Editing Prairie Prince

{{Use American English|date=October 2023}}
{{blp refimprove|date=October 2021}}
{{Short description|American drummer}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2023}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name              = Prairie Prince
| image             = Prairie Prince photo by Jim Snyder.jpg
| caption           = Prairie Prince drumming during Todd Rundgren's "A Wizard, a True Star Tour" in San Francisco, 2009
| background        = non_vocal_instrumentalist
| birth_name        = Charles Lempriere Prince
| birth_date        = {{birth date and age|1950|05|07}}
| birth_place       = [[Charlotte, North Carolina]], U.S.
| genre             = [[Rock music|Rock]]
| occupation        = Drummer
| years_active      = 1970s–present
| current_member_of = [[The Tubes]]<ref>{{Cite web |last=Drummer |first=Modern |date=May 1, 2006 |title=Prairie Prince: An Interview |url=https://www.moderndrummer.com/2006/05/prairie-prince/ |access-date=February 3, 2023 |website=Modern Drummer Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref>
| past_member_of    = {{flatlist|
* [[Journey (band)|Journey]]<ref>{{Citation |title=Prairie Prince – Journey's Forgotten Founder | date=July 5, 2020 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcdZIG-DXK8 |language=en-GB |access-date=February 3, 2023}}</ref>
* [[Todd Rundgren]]<ref>{{Citation |last=Bergman |first=Jeff |title=Prairie Prince |date=April 17, 2009 |url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffbpictures/3461543360/ |access-date=February 3, 2023}}</ref>
* [[Jefferson Starship]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bio – Prairie Prince |url=https://prairieprince.com/bio/|website=Prairieprince.com |access-date=February 3, 2023 |language=en-US}}</ref>
* [[The New Cars]]<ref>{{Cite web|website=Commons.wikimedia.org |title=English: Prairie Prince performs with The New Cars at the Nokia Theater in Dallas on May 14, 2006|date=May 14, 2006 |url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Prairie-prince-with-the-new-cars.jpg |access-date=February 3, 2023}}</ref>
* [[Neil Hamburger]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Neil Hamburger: Western Music and Variety |url=https://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/neil-hamburger-western-music-and-variety/1000320085/ |access-date=February 3, 2023 |website=TVGuide.com |language=en}}</ref>
* [[Richard Marx]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Release "Richard Marx" by Richard Marx |url=https://musicbrainz.org/release/b3f433e9-1b7d-4a4f-b61b-140d83581451 |access-date=February 3, 2023 |website=Musicbrainz.org}}</ref>
}}
| website           = {{URL|prairieprince.com}}
}}

'''Charles Lempriere''' "'''Prairie'''" '''Prince''' (born May 7, 1950) is an American drummer and visual artist. He came to prominence in the 1970s as a member of the San Francisco–based rock group [[The Tubes]], was a member of [[Jefferson Starship]] from 1992 to 2008 and has worked with a wide range of other performers as a [[session musician]].

== Career ==
Prince is a member of [[The Tubes]] and was a founding member of [[Journey (band)|Journey]] along with [[Neal Schon]] and [[Gregg Rolie]]. However, he quit Journey after a few months before they made any recordings.

He has subsequently worked with [[Chris Isaak]] (on his first four albums), [[Todd Rundgren]], [[Brian Eno]], [[David Byrne]], [[XTC]], [[Tom Waits]], [[Paul Kantner]], [[George Harrison]], [[Dick Dale]], [[Glenn Frey]], [[Richard Marx]], [[Bill Spooner]], [[Neil Hamburger]], [[John Fogerty]], [[Nicky Hopkins]], [[Tommy Bolin]], [[Phil Lesh]], [[Chris von Sneidern]], John Ferenzik, Singer at Large Johnny J. Blair, [[The Gilmour Project]], [[Negativland]] and former Tubes and [[Grateful Dead]] keyboardist [[Vince Welnick]].<ref name=Allmusic />

Prince collaborated with [[Ross Valory]], bassist and founding member of Journey, on a line of patented<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://patents.google.com/patent/US20120204312/en|title=Novelty shirt|website=Patents.google.com|access-date=May 2, 2023}}</ref> eco-friendly, US-made hoodie shirts called MouthMan, where graphic designs of jaws and teeth on the sleeves form a mouth when the wearer "hugs himself".

In 2006, he toured with [[The New Cars]] including [[Todd Rundgren]], bassist [[Kasim Sulton]] (Rundgren's [[Utopia (band)|Utopia]] bandmate), and original [[The Cars]] guitarist [[Elliot Easton]] and keyboardist [[Greg Hawkes]]. He continues to play with The Tubes and Todd Rundgren.

He was an original member of the reformed [[Jefferson Starship]], known as "Jefferson Starship – The Next Generation" in 1992 and appears on both that band's studio albums (the 1999 release ''[[Windows of Heaven (album)|Windows of Heaven]]'' and the 2008 release, ''[[Jefferson's Tree of Liberty]]''), along with numerous live albums. Prince announced in early 2008 that he was leaving the band on amicable terms and remains available for international performances.

He is a sought-after session musician{{cn|date=November 2023}} and played drums and percussion on all tracks of [[Chuck Prophet]]'s 2012 release ''Temple Beautiful'' and seven of 12 tracks on Prophet's 2014's ''Night Surfer''.

As an artist he designed the [[album cover]] [[Cover art|artwork]] for many artists including The Tubes, Todd Rundgren (1981 album ''[[Healing (Todd Rundgren album)|Healing]]''), Journey, Lyle Workman and Vince Welnick's 1998 album ''[[Missing Man Formation (album)|Missing Man Formation]]'', among many others.{{cn|date=November 2023}} Along with his creative partner and fellow former Tube [[Michael Cotten]], he has created numerous set designs for major artists including [[Michael Jackson]], [[Billy Joel]], [[Bette Midler]], [[N'Sync]], [[Shania Twain]], [[Styx (band)|Styx]], The Tubes and Todd Rundgren. Prince and Cotten have teamed up with choreographer [[Kenny Ortega]] on several special events including the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, the [[Super Bowl XXX]] halftime show (which featured [[Diana Ross]] singing "Take Me Higher" as she was lifted from the field in a helicopter), Michael Jackson's "This is It" concert, and Shania Twain's residency, ''Shania: Still the One'', at [[Caesars Palace]] in Las Vegas, Nevada.{{cn|date=November 2023}}

== Personal life ==
Prince lived with fellow Tubes member [[Re Styles]] from 1973 until the early 1990s. In a 2006 interview with ''Modern Drummer'' magazine's Billy Amendola, he referred to singer Diana Mangano as his wife, adding they were not formally married but had been together for a decade.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.moderndrummer.com/2006/05/prairie-prince/|title=Prairie Prince: An Interview|website=Moderndrummer.com|date=May 1, 2006|access-date=May 2, 2023}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[The Nuclear Beauty Parlor#Activities|The Nuclear Beauty Parlor§Activities]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name=Allmusic>[{{Allmusic|class=artist|id=p115616/credits|pure_url=yes}} Prairie Prince credits] at [[AllMusic]]</ref>
}}

== External links ==
{{cc}}
*{{Official website|http://www.prairieprince.com/}}
*[http://www.thetubes.com/ The Tubes official website]
*[http://www.blogtalkradio.com/runt/2007/10/18/Special-guest-Prairie-Prince Prairie Prince audio interview on RundgrenRadio.com 2007]
*[http://www.blogtalkradio.com/runt/2009/02/04/Rundgren-Radio Prairie Prince audio interview on RundgrenRadio.com 2009]
*{{Discogs artist|Prairie Prince}}
*{{IMDb name|0697704}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-bef|before=none}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Journey (band)|Journey drummer]]|years=1973}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Aynsley Dunbar]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Journey}}
{{The Cars}}
{{Blue Cheer}}
{{The Tubes}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prince, Prairie}}
[[Category:1950 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American rock drummers]]
[[Category:Musicians from Charlotte, North Carolina]]
[[Category:Journey (band) members]]
[[Category:The Tubes members]]
[[Category:Jefferson Starship members]]
[[Category:The New Cars members]]
[[Category:American album-cover and concert-poster artists]]
[[Category:Utopia (American band) members]]
[[Category:20th-century American drummers]]
[[Category:21st-century American drummers]]
[[Category:American male drummers]]
[[Category:Drummers from North Carolina]]