The Minneapolis Star Tribute reports that Bobby Z (aka Bobby Rivkin), the musician and producer most known as being the drummer for R&B megastar Prince, has had a heart attack and is in critical condition. He is resting in a Minneapolis hospital
Rivkin met Prince in the late 1970s as Prince was forming his first band for touring. Rivkin's stage name, Bobby Z., was derived from the nickname "Butzie" his grandmother used to call him.
The Minneapolis Star Tribute reports that Bobby Z (aka Bobby Rivkin), the musician and producer most known as being the drummer for R&B megastar Prince, has had a heart attack and is in critical condition. He is resting in a Minneapolis hospital
Rivkin met Prince in the late 1970s as Prince was forming his first band for touring. Rivkin's stage name, Bobby Z., was derived from the nickname "Butzie" his grandmother used to call him.
Prince was adamant about having a white drummer in an effort to have a racially diverse band, much akin to Sly and the Family Stone. Rivkin was acknowledged in Prince's self-titled album as being a "heaven-sent" helper. By the time the 1999 album was released, Prince was relying more and more on electronic drums and Rivkin had to adapt his style to operate these in concert. In 1986 when Wendy & Lisa left The Revolution, Prince also took the opportunity to replace Rivkin with Sheila E, but the split was amicable.
Bobby Z also produced some tracks for Boy George's 1988 album, 'Tense Nervous Headache'. Rivkin helped Wendy and Lisa on their debut album and even released his own album in 1989 (which included a re-recorded version of "River Run Dry" that he wrote for The Family). Rivkin has since focused more on producing for the recently launched record label branch of Copycats media.
Portions of this article are licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Bobby Z.
[Note: thanks to SoulTracker Sgt. Gary for the heads up on this]
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