Robert B. Rivkin (born January 9, 1956), better known by the stage name Bobby Z., is an American musician and record producer, most known as being the original drummer for Prince's backing band The Revolution from 1978 to 1986.

Life and career

Early life

Rivkin began his musical career at the age of six, playing several different instruments before finally settling on the

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

. In junior high school, he formed a small touring band in the

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 ...

area that included future

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

football coach

Marc Trestman Marc Marlyn Trestman (born January 15, 1956) is an American football and Canadian football coach. He led the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League (CFL) to back-to-back Grey Cup victories in 2009 and 2010, and another as head coach ...

on rhythm guitar.

Career with Prince

He met Prince in the late 1970s as Prince was forming his first band for touring. He started running errands for Prince while working for the man credited with discovering Prince,

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 ...

. Rivkin's stage name, Bobby Z., was derived from the nickname "Butzie" his grandmother used to call him. Prince was adamant about having a

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

drummer in an effort to have a racially diverse band, so Husney implored Prince to audition Rivkin. Rivkin replaced Dale Alexander during the 94East band sessions, prior to Prince moving into his own "For You" album sessions. Dale later became drummer for Prince's protege group Madhouse in 1987. Rivkin was acknowledged in Prince's self-titled album as being a "heaven-sent" helper alongside Andre Cymone. By the time the ''

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

'' album was released, Prince was relying more and more on

electronic drum Electronic drums is a modern electronic musical instrument, primarily designed to serve as an alternative to an acoustic drum kit. Electronic drums consist of an electronic sound module which produces the synthesized or sampled percussion sounds ...

s and Rivkin had to adapt his style to operate these in concert as well as the studio, starting with ''

Controversy Controversy is a state of prolonged public dispute or debate, usually concerning a matter of conflicting opinion or point of view. The word was coined from the Latin ''controversia'', as a composite of ''controversus'' – "turned in an opposite d ...

''. He also contributed to '' Purple Rain'', ''

Around the World in a Day ''Around the World in a Day'' is the seventh studio album by American recording artist Prince, and the second release where his backing band The Revolution is billed. It was released on April 22, 1985, by Paisley Park Records and Warner Bros. Re ...

'', ''

Parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, float (parade), floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually ce ...

'' and ''

Sign o' the Times ''Sign o' the Times'' (often stylized as ''Sign "☮︎" the Times'') is the ninth studio album by American singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Prince. It was first released on March 30, 1987 as a double album by Paisley Park ...

''. In 1986 when

Wendy & Lisa Wendy & Lisa (briefly known as Girl Bros.) are a music duo consisting of Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman. They began working with Prince in the early 1980s and were part of his band the Revolution, before branching out on their own and releasin ...

left The Revolution and the group disbanded after the

Parade Tour The Parade Tour (also called the Under the Cherry Moon Tour) was a concert tour by American recording artist Prince in support of Prince and The Revolution's eighth studio album '' Parade'' and his 1986 film ''Under the Cherry Moon''. The Hit n ...

ended, Prince also took the opportunity to replace Rivkin with

Sheila E Sheila Cecilia Escovedo (born December 12, 1957) better known under the stage name Sheila E., is an American percussionist and singer. She began her career in the mid-1970s as a percussionist and singer for The George Duke Band. After leaving t ...

, daughter of veteran

Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Gov ...

drummer and percussionist

Pete Escovedo Peter Michael Escovedo (born July 13, 1935 in Pittsburg, California) is an American percussionist. "Pete Escovedo Biography & Awards" With his two brothers, Pete formed Escovedo Bros Latin Jazz Sextet, before Carlos Santana hired Pete and Coke ...

Career after Prince and The Revolution

Bobby Z. produced The Suburbs' 1986 self-titled

A&M Records A&M Records was an American record label founded as an independent company by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in 1962. Due to the success of the discography A&M released, the label garnered interest and was acquired by PolyGram in 1989 and began distr ...

album (credited as Robert Brent). In 1988 he produced some tracks for

Boy George George Alan O'Dowd (born 14 June 1961), known professionally as Boy George, is an English singer, songwriter, DJ, author and mixed media artist. Best known for his soulful voice and his androgynous appearance, Boy George has been the lead singe ...

's album, '' Tense Nervous Headache''. Rivkin helped Wendy & Lisa on their debut album and he released his own self-titled album in 1989 (which included a re-recorded version of "River Run Dry" that he wrote for The Family). Rivkin has since focused more on producing for the recently launched record label branch of Copycats media.

Health problems, recovery and reunions with Prince

Bobby Z. suffered a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

in early 2010 and after his recovery made it his mission to continue to raise public awareness of heart attack warning signs and risk factors. He has lobbied Congress for continued research. He set up a fund raising charity called My Purple Heart which went about raising both funds and awareness of heart disease. In 2011, he celebrated the one-year anniversary of surviving his near-fatal heart attack at First Avenue, with a rare reunion performance of The Revolution—

Wendy Melvoin Wendy Ann Melvoin (born January 26, 1964) is an American guitarist and singer-songwriter, best known for her work with Prince as part of his backing band The Revolution, and for her collaboration with Lisa Coleman as one half of the duo Wendy ...

, Lisa Coleman,

Brown Mark Mark Brown (born March 8, 1962), better known by the stage name Brown Mark, also styled Brownmark and BrownMark, is an American musician, bassist and record producer. Life and career Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, Brown's early ...

Dr. Fink Matt Fink (born February 8, 1958), better known as Dr. Fink, is a keyboardist, producer, and songwriter best-known for playing keyboards in Prince's band, The Revolution. At Prince concerts, he was distinguished onstage for performing dressed i ...

Dez Dickerson Desmond D'andrea Dickerson (born August 7, 1955) is an American guitarist and singer who was a member of Prince's band, the Revolution. Life and career Dickerson was born in 1955 as Desmond D'andrea Dickerson, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. A v ...

Eric Leeds Eric Leeds is an American saxophone player, mostly known for his work with Prince. He has recorded mostly music in the pop and funk genres, but is a studied jazz musician.Cole, George.Eric Leeds: Interviews: The Last Miles: The Music of Miles D ...

and Bobby Z., which raised much needed funds to benefit heart-health awareness,. The concert, billed as a 'Benefit 2 Celebrate Life!' and presented by Z and the American Heart Association, featured The Revolution, along with heart-health and life-saving information and inspiring stories of survival. The Revolution had not played together since 2003. His foundation, My Purple Heart, partnered with the American Heart Association again in 2013 to host a benefit concert and weekend block party on March 9, at First Avenue on the 2nd anniversary of his heart attack. Again members of The Revolution appeared alongside Bobby as well as star guests such as

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, local boy and runner up from ''

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'' Nicholas David,

Alexander O'Neal Alexander O'Neal (born November 15, 1953) is an American R&B singer, songwriter and arranger from Natchez, Mississippi. O'Neal came to prominence in the mid-1980s as a solo artist, with eleven Top 40 singles on the US R&B chart, three of whic ...

, André Cymone,

, Dr. Fink and The Roots drummer

Questlove Ahmir Khalib Thompson (born January 20, 1971), known professionally as Questlove (stylized as ), is an American musician, record producer, disc jockey, filmmaker, music journalist, and actor. He is the drummer and joint frontman (with Black Thou ...

appeared as the resident guitarist for the night's events. In May 2013, Bobby Z joined

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 ...

on stage during the closing two shows of Prince's whirlwind 3rdeyegirl tour. Both shows took place on the same night with Bobby taking over from Prince's drummer Hannah Welton-Ford. He sat in on both shows for one song. On both occasions it was " Purple Rain". In late May 2013, Bobby appeared alongside former bandmate

André Cymone André Cymone (born Andre Simon Anderson; June 27, 1958) is an American bassist, songwriter and record producer. Cymone was a bass guitarist for Prince's touring band, pre-Revolution. Cymone began a solo career in 1981. His song, "The Dance El ...

on a web based chat show co-hosted by celebrity blogger Dr.Funkenberry where they both reminisced about their early days on the road with Prince. Bobby also mentioned that it was a thrill to be back onstage with Prince.

Current life

Bobby Z now hosts a radio show every Sunday on 96.3 K-TWIN in Minneapolis.

Equipment

Drum kit with Prince in the 1980s:Bobby Z's Drum Kit Revealed
/ref> *Ludwig kit *Black Simmons SDSV pads *Simmons SDSV Module *Linn LM-1 Drum Machine *LinnDrum Drum Machine *Black Pearl Syncussion pads (x2) *Pearl Syncussion Modules (x2) *Zildjian 14" HiHat *Zildjian 18" Crash *Zildjian 20" Ride *Zildjian 16" Crash

Personal life

Bobby's brothers are film maker

Stephen E. Rivkin Stephen Elliott Rivkin is an American film editor best known for his editing work on the '' Pirates of the Caribbean'' film series as well as his work with director James Cameron as an editor on ''Avatar'', for which he was nominated for an Acad ...

and fellow Minneapolis musician

David Z David Z may refer to: * David Z (producer) David Rivkin (born 1953), professionally known as David Z, is an American music producer, engineer, and songwriter from Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is best known for his long-standing work with Prince, a ...

. He is married to his wife Vicki.

References

*''Uptown #42''. May 31, 2000. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bobby Z. 1956 births Living people American funk drummers American male drummers Record producers from Minnesota The Revolution (band) members American rock drummers Musicians from Minneapolis Rhythm and blues drummers Soul drummers 20th-century American drummers 20th-century American male musicians