(WBBM NEWSRADIO) - Peoria native Liv Warfield was a student on a track scholarship at Portland State when friends convinced her to pursue her love of music.
A certain videotape of her singing a Rolling Stones song would soon land in the hands of pop star Prince, who was looking for backup singers.
"He was like, ‘you want to come to L.A.? I love your voice, do you want to come sing?’ And, I was like, ‘ umm, yeah, absolutely,’” she laughed.
Soon enough, she was opening his concerts, singing backup and part of his music group, New Power Generation.
"It was an experience I will never forget. He changed my life," Warfield said.
Warfield worked with Prince for 8 years. He was a mentor and even served as an executive producer on her 2014 album, “The Unexpected.”
After he died in 2016, she said it took her many months to mourn, regroup and create again. It took the pandemic, she said, to discover what was to come next.
"Music is my nucleus, so I know what I'm doing there. We didn't know the world was going to stop and so now it really made me rethink my purpose. I'm learning to give back to my community," said Warfield.
The LenaBlu Foundation was named after her Aunt Lena, who was a driving force in her life.
"Aunt Lena. She poured into me. Everybody has a Lena Blu, somebody that supports them, somebody that can tell you they see the creative in you, maybe it might take you to you're 65 or you're 4, it doesn't matter. Just get out there and be creative in your communities," Warfield said.
LenaBlu is a 501 (c) (3), a non-profit that is about supporting the arts, and underserved artists.
"It's painters, it's muralists, fashion designers, musicians, writers, whoever creates. Any way I can be a help in that way, I'm there," said Warfield.
She smiled when she talked about something her former mentor said, something she didn't understand at the time.
"That's the one thing that he really pushed for us to do, giving back. He had his Love For One Another Foundation. At one point, he asked us, 'what do you guys want to do besides this music stuff?’ I was like, ‘what are you talking about, this is all I want to do.’ He said, 'hmm, you have to think about that'. That was like ten years ago. Now I know. Now I know what he was trying to say with that statement," she smiled.
The LenaBlu series kicked off in July. It's a series of fundraisers featuring fashion, music and much more. All proceeds go back to the arts, education and community.
"We go to the high schools. We give money for instruments. If we feel a school needs art supplies, we'll do this. If this school says they need computers, we'll give them the tools they need," Warfield noted.
Warfield said she always knew music was her destiny.
"Singing is my gift," but now she said she's ready to use that gift for something larger than herself.
"I know Prince would be happy about this, as long as we're pouring back into our community, that's what Aunt Lena wanted me to do. Love on your community. Not that I wasn't doing it, I just didn't know how. Now I know how, I have the tools," she smiled.
“We see now what's been going on in the world, community is everything right now. If we don't start listening to one another, we are just going to be broken," Warfield said.
Warfield hopes to hold a musical festival in Peoria and Chicago next year. The next LenaBlu Series will be at Le Piano, on Glenwood and Lunt, in Rogers Park, on September 26h and will feature Rojo Lavoe. For information or tickets to the event, click here.
Warfield is currently starring in the new show Cabaret Zazou's "Luminaire" at the Cambria Theater.
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