'Bridesmaids' star's Prince cover band to play benefit at First Avenue
Princess, the brainchild of the "Bridesmaids" and "Saturday Night Live" star Maya Rudolph and her college friend, Gretchen Lieberum, is among the acts set to play at Bobby Z's 2nd Benefit 2 Celebrate Life concert Saturday night at First Avenue.
Rudolph told the Star Tribune's Jon Bream that she "weirdly in denial," her "body is in shock" and "I can't actually picture that I’m going to be on the First Avenue stage."
The sound of Princess is 1980s Prince, with such songs as "Controversy," "Darling Nikki" and bit of dialogue from "Purple Rain" dialogue mixed in.
Rudolph, the daughter of late "Lovin' You" singer Minnie Riperton and producer Dick Rudolph, said she's a lifelong fan of Prince and first saw The Purple One in concert when she was 14. She met Prince for the first time after he played "SNL" in 2005.
Bobby Z, whose real name is Robert Rivkin, is staging the second benefit at First Avenue on the second anniversary of his near-fatal heart attack.
The concert, presented in partnership with the American Heart Association, will help raise money for the former Prince and the Revolution drummer's My Purple Heart organization.
The benefit concert will also feature Questlove and Minnesota native and "The Voice" top five finalist Nicholas David.