TheControversy Tour was aconcert tour by American recording artistPrince in support of his fourth studio albumControversy. The tour includedZapp and Roger andThe Time as an opening act.

The Controversy Tour marked the debut of Mark Brown, a.k.a.Brown Mark, on bass guitar, replacing the departedAndré Cymone, and the introduction ofPrince's new bodyguard, Chick Huntsberry. At first, Prince contemplated dismissing the huge Huntsberry after only being on tour with him for a few days, as Prince thought he was too big and he scared him. GuitaristDez Dickerson talked him out of it and he eventually became a confidant to Prince and later appeared inPurple Rain as a bouncer.^[1] This tour was also notable for Prince's new side groupThe Time joining him on tour and the resulting backstage drama and arising tension that developed between the two bands.

Ultimately Prince would kick The Time off the 1999 Tour.^[2] The conflict came to a head on the final night of the tour inCincinnati as during The Time's set, Prince and some of the members in his band began egging them from off stage. Near the end of the set, they grabbed Jerome Benton from the stage and proceeded to "tar and feather" him by pouring honey all over him and dumping trash on him. Things got further escalated after The Time's performance, guitarist Jesse Johnson was handcuffed to a wall-mounted coat rack and further humiliated with Prince throwingDoritos and other food at him. When The Time went to retaliate, they were stopped by the tour manager and told there would be no interruptions during Prince's performance, but as soon as he left the stage, a food fight erupted between the two bands. When the battle continued at the hotel causing damage, Prince made Morris Day pay for all damages, claiming that he had started the whole thing.^[1]

• The Time
• Zapp featuringRoger

November 20, 1981 at theStanley Theatre, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

1. "The Second Coming"
2. "Sexuality"
3. "Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad?"
4. "Jack U Off"
5. "When You Were Mine"
6. "I Wanna Be Your Lover"
7. "Head"
8. "Annie Christian"
9. "Dirty Mind"
10. "Do Me, Baby"
11. "Let's Work"
12. "Controversy "
13. "Uptown"
14. "Partyup"

January 30, 1982 at theCapitol Theatre,Passaic,New Jersey

1. "The Second Coming"
2. "Uptown"
3. "Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad?"
4. "I Wanna Be Your Lover"
5. "Head"
6. "Dirty Mind"
7. "Do Me, Baby"
8. "Controversy"
9. "Let's Work"
10. "Jack U Off"

Prior to the tour, in October 1981 Prince played two shows at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum as an opening act forThe Rolling Stones. On the first date, Prince and his band did not finish their set, as the crowd turned hostile towards him. Dressed in his controversialbikini briefs andtrench coat, and singing his sexuallyandrogynous lyrics, he was run off stage after 25 minutes of the crowd booing, throwing shoes and beer bottles at him.^[3] Off stage, security escorted Prince to his trailer, they described him as emotionally distraught and crying softly. He was later heard cussing at his band and swearing he would never open for the Rolling Stones again.

After the show, Prince immediately flew back home to Minneapolis. After speaking withDez Dickerson, manager Steve Fargnoli, andMick Jagger himself, they convinced him to return for the second concert. Amidst the same hostility, as The Rolling Stones' fans heard about the incident at the first concert and came prepared to dog Prince again, Prince and his band finished their set this time. Backstage, Prince referred to the crowd as, "Tasteless in music and mentally retarded".

• Prince: Lead vocals, Synthesizer and guitar
• Dez Dickerson: Guitar
• Brown Mark: Bass
• Matt Fink: Keyboards
• Lisa Coleman: Keyboards
• Bobby Z.: Drums

• Controversy Tour|Prince-Live

• Prince (musician) concert tours
• 1981 concert tours
• 1982 concert tours

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata