Kirk was Prince's Best Man at his wedding.

Former Dancer and drummer for Npg,some say the

weakest link in Prince career ever.

why did he leave Npg and how come he was never

to bee seen around Prince after?

His legendary drumming skills will go down in the history of modern music like the Beatles playing Ed Sullivan and the death of Jimi Hendrix.

2freaky4church1 said:

His legendary drumming skills will go down in the history of modern music like the Beatles playing Ed Sullivan and the death of Jimi Hendrix.

Kirk may be a good drummer, but i doubt his drumming skills will be as legendary as The Beatles on Ed Sullivan or the death of Jimi Hendrix.

Isnt Kirk related to Prince?? Distant cousin or something?

Right, Kirk first worked for Prince in the glam slam video didnt he? Then he was on the Nude tour as a dancer in the Gameboyz (urgh). After that he became a percussionist / dancer until 93. Then in 96 he became a drummer until summer 2000 where he was replaced by John Blackwell. Although in 2001 and a few shows in 2002 he was percussionist again.

Not seen again until 2007 where he was at 3121 club. Prince was playing If Eye Was Ur Girlfriend and said "Kirk, remember when we used to hit this?"

RumAndRaisin said:

Isnt Kirk related to Prince?? Distant cousin or something?

Right, Kirk first worked for Prince in the glam slam video didnt he? Then he was on the Nude tour as a dancer in the Gameboyz (urgh). After that he became a percussionist / dancer until 93. Then in 96 he became a drummer until summer 2000 where he was replaced by John Blackwell. Although in 2001 and a few shows in 2002 he was percussionist again.

Not seen again until 2007 where he was at 3121 club. Prince was playing If Eye Was Ur Girlfriend and said "Kirk, remember when we used to hit this?"

No he was one of the three break dancers along with Tony M & Damien in The famous scene in Purple Rain during The Times performance of "Jungle Love"...

RumAndRaisin said:

Not seen again until 2007 where he was at 3121 club. Prince was playing If Eye Was Ur Girlfriend and said "Kirk, remember when you used to hit this?"

Kirk gets a lot of flack for his drumming skills but he can´t be THAT bad if Prince chose him as his drummer for a couple of years, and keep in mind that it was Michael Bland himself who said that Kirk Johnson was one of the best drummers in the Twin Cities area. Say what you want about Prince and his staff decisions but you can´t deny Michael Bland´s expertise when it comes to drumming.

Sure, he was no Michael B. or Sheila or John B. but he was still okay, as far as I´m concerned. I enjoyed most of the shows that he was a part of, plus he seems to be a nice person, as far as I can tell from the little experience I´ve had with him. And he´s been in the Prince camp for a very long time, and I can understand why.That of course doesn´t make him a perfect drummer but again, I´d rather trust Michael Bland´s judgement and my own ears. The "Kirk Johnson" years probably weren´t the most interesting ones in Prince´s career, and the Emancipation album could have sounded more interesting if Prince had used the NPG band instead of Kirk´s programming, but he´s still ok in my book.

Just my opinion after a very long p.org hiatus.

Simple answer:

:yes:

TheDigitalGardener said:

2freaky4church1 said:

His legendary drumming skills will go down in the history of modern music like the Beatles playing Ed Sullivan and the death of Jimi Hendrix.

Kirk may be a good drummer, but i doubt his drumming skills will be as legendary as The Beatles on Ed Sullivan or the death of Jimi Hendrix.

He is definitely kidding. lol

KoolEaze said:

Kirk gets a lot of flack for his drumming skills but he can´t be THAT bad if Prince chose him as his drummer for a couple of years, and keep in mind that it was Michael Bland himself who said that Kirk Johnson was one of the best drummers in the Twin Cities area. Say what you want about Prince and his staff decisions but you can´t deny Michael Bland´s expertise when it comes to drumming.

Sure, he was no Michael B. or Sheila or John B. but he was still okay, as far as I´m concerned. I enjoyed most of the shows that he was a part of, plus he seems to be a nice person, as far as I can tell from the little experience I´ve had with him. And he´s been in the Prince camp for a very long time, and I can understand why.That of course doesn´t make him a perfect drummer but again, I´d rather trust Michael Bland´s judgement and my own ears. The "Kirk Johnson" years probably weren´t the most interesting ones in Prince´s career, and the Emancipation album could have sounded more interesting if Prince had used the NPG band instead of Kirk´s programming, but he´s still ok in my book.

Just my opinion after a very long p.org hiatus.

agree

TheDigitalGardener said:

2freaky4church1 said:

His legendary drumming skills will go down in the history of modern music like the Beatles playing Ed Sullivan and the death of Jimi Hendrix.

Kirk may be a good drummer, but i doubt his drumming skills will be as legendary as The Beatles on Ed Sullivan or the death of Jimi Hendrix.

uh, it is called scarcasm

I'm pretty clueless when it comes to judging the abilities of drummers but I wonder who is the better drummer: Kirk Johnson or Bobby Z? I think that both of them were with Prince at a time when the live drums weren't very live and there were lots of backing tapes or programmed drums.

I think he's in fitness, i see him at the downtown ymca sometimes wearing the black trainer polo.

dreamshaman32 said:

I think he's in fitness, i see him at the downtown ymca sometimes wearing the black trainer polo.

Yes, he is. But I didn´t know that he´s working at the YMCA now. He used to have this place in Chanhassen.

http://www.hipfit.net/

In his blog he mentions that he used to work for Candy Dulfer, too. I didn´t know that since I´ve never been to one of Candy´s solo shows. As I said, he can´t be that bad as a drummer if Prince,Candy and Michael Bland like him as a drummer. I have to admit though that the years when he was in Prince´s band were not really the most memorable ones, but I wouldn´t blame Kirk Johnson´s drumming skills for that. A lot of things were not that tight during those years but I still enjoyed most of Prince´s concerts back then.

KoolEaze said:

dreamshaman32 said:

I think he's in fitness, i see him at the downtown ymca sometimes wearing the black trainer polo.

Yes, he is. But I didn´t know that he´s working at the YMCA now. He used to have this place in Chanhassen.

http://www.hipfit.net/

In his blog he mentions that he used to work for Candy Dulfer, too. I didn´t know that since I´ve never been to one of Candy´s solo shows. As I said, he can´t be that bad as a drummer if Prince,Candy and Michael Bland like him as a drummer. I have to admit though that the years when he was in Prince´s band were not really the most memorable ones, but I wouldn´t blame Kirk Johnson´s drumming skills for that. A lot of things were not that tight during those years but I still enjoyed most of Prince´s concerts back then.

He looks like a tranny sci-fi villain on that site!!

RIDICULOUS!!!! BWA!!

Kirk is actually pretty good on the drums. If anyone has seen the Nude rehersals, Kirk is beating the skins solid while Prince is rocking out on the guitar. This is all before Michael Bland shows up to the rehersal.

He's much better than what I previously thought.

KoolEaze said:

dreamshaman32 said:

I think he's in fitness, i see him at the downtown ymca sometimes wearing the black trainer polo.

Yes, he is. But I didn´t know that he´s working at the YMCA now. He used to have this place in Chanhassen.

http://www.hipfit.net/

In his blog he mentions that he used to work for Candy Dulfer, too. I didn´t know that since I´ve never been to one of Candy´s solo shows. As I said, he can´t be that bad as a drummer if Prince,Candy and Michael Bland like him as a drummer. I have to admit though that the years when he was in Prince´s band were not really the most memorable ones, but I wouldn´t blame Kirk Johnson´s drumming skills for that. A lot of things were not that tight during those years but I still enjoyed most of Prince´s concerts back then.

I wonder is he the one that got Prince back in to fit shape for his new Welcome 2 America tour. Prince's body is cut with biceps & six pack & legs & thighs are cut & fit.....Wonder did Prince fun his fitness center business. They use to be very very close....