For more than a decade, musician Jason Tenner has been impersonating Prince on and off the Las Vegas Strip. Since the passing of the Purple Rain singer, thousands have gone to see Purple Reign, a Prince tribute show led by Tenner at Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino.
Tenner told celebrity and newsmaker interview journalist Chris Yandek of CYInterview about how Prince’s passing impacted him and what his Las Vegas show means to him:
“Obviously, since he’s passed, the attendance has increased quite a bit here at the show as well. You know, it’s a bitter thing, you know what I mean, for him to be gone and for us to be still attempting to pay tribute to him and make it real for people. People, including me, two to thee days, I couldn’t eat, barely could sleep, you know, really emotional, a lot of people feel that way. So I think it’s kinda what we do is cathartic I think for a lot of people still that are dealing with him being gone, you know, I feel good about it. I feel good about what we do. I feel like the way things have changed; it’s rallied us around to make sure that we’re really doing it right since he passed because it seems so important for his fans.”
What does Prince’s music mean to Jason as a long time impersonator?
“The stuff that didn’t get on the radio, that’s my favorite stuff because it really, as a musician and as impersonating someone as a musician, it makes you extremely humble when you listen to him, and you listen to everything he’s done, his body of work, not that I’ve heard everything, but it’s a huge, massive body of work, you know, so as a musician, I think that’s how he’s affected me mostly is made me want to be a better musician and make me want to be a better performer and make me want to be a better artist and I think he’s had that affect on a lot of people.”
The long time Prince impersonator revealed he would be open to playing Prince in a biopic:
“I think I could play Prince in a biopic. I mean, they’d have to get a lot of really tall actors because, in these heels, I’m like 5’11. But absolutely, I’d be open to something like that. It depends on what it was. I like to act. This is an acting gig, you know, when all this stuff comes off, I don’t even think I can talk like this anymore. But with it on, yeah, I would be.”
Read and listen to the entire interview with Jason Tenner at CYInterview HERE.