edited 12/9/04 13:52pm]

Snap said:

Read DMSR by Per Nelsen and Possessed by Alex Hahn. with interviews from Dr. Matt Fink, Eric Leeds and Prince's old tour manager Alan Leeds.

rudeboynpg said:

Hmm... if true, that's sad and makes Prince look kinda shallow. He sure seemed to have fun doing the Lovesexy tour in the US. I know he was disappointed over SOTT -- especially when it didn't win a Grammy for best record -- it was an album that pushed the envelope in many more directions than U2's Joshua Tree. Too bad he didn't start the SOTT tour in the US. I clearly remember MTV reporting that Prince would be touring the states, and then it got cancelled -- I called Prince's management the very day I heard about it, and they said "Well, absence makes the heart grow fonder." Colder too. But they also said the SOTT film was supposed to make up for the cancelled US tour. I'm not too disappointed, because I can't fault him for working on Lovesexy soon after, and that tour was incredible -- so it worked out for US after all -- no matter Prince's disappointment.

Snap said:

Snap, with all due respect to you, it sounds as if you may still have your "rose colored glasses" on when it comes to Prince. I had them on as well, but most of his fams have realized over the years, Prince can be unreasonable at times and quite frankly a jerk. That doesn't mean any of us love him or his music any less, it's just Prince is flawed just like everyone else and can be shallow, egotistical, selfish, stubborn and mean.

Prince is a well known person with a gift from God, but he hasn't always been an angel, particularly in the past. So, don't be surprised to hear Prince was "shallow" about something. Do a little research, look around for interviews with former associates. There have been a ton of people in Prince's camp over the years, but try to find out HOW MANY of them left bitterly, and WHY so many of them exited bitterly. It's more than just coincidental.

I say all of that to say this.....Prince was very upset with the United States and said, "I will never tour the United States again", because the tour and album wasn't as successful as he would have liked. He was pissed and did not tour the U.S. for a very long time, relatively speaking. (He did a couple of American "performances" on the Act I and II tours but he didn't do a tour. I view the American leg of the Parade "tour" the same way. He didn't tour the "meat" of the country, so I don't consider it a real American tour.)
[Edited 12/10/04 11:15am]

Prince's American Tours:

Rick James-1980
Dirty Mind-1980-81
Controversy-1981-82
1999-1982-83
Purple Rain-1984-85
Hit-n-Run1-1986 (only about 5 shows total)
Lovesexy-1988 (few sellout shows, many only 1/2 to 2/3 full)
Act 1-1993 (theatres only)
Love 4 One Another-1997
Jam of the Year-1997-98
New Power Soul-1998
Hit-n-Run-1999-2000
One Nite Alone-2002
Musicology-2004

Let me be clear about my version of what a "American Tour" is. Playing a couple of shows in New York, Los Angeles, Minneapolis (his home) and possibly Chicago or San Francisco, does not qualify as an American tour IMO. When he tours those places ALONG with Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, St. Louis, Cleveland, Cincinnatti, New Orleans, Denver, Seattle, etc., then he has included the "meat" of America and is my version of a American Tour. That's why I never considered him doing a few shows in America for the Parade Tour a REAL tour and the same for ActI. He did a couple of selected dates, which doesn't qualify for a tour. After LoveSexy, he didn't truly "TOUR" the U.S. for 9 years, and that was on purpose.