Prince in Aussie kick-start
By Nui Te Koha
September 18, 2003


PRINCE will launch a comeback with a world tour starting in Melbourne.
The master of funk, pop and rock, will perform at Rod Laver Arena on October 21.

And in a coup for fans, 45-year-old Prince will perform his greatest hits before retiring those songs forever.

His major hits include 1999, Let's Go Crazy, When Doves Cry, Kiss and Purple Rain.

Prince last toured Australia in 1992, playing sell-out shows at the then National Tennis Centre and a secret gig at The Palace.

He swanned about town with two hired models, Diamond and Pearl, constantly at his side.

"When I'm on stage, the audience has come into my room," he said at the time. "What I want to do is create excitement and provoke people as much as I can."

Many critics have urged Prince to go back to basics and the Melbourne show will attract worldwide attention.

Promoter Paul Dainty and US promotions giant Clear Channel will announce the tour today.

"This has come like a bolt out of the blue for everyone," Dainty said late yesterday.

"Prince is renowned for doing everything suddenly and, in classic style, we will have Prince here very soon. He has committed to doing all the hits, so we are in for a long show of Prince classics."

In a typical Prince twist, he will scrap those songs from his live shows after this tour.

"Prince will perform his hits for the last time," Dainty confirmed.

In his rise to fame, Prince borrowed from Little Richard, James Brown and Jimi Hendrix and influenced a new generation of performers to fuse funk and rock.

His sexual image and risque live shows predated Madonna.

His decision to return to the spotlight as Prince, and perform the hits, is a landmark. He has spent the past decade in the commercial and critical wilderness.

In 1993, he changed his name to an symbol, then The Artist Formerly Known As Prince, to protest about his recording and publishing deal with Warner Bros.

He said the deal, which ended in 2000, amounted to slavery.

Prince tickets will go on sale on September 30.

In another summer tour developments, Christina Aguilera will play a third show, at Rod Laver Arena, on December 17. Tickets go on sale on September 29.


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What's his name's coming
September 18, 2003 - 1:48PM

Heading this way ... First Williams, now Prince.

Singer Prince - as famous for his bizarre name changes as his music - announced today he's coming to Australia for the first time in 10 years.

In a major coup for Australian music promoters, the pop icon announced he would kick off his world tour in Melbourne on October 21.

Prince has sold over 100 million records since he emerged as a musical force in the 1980s and this tour comes on the back of his new album, N.E.W.S.

Earlier this month Robbie Williams announced he was bringing 80s supergroup Duran Duran to Australia for two gigs in December.

Aussie music fans have already been treated to an impressive range of huge acts performing here this year, including Coldplay, Marilyn Manson, Blondie and the Dixie Chicks.