By Brooks Welch
The Prince Estate has barred Morris Day from using the band name ‘Morris Day And The Time’ in any capacity, a name that the Minneapolis funk artist has used for the last 40 years, Pitchfork reports.
According to Ultimate Prince, in 1981, The Time was Prince’s first venture of building a band and Prince did so around Day, a friend of his since high school. While Prince kept rights to the band name, The Time released four albums from 1981 to 1990. The group disbanded in the early 90s then returned as Morris Day And The Time with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis among the band members.
Day released this statement on Thursday regarding the devastating news, “I’ve given 40 years of my life building up a name and legacy that Prince and I came up with. A name that while he was alive, he had no problem with me using,” The artist said. “I literally put my blood, sweat, and tears into bringing value to that name. In fact, he booked me on several tours, and many jam packed nights at Paisley Park, under the name Morris Day & The Time. Not once ever saying to me that I couldn’t use that name configuration.”
He also stated that since the late Prince no longer has say, his estate holders desire to “rewrite history.” He noted that this will impact his income and his family, but he will be compliant.
The estate issued a statement saying they were “surprised and disappointed” by Day’s recent post and denied his claims. “The Estate is open to working proactively with Morris to resolve this matter. However, the information that he shared is not entirely accurate.”
According to Billboard, Day signed a 1982 agreement that gave Prince rights to his name.
There is a possibility for Day to make an agreement to license his name back from the estate.
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