I find it ironic that my favorite Artist associated with Prince is Judith Hill who happens 2 be the last one. She is a killer in live performances and i love all 4 of her studio albums.

Sheila.

Jill Jones

Judith Hill

Andy Allo

Lisa Coleman

mononeon

I'm deliberately not counting Mavis Staples,George Clinton, Larry Graham and Chacka Kahn because they were all established as huge talents when Prince was still waiting for the bus

Talented can be understood on many levels.

So let's say on 'many levels' (at the same time, or just one);

For me, without a doubt, Eric Leeds.

Then Wendy (guitar skills) & Lisa (influence, appearance, part of duo) & St. Paul Peterson (all instruments).

Not to forget; Jam & Lewis (just top producers and musicians) & Jesse Johnson,

continuing, Jill Jones (power vocalist), Dr. Fink (keys killer at the time) & Brownmark (bass funker), Susannah (Prince's muse and influence, appearance, twin sister, background singer, package-talents within the results of Prince's early work), Brenda Bennett (great vocalist),

the amazing John Blackwell (killer drummer), Sheila E.

For some reason I also always had a weak spot for Andre Cyone, Atlanta Bliss (in duo with eric Leeds), Bobby Z (great guy, sort of a bandleader in his own right).

And I have to add Sonny T, Hayes, Michael B, Morris Day.

I guess that leaves out Mavis and George, who were giants way before Prince signed them on Paisley Park Records.

Sheila E. did an impressive job on the SOTT and Lovesexy tours, no doubt. And of course she's an amazing percussionist. The first two albums are still amazing, even if they're Prince albums, her performances on them are superb.

It's a question hard to answer, because "associated" isn't easy to define in the Prince world, I guess that would leave out his band members? Let's not forget that The Revolution was at some point the "baddest band in the universe", an hyperbole well deserved given the phenomenal live and studio performances we have from ’85/86. Not to mention we owe them "Purple Rain" the song! Without them it would have been a fine stadium ballad, but not the eternal anthem it is.

The early nineties NPG is mind-blowing, Miko and Levi are impressive, John Blackwell is a natural, and so are Ida and Rhonda. But do they qualify for "associated"?


I would go with Eric Leeds as well. Like Prince, his virtuosity has always been in the service of feeling, and his presence, expressivity and originality are undeniable. His contribution, and his pairing with Atlanta Bliss are engraved for the ages. These two could sound like a whole horns section.

If we extend that to Jam & Lewis, they may stand on the very top of the list, given their massive legacy to the pop realm. They invented a sound that moved from Prince's influence to become something entirely of their own.
Let's not forget that Morris and Jessie were held in high opinion by Prince himself, not to mention his infamous quote about The Time regarding their 1999 tour performances.


Jill could have had a phenomenal career... It truly is a difficult question, because of Prince's tendency to phagocitate every burgeoning talent. We'll never know how St. Paul would have blossomed, but he is definitely an accomplished musician and didn't need Prince's help to be one.

[Edited 9/21/25 20:14pm]

fielder said:

Of the people trying to have solo carriers after Prince, well Jesse Johnson and Wendy & Lisa excited me the most in the late 80s. Their then 3 solo albums each were very good. But I assume they had 3 record deals, so when those expired, they didn't get renewed because they didn't sell enough to satisfy their record companies. But both acts made great albums again in the late 90s. I think the problem with Wendy & Lisa is their music wasn't in the style of the music getting radio play at the time. They were more indie, like Sheryl Crow who came after.

Funny no-one mentions Taja Sevelle - I loved her record when it came out, Love Is Contagious is such a beautiful song...

I guess not really an associated artist, as Prince was not so heavily involved in her record (at least that what I understood), but of course it is released on Paisley Park

And the Jill Jones record is a masterpiece, but this was already mentioned

Gooddoctor23 said:

I find it ironic that my favorite Artist associated with Prince is Judith Hill who happens 2 be the last one. She is a killer in live performances and i love all 4 of her studio albums.

Lisa Coleman

Jam and Lewis would be at the top, but they got the hell out of there pretty early on. Beyond that, Wendy and Lisa for sure -- "Waterfall" and "Honeymoon Express" are great songs. I'd also give Andre Cymone a nod -- he's done some excellent work, and if he indeed did write "Do Me Baby" he struck gold at least once.

[Edited 9/30/25 19:52pm]

paraded said:

Jam and Lewis would be at the top, but they got the hell out of there pretty early on. Beyond that, Wendy and Lisa for sure -- "Waterfall" and "Honeymoon Express" are great songs. I'd also give Andre Cymone a nod -- he's done some excellent work, and if he indeed did write "Do Me Baby" he struck gold at least once.

And more than twice with Jody Waitley.

Krid said:

Funny no-one mentions Taja Sevelle - I loved her record when it came out, Love Is Contagious is such a beautiful song...

I guess not really an associated artist, as Prince was not so heavily involved in her record (at least that what I understood), but of course it is released on Paisley Park

And the Jill Jones record is a masterpiece, but this was already mentioned

Yeah, but it's a guilty pleasure.
Most of the album is mainstream pop, not bad, but not memorable either.

She's a fine singer, but it could be argued that sometimes the Whining Lolita delivery can get on one's nerves (still beats Dale Bozzio, who makes you wanna plant forks in your ears after a minute). The album's ballads are sweet, again the production and the arrangements being nothing special, they suffer from the lack of inventivity.

Found memories of "If I Could Get Your Attention", yet another bubblegum pop gem, which is a highlight.

Ah, the Paisley Park Records debacle... At the times, it was truly expensive for a kid to buy a single for the price of a LP. It started so well though: The Family album is still a masterpiece. Madhouse's 8 and Jill's album were the perfect companions to SOTT's post-traumatic summer concert convalescence.

One had to endure a bunch of mediocre songs, until a small topaze was found, and sometimes you could even unearth a big fat diamond.

Other times, it was just a pile of hot steaming crap.
Or self-indulgent to the point of cringe, in spite of redeeming qualities.


You just when you thought the genius was back in the bottle, that's when it all up and flew away.
Time's a bitch indeed.

BonnieC said:

Andre

Wendy & Lisa

Jimmy & Terry

Sheila

Eric Leeds

Jill Jones

John Blackwell

Sonny T

Michael B

I think the Son of Prince is the most talented Prince associated artist.

[Edited 10/3/25 15:34pm]

One artist who rarely gets mentioned in these conversations is Sheena Easton. To some degree, I understand why. Her career wasn't linked as closely to him as the other artists in the dicussion. Also, she's primiarly known as a vocalist, and some people don't rank that as highly as instrumentalists.

But with all of that said, I think Prince gave her some really strong material and she did good work with it. She's not anywhere the most talented artist he worked with, but I believe she deserves a mention.

lurker316 said:

One artist who rarely gets mentioned in these conversations is Sheena Easton. To some degree, I understand why. Her career wasn't linked as closely to him as the other artists in the dicussion. Also, she's primiarly known as a vocalist, and some people don't rank that as highly as instrumentalists.

But with all of that said, I think Prince gave her some really strong material and she did good work with it. She's not anywhere the most talented artist he worked with, but I believe she deserves a mention.

I can understand accepting just one song, because you don't want your whole album sounding like a Prince record.

But somehow with Prince it rarely works. Manic Monday, Love Thy Will Be Done, Nothing Compares 2 U, are exceptions. The rest of the time, Prince's presence in the composition, in the arrangements, is so massive that the artist is either sucked in or splattered over Prince's music.

I mean, kudos to Madonna to incorporate "Love Song" in an album, because it's one weird moment when all of a sudden it's 1988 Prince experimenting in the studio, and then it's Madonna again.


I think Sheena deserved a whole album, like Sheila and Jill.
But a song here and there, you get collages.

I've been through Martika's album in full, well, there are niceties,
but nothing truly astounding except "Spirit" and "Love Thy...".
I'm afraid it would be the same with anyone of Sheena's albums.
Pop FM has to be risk-taking to grab my attention.

Jam and Lewis. How can it be anyone else? Maybe Sheila?

Whilst you can't deny the talent of Jam & Lewis and Jesse, it's interesting to me how the first fDeluxe album is miles better than Condensate.

Eric Leeds especially is an incredible musician, his choice of notes always pricks my ears up on end.

MattyJam said:

Whilst you can't deny the talent of Jam & Lewis and Jesse, it's interesting to me how the first fDeluxe album is miles better than Condensate.

Eric Leeds especially is an incredible musician, his choice of notes always pricks my ears up on end.

Eric is a great, great melodist.

Like Prince, they have this natural talent for counterpoint, they can harmonize in real time while making secondary parts truly melodic, and their timing, their fills and silences are so fluid and nervous. And So they can jump from melody to voicing at will, and the brain is free to travel in the arrangements underneath.

Sh*t, it all comes to recording live in hte studio, in the end.
Prince was always right about that.
And boy can Eric play live!

Sheila & Tevin. Sheila is super a super talented percutionist obviously, but she must've been awesome at taking direction as well. There must be a reason Prince kept her around so long. She managed to rack up more than a couple of decent hits with Prince and seems to stand the test of time in an ever changing music industry. Tevin Campbell's unique vocal abilities are highly recognizable and made an incredible impact for a child singer in an adult based industry.

luv2tha99s said:

Sheila in her prime. Her voice isn't that great but it never bothered me that she wasn't an amazing singer. She seemed exotic and cool when she came out with the glamorous life and subsequently Romance 1600. When I saw her in the half-legged leotard during the sign of the times and love sexy eras I felt even deeper in love.

definitely Sheila. She was intriguing and had that certain aura. Plus she wasn't too terrible of an actress in Krush Groove. multi-talented for sure!

I dont think any of the folks u neamed has better albums than Judith Hill.

Gooddoctor23 said:

ShellyMcG said:

Gooddoctor23 said:

I dont think any of the folks u neamed has better albums than Judith Hill.

I guess it comes down to personal choice but I think Jesse Johnson's Verbal Penetration album is miles better than anything Judith Hill has done. That being said, I've only actually heard Back In Time and Golden Child (enjoyed both) but Verbal Penetration kicks their asses.

Her 4 albums are killer........at least 2 me.