He was known by many names throughout his life: The Purple One, Christopher, Alexander Nevermind, The Artist Formerly Known As Prince, The Artist Formerly Known As The Artist Formerly Known As Prince, and still more. Such a giant really needs only one word to be instantly remembered with fondness and awe: Prince. Millions across the world are mourning his death, hosting candlelit vigils, but they're celebrating, too. Celebrating the life and legend of Prince, huge crowds have been gathering into outdoor dance parties and "Purple Rain" is being listened to on repeat. The cast of hit Broadway musical Hamilton honored the legendary performer with a dance-off; check it out via The Los Angeles Times. Let's celebrate, too. Let's relive his 2007 Super Bowl Halftime Show performance—one of the best Halftime Shows ever—and look back on his timeless concert tours, many of which featured production and/or lighting design by LeRoy Bennett. Of his 25+ tours, Live Design has gathered images from 11, spanning 35 years from 1980 to 2015. Click to each successive page for the next tour, and remember The Purple One.
Dirty Mind Tour, 1980-81
Dirty Mind Tour supported Prince's third album of the same name. LeRoy Bennett designed the lighting.
Purple Rain Tour, 1984-5
Purple Rain Tour followed up his sixth studio album—which has gone platinum 13 times over, according to RIAA—and his 1984 film debut, Purple Rain, which won an Academy Award for Best Original Score. Prince won an Oscar for Best Original Song for "Purple Rain." LeRoy Bennett was the production and lighting designer for the tour as well as the live performance for the movie.
Parade Tour, 1986
Parade Tour was Prince's first full tour of Europe. Production and lighting design were by LeRoy Bennett.
Sign O' The Times Tour, 1987
Sign O' The Times Tour was strictly a European tour, which took place after Prince's split with The Revolution and marked the debut of his new band, Lovesexy Band. LeRoy Bennett designed the production and lighting.
Lovesexy Tour, 1988-89
With production/lighting design by LeRoy Bennett, Lovesexy Tour was in support of platinum album, Lovesexy.
Nude Tour, 1990
Nude Tour was a greatest hits tour, which did not reach the United States. The tour featured production and lighting design by LeRoy Bennett.
Act I And Act II Tour, 1993
Act I was the American leg of the tour, and Act II the European leg.
The Ultimate Live Experience Tour, 1995-1996
Promoting The Gold Experience album, The Ultimate Live Experience was a short European tour.
Musicology Live 2004ever, 2004
In 2004, Prince toured North America to promote his Musicology album.
Welcome 2, 2010-2012
Welcome 2 toured North America, Europe, and Australia. The tour title changed according to which continent where that particular leg was located.
HITnRun Tour, 2014-15
Prince toured in 2015 with all-female band 3rdEyeGirl, with design by Demfis Fyssicopulos, video and lighting by Chaos Visual Productions, and content by Roger Staub. Learn more about the design here.