fDeluxe

Known formerly as four-fifths of <a href="spotify:artist:20rHmvHNs5o6Q2vsLN0YQz">the Family</a>, fDeluxe consists of Jellybean Johnson, <a href="spotify:artist:7bNJ8B2kMi9urGEfKPsBGP">Eric Leeds</a>, Susannah Melvoin, and Paul "St. Paul" Peterson. Established by <a href="spotify:artist:5a2EaR3hamoenG9rDuVn8j">Prince</a> and signed to his <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Warner%22">Warner</a>-supported <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Paisley+Park%22">Paisley Park</a> label, the band, which also featured Jerome Benton, released a self-titled album in 1985 that featured the Top Ten R&B hit "The Screams of Passion" and the original recorded version of "Nothing Compares 2 U." They played one gig that August, at Minneapolis' First Avenue club, and split. <a href="spotify:artist:7bNJ8B2kMi9urGEfKPsBGP">Leeds</a>, Melvoin, and Benton then linked up with <a href="spotify:artist:6C3ZGU59R9XhxQ1KRU5Q1O">Prince and the Revolution</a>. Johnson moved on to work with then-former <a href="spotify:artist:1EgGVV9cmmlLEsFlunjmvv">Time</a> bandmates <a href="spotify:artist:4ZaXj4ZrqscgpfqJolMfib">Jimmy Jam</a> and Terry Lewis, and Peterson went solo.

In the early 2000s, after each member's discography had lengthened through those and other accomplished projects, <a href="spotify:artist:20rHmvHNs5o6Q2vsLN0YQz">the Family</a>, minus Benton, reconvened for one-off gigs prompted by <a href="spotify:artist:6OQrOpxSIfPai3cFaN4v4P">Sheila E.</a> and superfan <a href="spotify:artist:1h2OVSKRdJHnVqyCKqCLkf">Questlove</a>. Several years later, they fully reactivated as fDeluxe and recorded the album Gaslight, a refined set of soul, funk, and rock released in 2011 on the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Ropeadope%22">Ropeadope</a> label. They also resumed as a performing act and continued studio work, as heard on the self-released covers album A.M. Static (2014) and Live & Tight as a Funk Fiends' Fix (also 2014). On May 4, 2016, seven hours and 13 days after the death of <a href="spotify:artist:5a2EaR3hamoenG9rDuVn8j">Prince</a>, fDeluxe premiered a new recording of "Nothing Compares 2 U" in tribute to their mentor. ~ Andy Kellman, Rovi