André Cymone (born Andre Simon Anderson; June 27, 1958) is an American bassist, songwriter and record producer. Cymone was a bass guitarist for

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...

's touring band, pre-

Revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

. Cymone began a solo career in 1981. His song, "The Dance Electric" (written by Prince), reached #10 on the R&B charts in 1985. Cymone later co-wrote and produced hit songs for other acts, including his then wife

Jody Watley Jody Vanessa Watley (born January 30, 1959) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and artist,USA Today (February 16, 1996), Best Bets: Albums Jody Watley Greatest Hits, "Few singers fired up the disco like Jody Watley who set trends ...

's "

Looking for a New Love "Looking for a New Love" is a song by American dance-pop singer Jody Watley. It was released in January 1987 as the first single from her eponymous debut album. The song became one of the biggest pop and R&B singles of 1987. Watley re-recorded ...

" and " Real Love". Cymone's stage name comes from a variation of his

middle name In various cultures, a middle name is a portion of a personal name that is written between the person's first given name and their surname. A middle name is often abbreviated and is then called middle initial or just initial. A person may be ...

, Simon.

Biography

Early years

Cymone was born in

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

, United States. The son of Fred Anderson, a musician, and Bernadette, a

social worker Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social work ...

, Cymone was the youngest of six children. The Anderson home soon had an additional member – a young

who left his own home due to conflicts with his father. Prince's cousin Charles Smith started the band Grand Central and later invited Cymone. The band included Cymone's sister Linda and

Morris Day Morris E. Day (born December 13, 1956) is an American musician and songwriter. He is best known as the lead singer of The Time. Music career Morris Day is best known as the lead singer of The Time, a group associated with Prince. Day and Pri ...

— they later changed their name to Champagne due to being confused with the funk band

Graham Central Station Graham Central Station was an American funk band named after founder Larry Graham (formerly of Sly and the Family Stone). The name is a pun on New York City's Grand Central Terminal, often colloquially called Grand Central Station. History O ...

. Around this same, in 1975, Pepe Willie (the former husband of another of Prince's cousins), started the funk band

94 East 94 East was a Minneapolis-based funk group formed in December 1975 by Pepe Willie, the former husband of Prince's cousin. Willie was one of the people responsible for getting Prince's career up and running, and soon enlisted the talents of a teenage ...

, with members Cymone and Prince.

Career

In the late 1970s, after Prince released his debut album, '' For You'', Prince recruited Cymone as bassist for his touring band. Cymone stayed with Prince until 1981 when he quit the band over tensions with Prince. The two later resolved their issues and Cymone, managed by

Owen Husney Owen Robert Husney (born September 8, 1947) is an American music manager, musician, promoter, and record executive. Husney is known for his discovery and management of the artist Prince and Prince's 1977 signing to Warner Bros. Records—then on ...

, went on to release 3 solo albums – ''Livin' In The New Wave'' (1982), ''Survivin' in the 80s'' (1983), and ''AC'' (1985). All were out of print for a long period of time, but all three of his solo records have been remastered, and expanded with extra tracks. His only successful single – a song written by Prince – was "The Dance Electric" from the ''AC'' album. Cymone went on to become a producer and is better known for producing

(to whom he was married and shares a son). He has also produced and written songs for several other artists, including

Evelyn "Champagne" King Evelyn "Champagne" King (born July 1, 1960) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. She is best known for her hit disco single "Shame", which was released in 1977 during the height of disco's popularity. King had other hits from ...

, Pebbles,

Jermaine Stewart William Jermaine Stewart (September 7, 1957 – March 17, 1997) was an American Contemporary R&B, R&B singer, best known for his 1986 hit single "We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off", which peaked at number five on the Billboard Hot 100, ''Bil ...

, The Girls, Pretty Poison and

Adam Ant Stuart Leslie Goddard, better known as Adam Ant (born 3 November 1954), is an English singer, musician, and actor. He gained popularity as the lead singer of new wave group Adam and the Ants and later as a solo artist, scoring 10 UK top ten ...

. In 1988, Cymone produced three tracks and co-wrote the track "Under My Skin" for

Phil Thornalley Philip Thornalley (born 5 January 1960) is an English songwriter-producer who has worked in the music industry since 1978. He is perhaps best known for co-writing (with Scott Cutler and Anne Preven) the song " Torn" (made famous by Natalie Imbr ...

's 1988 only solo album ''

Swamp A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...

''. His song "Better Way", performed by

James Ingram James Edward Ingram (February 16, 1952 – January 29, 2019) was an American singer, songwriter and record producer. He was a two-time Grammy Award-winner and a two-time Academy Awards, Academy Award nominee for Academy Award for Best Original ...

, featured on the ''

Beverly Hills Cop II ''Beverly Hills Cop II'' is a 1987 American buddy cop action comedy film directed by Tony Scott, written by Larry Ferguson and Warren Skaaren, and starring Eddie Murphy. It is the sequel to the 1984 film ''Beverly Hills Cop'' and the second insta ...

'' soundtrack released in 1987. Cymone is referenced by Brooklyn band

The Hold Steady The Hold Steady is an American rock band originally from Minneapolis, Minnesota, now based in Brooklyn, New York, formed in 2003. The band consists of Craig Finn (vocals, guitar), Tad Kubler (guitar), Galen Polivka (bass), Bobby Drake (drums), ...

on their critically received debut album, ''

Almost Killed Me ''Almost Killed Me'' is the debut studio album by Brooklyn-based rock band the Hold Steady, released on March 16, 2004 on Frenchkiss Records. It is considered by many to be a concept album, with several recurring themes such as near-death experi ...

'', on track two, "The Swish". In September 2012 Cymone released a digital single, titled "America", in aid of United States President Barack Obama's re-election campaign with all proceeds from the sale of the digital single being donated to the campaign. The single is available throug
andrecymone.bandcamp.com
via digital download. A sneak-peek at a new song titled "American Dream" was available for a limited time for everyone who donated by purchasing "America". In 2012, Cymone confirmed he was working on a new album, bringing an end to a 27-year singing hiatus. In May 2013 Cymone released a demo on his Twitter/Facebook page called "My Best Friend", a six-minute long acoustic track he described as a tribute to his mother Bernadette Anderson. In late May 2013 Cymone appeared alongside former Revolution member Bobby Z on a web-based video chat forum co-hosted by celebrity blogger Dr. Funkenberry where he went into greater detail about the writing of the song and the hopes for his new album. In November 2013, the album, titled ''The Stone'', became available for pre-order in various exclusive packages on the sit
PledgeMusic
The packages included early MP3 downloads, signed CDs and one-off personalised items. ''The Stone'' was released on February 18, 2014. Andre Cymone released his sixth studio album, ''1969'', on April 7, 2017, via

BandCamp Bandcamp is an American online audio distribution platform founded in 2007 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with headquarters in Oakland, California, US. On March 2, 2022, Bandcamp ...

and

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

Discography

Albums

*''Livin' in the New Wave'' (1982), Columbia #49

US R&B The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

*''Survivin' in the 80s'' (1983), Columbia #28

*''AC'' (1985), Columbia #31

*''The Stone'' (2014), Blindtango *''Black Man in America'' EP (2016), Blindtango *''1969'' (2017), Blindtango

Singles

*"Livin' in the New Wave" (1982) *"Kelly's Eyes" #107

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

#72

R&B charts The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

(1982) *"Survivin' in the 80s" (1983) *"Make Me Wanna Dance" (1983) #37

*"What Are We Doing Here (1983) *"Body Thang featuring Germain Brooks (1983) *"The Dance Electric" (1985) #10

*"Satisfaction" (1985) *"Lipstick Lover" (1985)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cymone, Andre 1958 births Living people Musicians from Minneapolis American funk bass guitarists American male bass guitarists Columbia Records artists The Revolution (band) members 20th-century African-American male singers American male singers American rhythm and blues bass guitarists American rock singers American soul singers American funk singers American rhythm and blues singers American rock bass guitarists Record producers from Minnesota Songwriters from Minnesota Singers from Minnesota Guitarists from Minnesota 20th-century American bass guitarists 20th-century American male musicians African-American songwriters African-American guitarists 21st-century African-American people American male songwriters