Jill Jones
Who the hell is Jill Jones?
Well, she was a backup singer for R&B star Teena Marie back at the start of The Eighties, and this is exactly how she met Prince during his 1980 Dirty Mind tour. She was quickly recruited as a backing singer for The Revolution itself, adding backing vocals to several songs on 1999 and appearing in the videos for "1999" and "Little Red Corvette". She had a bit part as a waitress in Purple Rain and a cameo in its shittier sequel Graffiti Bridge, in a scene where she takes off an undergarment to end a conflict with Prince. Squ- wait, WTF? Oh, wait, this is the guy who came up with the idea for Vanity 6. Nevermind.
Prince repaid her contributions to 1999 by producing her solo album, Jill Jones, which was released in 1987. Once again, he did everything and wrote all the songs and Jones merely had to put vocals on top. However, this album gained actual positive reviews from critics, mainly because Jones actually had vocal talent and could sing, as opposed to the competent vocals of Vanity and Apollonia, or the pleasant-but-bland vocals of Sheila E. and The Family.
After this, Jones did... well, nothing really. A second album got as far as the demo stage before being cancelled. She did tour with Chic in 1996 though. She finally emerged with a new, completely Prince-less pop-rock album in 2001.
- Jill Jones (1987)
- Two (2001)
- Living for the Weekend (2009)