Good morning Los Angeles, and congratulations: On last night's episode of Lopez Tonight, Prince called in to reveal he'll kick off a 21-date residency at the Forum starting April 14th. The full details of the L.A. leg of Prince's tour haven't been announced yet, but Prince did promise to perform on Lopez Tonight next Wednesday, April 13th to celebrate this historic event. The giant residency matches Prince's own personal record that he set after three weeks of sold-out shows at London's O2 Arena. Prince later released a book called 21 Nights to document the feat.
The Amp caught one of Prince's Welcome 2 America shows in December during his multi-night stand at New York's Madison Square Garden, and it was easily one of the best concerts we saw in 2010. Anyone concerned that Prince spends the majority of the night onstage jamming out and focusing on his less-than-stellar recent albums like 20Ten and Guitar should rest easy and buy tickets immediately: The Welcome 2 America shows were an avalanche of Prince's hits after hits after hits. Just look at that monster set list.
Like his other Welcome 2 America shows, Prince will be backed by his New Power Generation and each show will feature "special guests." When Prince invaded the Big Apple a few months back, he brought along Janelle Monáe, Cee Lo Green, Graham Central Station, Sheila E, and many more. Given the intimacy of Prince's stage design, each show also has the potential to feature some unexpected guests; Cyndi Lauper came out of the crowd and onto the microphone during our show, while Kim Kardashian was infamously booted off the stage by Prince during an awkward dance scene.
The last time Prince performed at the Forum, back on February 23rd, 1985, the surprise special guests on "Baby, I'm a Star" were Madonna and Bruce Springsteen. So, sequel? The Purple One and the Material Girl did recently end their non-existent feud...