Paul Joseph Peterson (born October 18, 1964), also known as St. Paul Peterson, is a singer and musician best known for his memberships in the bands The Family and The Time.

Life and career

Born in

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

, Minnesota, Peterson was the youngest son in a musical family. He was discovered 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. The ...

in 1983 and groomed to replace Monte Moir as keyboardist of R&B band The Time. Peterson gained exposure when the band appeared in the hit movie '' Purple Rain''. When The Time broke up in 1984, Prince gathered the remnants to form The Family, with Peterson as lead singer. The group's tenure was brief, releasing a self-titled album (with the original version of "Nothing Compares 2 U") and performing live only once (at First Avenue, where ''Purple Rain'' was filmed). Peterson left to pursue a solo career, releasing his eponymous debut album in 1987. Peterson released two singles, "Intimacy" and "Rich Man" from the album, as well as a video for the latter one. Prince wrote a song about Peterson's early departure from The Family called "Dream Factory", which was later released on 1998's '' Crystal Ball'' compilation. Peterson released two solo albums in the 1990s on

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

and a live recording with the group the Minneapolis All-Stars. His last solo album, ''Everything'', was released in 2003. Peterson is also a

session musician A session musician (also known as studio musician or backing musician) is a musician hired to perform in a recording session or a live performance. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a reco ...

and has backed up many bands and singers in their tours. In the late 1980s to early 1990s, Peterson toured as a member of the

Steve Miller Band The Steve Miller Band is an American rock music, rock band formed in San Francisco, California in 1966. The band is led by Steve Miller (musician), Steve Miller on guitar and lead vocals. The group had a string of mid- to late-1970s hit singles ...

. He has also toured with

Kenny Loggins Kenneth Clark "Kenny" Loggins (born January 7, 1948) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. His early songs were recorded with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in 1970, which led to seven albums recorded with Jim Messina (musician), Jim Mess ...

, Oleta Adams and most recently

Peter Frampton Peter Kenneth Frampton (born 22 April 1950) is an English-American guitarist, singer, and songwriter who rose to prominence as a member of the rock bands the Herd and Humble Pie. Later in his career, Frampton found significant success as a s ...

. In 1990, he released a song, "Every Heart Needs a Home", on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Soundtrack. From 1998 to 2000, he was the bassist in the

house band A house band is a group of musicians, often centrally organized by a band leader, who regularly play at an establishment. It is widely used to refer both to the bands who work on entertainment programs on television or radio, and to bands which ...

on the '' Donny & Marie'' TV program. He was the Program Chair for the Audio and Recording arts at Minneapolis Media Institute until leaving in June 2016 to tour with

as a bass player. Peterson produced two songs and co-produced two more songs on Oleta Adams' 2009 album, ''Let's Stay Here''. He also played on the album, which was released April 21, 2009. In June 2011, Peterson and three other members of The Family reunited as fDeluxe and released a record called ''Gaslight'' in September 2011. Since then, fDeluxe has released RELIT, and most recently ''AM Static'', a collection of covers done in the classic fDeluxe style. In 2017, St. Paul rekindled his band St. Paul and the Minneapolis Funk All Stars, toured in Australia in 2018 playing 2 shows at the

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue Performing arts center, performing arts centre in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive b ...

with the show titled "Nothing Compares 2 Prince." He's also played concerts for the

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves (often referred to as the Wolves or T-wolves) are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Divisio ...

, the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

and in 2019 played the Thunder Bay Blues Festival. In 2018, St. Paul started releasing new music under his own name again, beginning with "You Got 2 Love". Peterson is married and has two children, and resides in the Minneapolis area. Peterson's daughter Taylor (under the name Jeanne Taylor), released her debut EP "Jeanne" on November 12, 2016. In 2024, Peterson was a part of a sold-out concert in Minnesota, celebrating what would have been

's 66th birthday, with whom he had collaborated.

Discography

Albums

Solo

* ''St. Paul'' (1987) * ''Down to the Wire'' (1990) * ''Blue Cadillac'' (1996) * ''Everything'' (2003) * ''Break on Free'' (2022)

Collaborations

* '' Ice Cream Castle'' — with The Time (1984) * '' The Family'' — with The Family (1985) * ''A Child Is Born'' — with the Petersons (1997) * ''Live at the Quest'' — with the Minneapolis Allstars (1998) * ''My Calendar'' — with Jeanne Arland Peterson (2000) * ''A Compilation'' — with the Peterson Family (2003) * ''Let's Stay Here'' — with Oleta Adams (2009) (session musician, producer and co-producer, US touring band) * ''Gaslight'' — with fDeluxe (2011) * ''Relit'' — with fDeluxe (2012) * ''AM Static'' — with fDeluxe (2014) * ''Soul Renegade'' — with Ken Valdez (2017)

Singles

References

External links

*
Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Peterson, Paul The Original 7ven members American funk bass guitarists American male bass guitarists Musicians from Minneapolis Living people 1964 births Guitarists from Minnesota 20th-century American bass guitarists Paisley Park Records artists Warner Records artists Atlantic Records artists Ropeadope Records artists Sony BMG artists 20th-century American male musicians