The Colonel & The Prince

In 1976, Donald Abrams and Prince Rogers Nelson were bandmates in Pepe Willie's 94 East. Abrams handled the lead vocals while Nelson held it down on lead guitar. Shortly before any recordings, Abrams left to join another band. Nelson can be heard on early recordings of 94 East playing alongside his then best friend, bassist Andre Anderson before leaving after securing a deal with Warner Brothers. Abrams would eventually change his stage name to Colonel and go on to take this new genre called house music to the world stage. Nelson would simply go by his first name Prince and became one of the greatest pop stars of all time. (Of course Andre Anderson became Andre Cymone). We lost both these legends this year. It's amazing to know that they crossed paths at early points in their careers.