Prince’s Dancer & Iconic Performer Cat Glover Dies at 62

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Among Prince ‘s many female collaborators, some stand out more than others. Drummer and percussionist Sheila E., who had a hit under his tutelage with “The Glamorous Life,” and Rosie Gaines, who joined him on a duet for his song “Nothing Compares 2 U,” are among the best known.

But dancer Cat Glover will forever be immortalized for standing in for Prince on the “Sign of the Times” single cover and being a core part of his Sign O’ the Times and Lovesexy tours in the ’80s.

This week, her family announced that she had passed away at the age of 62 , sending the Prince fanbase into mourning.

When Catherine Vernice Glover was growing up in Chicago, she bought a copy of Prince’s Dirty Mind. She said that album helped her through a depression and after hearing it, she was determined to meet the Minneapolis genius. She hoped her dance skills would lead her to him and competed on the seminal talent competition show Star Search to increase her visibility.

As Pat and Cat, with fellow dancer Patrick Allen, the duo were just short of the top prize. David Bowie called, but Glover turned him down. After finally meeting Prince and dancing with him at a Los Angeles nightclub, Glover realized her dream, working with him on 1987’s Sign O’ The Times album and joining his touring band. She choreographed the single “U Got the Look” and was nominated for a 1988 MTV Video Award, losing out to Janet Jackson’s The Pleasure Principle.

In 1988, she was the featured dancer and choreographer on the vaunted Lovesexy tour, rapping on the song “Alphabet Street,” with Prince introducing her verse by saying “Cat, we need you to rap.”

Though brief, Glover occupied a rarefied place in the Prince universe. Both the Sign of the Times and Lovesexy tours were recorded and released, and Glover was prominently featured in both. Her dances with Prince and her contributions to his music made her a popular, if underrated collaborator.

In 2018, Glover was a featured guest at the EYE NO Lovesexy symposium curated by NYU professor and Prince scholar De Angela Duff. She joked about her relationship with the late icon, saying that she often clashed with him but that he never fired her.

Though they had visible chemistry on stage, Glover told the Beautiful Nights podcast in 2013 that they never took it further.

“ People often ask me if I ever dated Prince,” she said. “The answer is no. A lot of women that get with Prince mistake his friendship and his affection as them being his girlfriend. Let’s put it like this: if you’re his girlfriend, you’ll know it. I was never his girlfriend. it was strictly professional. Although, we were both attracted to each other.”

She left the band in 1989 to pursue a solo career, releasing the album Catwoman. But her career never reached the heights it did during her tenure with Prince.

Glover is survived by three daughters and a son.

See how social media is praising her storied career below.

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