André Cymone is an American bassist, songwriter and record producer. Cymone was a bass guitarist for recording artist Prince's touring band, pre-Revolution. Cymone began a solo career in 1981. His song, "The Dance Electric", reached #10 on the R&B charts in 1985. Cymone later co-wrote and produced hit songs for other acts, including Jody Watley's "Looking for a New Love" and "Real Love". Cymone's stage name comes from a variation of his middle name, Simon.
Biography
Early years
Cymone was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The son of Fred Anderson, a musician, and Bernadette, a social worker, Cymone was the youngest of six children. The Anderson home soon had an additional member – a young Prince who left his own home due to conflicts with his father. Prince's cousin Charles Smith started the band Grand Central and later invited Cymone. The band included Cymone's sister Linda and Morris Day — they later changed their name to Champagne due to being confused with the funk band Graham Central Station. Around this same, in 1975, Pepe Willie, started the funk band 94 East, with members Cymone and Prince.
Career
In the late 1970s, after Prince released his debut album, For You, Prince recruited Cymone as bassist for his touring band. Cymone stayed with Prince until 1981 when he quit the band over tensions with Prince. The two later resolved their issues and Cymone, managed by Owen Husney, went on to release 3 solo albums – Livin' In The New Wave, Survivin' in the 80s, and AC. All were out of print for a long period of time, but all three of his solo records have been remastered, and expanded with extra tracks. His most successful single – a song written by Prince – was "The Dance Electric" from the AC album. Cymone went on to become a record producer and is better known for producing Jody Watley. He has also produced and written songs for several other artists, including Evelyn "Champagne" King, Pebbles, Jermaine Stewart, Pretty Poison and Adam Ant. In 1988, Cymone produced three tracks and co-wrote the track "Under My Skin" for Phil Thornalley's 1988 only solo album Swamp. His song "Better Way", performed by James Ingram, featured on the Beverly Hills Cop II soundtrack released in 1987. Cymone is referenced by Brooklyn band The Hold Steady on their critically received debut album, Almost Killed Me, on track two, "The Swish". In September 2012 Cymone released a digital single, titled "America", in aid of United States President Barack Obama's re-election campaign with all proceeds from the sale of the digital single being donated to the campaign. The single is available through , via digital download. A sneak-peek at a new song titled "American Dream" was available for a limited time for everyone who donated by purchasing "America". In 2012, Cymone confirmed he was working on a new album, bringing an end to a 27-year singing hiatus. In May 2013 Cymone released a demo on his Twitter/Facebook page called "My Best Friend", a six-minute long acoustic track he described as a tribute to his mother Bernadette Anderson. In late May 2013 Cymone appeared alongside former Revolution member Bobby Z on a web-based video chat forum co-hosted by celebrity blogger Dr. Funkenberry where he went into greater detail about the writing of the song and the hopes for his new album. In November 2013, the album, titled The Stone, became available for pre-order in various exclusive packages on the site . The packages included early MP3 downloads, signed CDs and one-off personalised items. The Stone was released on February 18, 2014. Andre Cymone released his 6th studio album, 1969, on April 7, 2017, via BandCamp and iTunes.
