Close to greatness: Jenny Morris has revealed what touring with Prince for three months was like.

Morris, whose hits include Break in the Weather and She Has to Be Loved, was chosen after Prince heard her 1989 hit Saved Me.

“Prince heard Saved Me in a club, that’s how I got the gig,” Morris recalled.

“When you’re young you don’t realise the enormity of things like that.”

Morris and her band played for three months opening for Prince, but one night was particularly special.

Australia

“Halfway through the tour his manager said ‘Prince wants to know if he can plug in his guitar when you do Saved Me and play along with your band?’,” Morris said. “As if I’m going to say no!

“So I thought he was going to do it that night, but he didn’t. So I thought he’d gone off the idea. A week later, I think we were in Berlin, we were playing Saved Me. I heard this awesome guitar and for a split second I thought ‘God my guitar’s really gone up a notch or two’ and I looked side of the stage and he’d plugged in and he was sitting on his amp jamming along with the band. I think he really loved my band. I wish someone had filmed it. The sound guy was recording so I’ve got a tape version of it but didn’t get the visual. That was a highlight of my whole life.”

Morris said her interaction with Prince was minimal.

“When I was singing (backing vocals) with INXS we played this gig called Rocking the Royals for Prince Charles and Princess Diana, you had to sign all these forms that said what you could and couldn’t do. Playing with Prince I had to pretty much do the same thing, there was a list of don’ts, one of which was don’t look Prince directly in the eye, don’t approach him, don’t talk to him. It was in a period of his life when he was very gun shy. He was an intensely private person anyway. I had very little interaction with him. But he was also a really warm person.”

Morris said that was never more evident than when Prince saw her young son, who was on tour with her.

http://www.news.com.au/en...823a2296c8

NorthC said:

No, she supported Prince on the NUDE Tour in 1990 until she was replaced by Lois Lane. The support act on the D&P tour was Carmen Electra until her act was dropped too and he finished the tour without a regular opening act. My memory of those years is still crystal clear!

Very true! I saw her opening 8 shows of the Nude tour (and Lois Lane 4 times) and I still can hear the chorus to "She has to be loved" in my head after all these years .

I was at the Berlin show but don't remember anything about Prince playing guitar .

And I saw Carmen Electra I think 4 times in 1992 (and was probably the only one who liked her show ) and don't recall who the opening acts for the other 8 shows in 1992 were that I saw - apart from some French(?) girls wearing rollerskates who I saw one time .

Thank you OldFriends4Sale, this is so heartwarming