Eric Leeds

Lore & Background

Leeds was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the son of a retailer. He moved to Richmond, Virginia, at the age of seven, where he lived from 1959 to 1966, and then moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, at the age of fourteen, where he attended junior high school and college. Leeds lived in Pittsburgh for eighteen years and started a music career there. He studied saxophone with mentor Eric Kloss, who had signed to Prestige Records at the age of sixteen. He attended Duquesne University. Leeds' brother, Alan Leeds, was the tour manager for Prince in the early 1980s and introduced his brother to Prince not long after the Purple Rain tour. Prince was impressed by Leeds' talents and featured him in the band The Family in 1985. The band was short-lived, but Prince invited Leeds to join his band for the Parade tour, after The Revolution had disbanded. Leeds brought along long-time friend Matt Blistan, who was renamed Atlanta Bliss by Prince, as part of this post-Revolution lineup. Prince retained Leeds and Bliss for his succeeding band and used their talents greatly over his next three albums. Bliss left the fold in 1989 but Leeds lent his talents to Madhouse (1987–1993) and various Prince projects throughout the years. In 1991, Leeds released the album Times Squared on Prince's Paisley Park Records, which incorporated rock, pop and jazz sounds. The tracks that Leeds chose for the album were recorded by Prince and Leeds between 1985 and 1988. A second album, entitled Things Left Unsaid, was released in 1993 with one Prince contribution. The Family reunited in 2007 under the name fDeluxe with all original members (except Jerome Benton), including Leeds. In 2012, they released their album, Gaslight, independently.

In Their Own Story

The Mosh Pit basement was warm and smelled of rosin and old carpet. It was past two a.m., and the band was running through a track for what would eventually become a single. Prince sat cross-legged on an amp, humming a counter-melody, eyes half-closed. He looked up, pointed at Leeds, and gave a small nod. *Your turn.*

Leeds lifted the sax. The room went quiet in the way it always did—Wendy's fingers left the keys, Darryl's bass line held steady but softened, Lisa's guitar faded to a shimmer. He played a long, low note that seemed to come from the floorboards, then climbed, spiraling through a phrase that sounded like a question no one had asked yet. Prince opened his eyes, smiled, and said nothing. He just nodded again. The track was done. The band exhaled. Outside, Minneapolis was still dark, but inside, something had been finished that couldn't be undone.

Reader's Guide

Eric Leeds is a saxophone player (baritone sax in his early band) known for his work with Prince. He joined The Revolution for the Parade tour, not earlier. He did not appear in the film Purple Rain. His first Prince album appearance is Parade (1986), not Purple Rain. He is not a founding member of The Revolution.

Did You Know?

• He studied saxophone with mentor Eric Kloss, who signed to Prestige Records at age sixteen.
• Leeds' brother Alan was Prince's tour manager and introduced Eric to Prince after the Purple Rain tour.
• Leeds brought Matt Blistan (renamed Atlanta Bliss by Prince) into Prince's post-Revolution band.
• His solo album Times Squared was released on Prince's Paisley Park Records in 1991.