Morris Day has sung in the Time since 1981 when Prince formed the group, even notably appearing with the band in Purple Rain. Now, Day, who still performs under the name Morris Day & the Time, claims he may not be able to do so anymore. Day wrote on Facebook on March 3 that the Prince estate has said he can “no longer†use the name Morris Day & the Time. “I’ve given 40 years of my life building up a name and legacy that Prince and I came up with,†Day wrote. “A name that while he was alive, he had no problem with me using.†In a statement to Vulture, the Prince estate said it had “amicable discussions†with Day over the name and “was surprised and disappointed to see his recent post.†“The Estate is open to working proactively with Morris to resolve this matter,†the statement continued. The estate also claimed Day’s post “is not entirely accurate†but did not give further specification. Day, meanwhile, claimed the estate wants “to rewrite history by taking my name away from me, thus impacting how i feed my family.â€
The Time began performing as Morris Day & the Time when the group reunited around 1995 after a number of original members had left, including Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. The original band has also since reunited as the Original 7ven.