Hannah Ford-Welton (born June 29, 1990) is an American musician, drummer and vocalist from

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

. Hannah previously played jazz fusion in her own band as well as with the trio Pandorum. In 2010, she joined the Milwaukee-based rock band Bellevue Suite. With the latter group she released the album ''This Far From Sanity'' in 2013. She was offered a spot in Prince's backing band

3rdeyegirl 3rdeyegirl, stylized as 3RDEYEGIRL, is an American funk rock band and was Prince's backing band from his 2014 return to Warner Music until his death in 2016. It was a trio consisting of the American drummer Hannah Welton, Canadian guitarist Do ...

with guitarist

Donna Grantis Donna Grantis is a Canadian guitarist, best known for performing and recording with Prince & 3rdeyegirl. On September 30, 2014, Prince and 3rdeyegirl released their debut album, ''Plectrumelectrum'', which reached #1 on the Billboard Rock chart. ...

and bassist

Ida Kristine Nielsen Ida Kristine Nielsen (born 1975), also known as Bass Ida, Bassida, and Ida Funkhouser, is a Danish bassplayer, composer and vocalist. She is known for being a member of several bands, such as Belgian Zap Mama, Danish pop rock band Michael Lear ...

in 2013. Hannah is married to Joshua Welton, who co-produced three Prince albums and guested with 3rdeyegirl performances on keyboard and cowbell.

Musical Education

Welton's first practical experience as a drummer was in her primary school ensemble, Louisville Leopard Percussionists. At the age of twelve, she began playing professionally in her father's blues band in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. Welton continued her musical education with a scholarship at the

Chicago College of Performing Arts Chicago College of Performing Arts is a performing arts college that is housed at Roosevelt University in Chicago, Illinois, United States. While the school is officially a part of Roosevelt University, it has its own distinct personality. The rel ...

, studying in the Vocal Jazz Department as well as playing in the school’s Latin Ensemble and Big Band Orchestra.

With Prince and 3rdeyegirl

Welton was recruited by

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. T ...

in September 2012 as a guest drummer for the Welcome 2 Chicago three-show residency after seeing videos of her performing online. Soon after, she appeared as lead drummer of the

New Power Generation The New Power Generation, also known as The NPG, was the backing band of musician Prince from 1990 to 2013. They were replaced by 3rdeyegirl as his backing band in 2013. In 2015, the New Power Generation reunited as Prince's backing band for ...

for Prince's performance of his song, ''Rock And Roll Love Affair'' on Jimmy Kimmel Live!'s show on 23 October 2012, as well as in the official music video. Asked by Prince to look for a female guitarist, Hannah, together with her husband Joshua, scouted online and found

via her videos on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

in late November. She auditioned one week later at

Paisley Park Studios Paisley may refer to: *Paisley (design), an ornamental Persian pattern or motif commonly identified with the town of Paisley, Renfrewshire, in west Scotland People * Paisley (name), including a list of people with the name * Lord Paisley, in the ...

and subsequently recruited in December 2012. Bassist Ida Nielsen had been performing with The NPG since October 2010, and the only member of the trio to have previous experience playing for Prince.

were formed in December 2012 and went on to tour with Prince on his Live Out Loud Tour in 2013, and his Hit and Run Tour from 2014-15. They released one album, '' Plectrumelectrum'', in 2014. Joshua Welton would also join the tours on percussion. He co-produced Prince's next two albums, '' Art Official Age'' and ''

Hit n Run Phase One ''Hit n Run Phase One'' is the thirty-eighth and penultimate studio album by American recording artist Prince. It was first released exclusively on the Tidal streaming service on September 7, 2015 before being released on CD on September 15, 2 ...

'', and co-wrote most tracks on the latter.

Other works

After Prince's death in 2016, Hannah and Joshua started their own Christian ministry in 2018.

Discography

;With Bellevue Suite * ''This Far From Sanity'' (2013) ;With

and

* '' Plectrumelectrum'' (2014)

References

External links