Rosie Gaines

Rosie Gaines
Origin	Oakland, California, United States
Genres	Funk, pop, soul, dance-pop, hip hop
Years active	1985–present
Labels	Dredlix, Motown, NPG, Epic, Dome, SUsu

Rosie Gaines is an American vocalist, musician, singer-songwriter, and record producer from Pittsburg, California. She released a number of dance hits, the most notable being "Closer than Close".

Gaines' first band was a family funk/soul group called Unity, with Gaines on organ, her brother Carl on bass guitar, her cousin Lacy on guitar, sister-in-law Dianne on background vocals and her sister Mal on drums.

Gaines also played in a band called The Oasis and A Touch of Class before joining The Curtis Ohlson Band (with Levi Seacer, Jr. on guitar). Seacer called Gaines one day and asked her to come to Minneapolis, Minnesota to sing a demo of a song for The Pointer Sisters.

While she was doing the demo, Prince came in the recording studio, was impressed by her abilities and asked her to join his band The New Power Generation. Gaines was introduced in 1990 as the new vocalist and keyboard player on Prince's Nude Tour. Her first appearance on a Prince album was on Graffiti Bridge. She was also a member of The NPG in the film Graffiti Bridge. She performed and wrote on the Diamonds and Pearls album. In 1992, after the Diamonds and Pearls tour, Gaines returned to her solo career, although she continued to work with Prince.

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