R.I.P. Cat Glover

Dancer, choreographer, and singer Cat Glover died Tuesday at age 62. Her passing was announced on her Facebook page. Glover is known for working with Prince in the ’80s during his Sign o’ the Times and Lovesexy eras. Glover was a Chicago native, and she started dancing when she was 5 years old. It was Prince’s Dirty Mind album that made Glover a fan and gave her the dream to meet him one day. Her first major show of talent happened when she and Patrick Allen competed on the television show Star Search as Pat & Cat. They were the first act on the show to achieve a four-star perfect score. The feat happened again, and despite winning seven times on the show, they did not win in the finals and the $100,000 prize. They lost the contest, but Glover achieved her dream of meeting Prince. A Star Search searcher who was dating Prince introduced him to Glover, and she auditioned for him one night at a club. She joined Prince’s band in 1986 after turning down David Bowie. Prince fans first saw Glover on one of the inner sleeves from the Sign o’ the Times album holding a guitar. She appeared in the concert film for the album and videos for “U Got The Look” and “I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man.” 

Prince and Glover had kinetic energy on the stage, and their dance routines were one of the major components of his highly praised and well-attended concerts. She did her Cat Scat dance, which became her trademarked move. Glover famously rapped on “Alphabet Street” from Lovesexy and she also rapped on “Cindy C” from The Black Album. In 1989, she left the band and released her Catwoman album. She continued to work as a choreographer, and after Prince died in 2016, she vowed to keep his memory alive. Fans can only hope that Cat and Prince are dancing together again.