Carmen Electra Says She Was ‘Insulted’ When Prince Wanted Her to Change Her Name
It’s been a decade since the world lost musical icon Prince. During his career, Prince turned out so many timeless hits and worked with just about everyone in the entertainment industry. One of the many people whose career he had an influence over was Carmen Electra.
Electra, who was born Tara Leigh Patrick, has spoken in the past about her relationship with The Purple One. She became his protege after meeting in 1991 and they reportedly dated for a brief time as well.
“He just set me up, and he was so supportive,” she shared. “With his support, I got a tad bit more confident, and just tried things and tried to keep that in mind with all my insecurities that I still have.”
While he was helping her launch her Hollywood career, Prince gave input on what she should wear to what songs she should record and one of the things he told her she needed to change was her name.
According to Electra, that moment occurred when he called her “Carmen” while they were in the studio together and she “reminded him that my name was Tara. He told me, ‘You look like a Carmen, so to me, you’re Carmen.’ He was so mysterious, but one of the wittiest people I’ve ever met. He was simply one of a kind.”
During a recent episode of Entertainment Tonight’s Then & Now, the Baywatch actress recalled what her initial reaction was when he said that to her.
“I mean, at first when he said, ‘You just don’t look like a Tara.’ I was a little bit insulted,” Electra remembered. “He said, ‘How could your mama name you Tara?’ And I was like, ‘What? I like that name.’ It means Earth, and I’m a double Taurus … So, he thought Carmen would be a cool name.”
She added that the “Purple Rain” artist was “absolutely right” about the moniker. And as for her last name, Electra explained that she thought it “sounded like a superhero name,” which was confirmed when she learned of the Marvel Comics hero Elektra Natchios, but “it really stuck and and I just decided to stick with it.”
In 2024, after going by the stage name for so long, the star changed her legal name to the one Prince suggested all those years ago.
The “When Doves Cry” singer died at his Paisley Park home in Minnesota from an accidental overdose of fentanyl, on April 21, 2016. He was 57.
Following the news of his death, Electra talked about the lasting impact he had on not just her but so many others saying, “As an artist and as a person, Prince was so extraordinarily generous. It was very generous for him to give me a chance to start a music career, and I’ll always be grateful that he believed in me and took a chance on me. We’re all devastated, and it didn’t seem like it was his right time to go.”
