OLD FLAMES
Carmen Electra reflects on her relationship with Prince and the call that changed everything
Prince gave her the name ‘Carmen Electra’
Carmen Electra is reflecting on her life and success. The pop culture icon has found a resurgence this year, and at 51 years old has had many experiences, and relationships, like with the one and only Prince.
Born, Tara Leigh Patrick she was Prince’s muse and it was the “Purple Rain” singer who gave her the name “Carmen Electra.” Talking to Vanity Fair, she said she met him at his home when she was a teenager after Robin Power spotted her in a nightclub in LA. She described Prince as “mysterious” when he first saw him standing in a doorway.
Power was casting a Prince-produced all-girl band at the time, and Prince invited her to perform vocal exercises. But then he left a note asking her to watch movies. “I wanted to be in this band, but I didn’t want to have an intimate relationship,” she told the outlet. “I didn’t feel that for him.”
Electra didn’t make the band but Prince influenced her career in other ways. The “When Doves Cry” singer negotiated Electra out of a Captiral demo deal in 1991 so she can live with him and record as a solo artist in Minneapolis. He redesignated songs for Electra that he wrote for other people, and commissioned her career with photoshoots, custom-made outfits, and direction.
It was during this time that Electra said she “fell in love with him” but noted how the singer was “very controlling with artists and his music.” “He started giving me music he wrote for other people. If I had known, I would have said no,” she explained.
Electra wasn’t the only woman there, but she was at the top. She said she slept in full hair and makeup with heels near the bed in case he ever stopped by. While he told her she was his only girlfriend, the other women around and her failed musical debut prompted her to leave. He offered her a condo in LA with security, but Electra decided to tackle the big city alone.
Although confident and brave, the Playboy model said she became “pretty much homeless” overnight. She was in an abusive relationship, and after she was held and gunpoint she decided to call Prince.”‘Listen, I’m in an abusive relationship. I don’t have any money. I’m hungry,” she recalled telling him.
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The trailblazer went on to offer her a spot at Erotic City, a weekly dance show at his Hollywood nightclub Glam Slam. She made around $100 a week and it led to her first collaboration with Playboy in 1996 as a celebrity pictorial model.
She went on to star in independent movies, became the host of Singled Out, and got the call from Baywatch in 1996, and the rest is herstory.
Althought they never got the chance, before Prince died on April 21, 2016, she said they had plans to reunite in the studio.
