The Purple One finally announces shows in London, Glasgow and Birmingham
Get ready, Prince fans - His Royal Badness has finally announced details of his intimate and stripped back tour. Full dates and details are below, with tickets on sale at 10am.
UPDATE: Ticket sales have been postponed
The Purple One got us all pretty excited at the weekend when he revealed that his 'Prince Spotlight: Piano & A Microphone' tour would see him stripped back with just a piano, and hitting the road to perform throughout the UK and Europe over the next two months.
Now, UK dates have been revealed - with the '1999' star heading to London, Glasgow and Birmingham, including matinee and evening shows.
The dates of Prince's Spotlight: Piano & A Microphone UK tour are as follows. Tickets go on sale at 10am on Friday 13 November and are available here.
Prince will play:
Friday 27 November - Glasgow Royal Concert Hall - shows at 5pm + 9pm
Sunday 29 November - London Theatre Royal Drury Lane - shows at 3pm + 7pm
Tuesday 1 December - Birmingham Symphony Hall - shows at 5pm + 9pm
MORE: Read our interview with Prince producer Joshua Welton here
"Why do this now? For several reasons," Prince is said to have told the crowd at a press conference in his Paisley Park home. "For starters it is a challenge. I rarely get bad reviews because this is something that's been perfected for over 30 years. You have to try new things. With the piano it is more naked, more pure. You can see exactly what you get."
Prince dropped his latest album HIT N RUN, exclusively via Tidal earlier this year.
It's going to be EPIC: His Royal Badness is renowned for his gigs lasting upwards on three hours long, often until the sun rises - so much so that at a recent show for fans at his Paisley Park home, he told guests to come in their pyjamas and expect breakfast to be served. What a guy.
Prepare to party: During his last UK gig at Hop Farm festival, the Purple One effortlessly slipped in glorious renditions of songs by Michael Jackson, Bob Dylan, Wild Cherry, Sly and the Family Stone and The Beatles. He embodies all that is truly great about the best of everything in pop, rock, soul, funk, gospel and more - and makes every gig feel like the best wedding disco EVER. A celebration of REAL music.
It could be very intimate: Last year, a source told The Sun newspaper: "Prince has gone back to basics this year, playing in front of 300 people at the SXSW festival in Texas. He’s now on a US tour of small club shows and wants to do something similar in the UK later in the new year. It’s still to be decided if he’ll stay at one small venue and play 20 or more gigs or split his time between a few places around the country. Prince has asked his team to find unusual venues his fans wouldn't expect him to play."
Expect some new material: Yup, he's dropping his upcoming 36th (THIRTY SIXTH!) album Plectrum Electrum later this year.
It's going to rock: His new band 3rdEyeGirl have injected the Kiss star with a hard rush of adrenaline, making his new material like 'Screwdriver', 'Fixurlifeup' and 'Da Bourgeoisie' much rockier and with a filthy funk vibe. We wouldn't have it any other way.
ANTHEM AFTER ANTHEM AFTER ANTHEM: Who else boasts a catalogue with as many stone-cold feel-good classics as Prince? No one, that's who. He's got 'Kiss', 'Raspberry Beret', 'Gold', 'Little Red Corvette', 'Purple Rain', 'Let's Go Crazy'....we could go on. Hell, he may even crack out 'Pussy Control'.
Prepare to lose your voice: "Dearly beloved - we are gathered here today to get through this thing called 'life'. Electric word 'life', it means forever and that's a mighty long time but I'm here to tell you, there's something else..."
The man has exquisite banter: It's true, there are few finer showmen in the business. Coming from the James Brown old school of how to work a crowd properly, Mr Prince Rogers Nelson has the catty chat to go with his feline moves.
He's a bloody icon: Bowie won't tour, Jacko has sadly departed this Earth, Sir Paul McCartney plays everywhere all the time and Madonna just wants to shake her bits into old aged embarrassment. Prince however, is the living, breathing embodiment of pop music. He's a hero, so make sure you give him a hero's welcome when he touches down in London.
Photo: Press