Prairie Prince

Charles Lempriere Prince was born in Charlotte, North Carolina and grew up in Arizona. His mother, Louise, was an artist. His father, Charles, played snare drum in high school. He has two older sisters, who gave him "a constant source of musical influences, including swing, jazz, blues, and early rock and roll". When Prince was three years old, he banged his hands on the side of the washing machine, and by the time he was five or six was given a pair of bongos. In the third or fourth grade he got his first snare drum, joined his school band. His drumming influences include Gene Krupa, Buddy Rich, Stevie Wonder, Clyde Stubblefield, Sandy Nelson, Dick Dale, Ringo Starr, Charlie Watts, Mitch Mitchell, Keith Moon, Ginger Baker, John Bonham, John French, Billy Cobham, Lenny White, and Jack DeJohnette.

Prince lived with fellow Tubes member Re Styles from 1973 until the early 1990s. In a 2006 interview with Modern Drummer magazine's Billy Amendola, he referred to singer Diana Mangano as his wife, adding they were not formally married but had been together for a decade. The nickname "Prairie" is based on a mispronunciation of his middle name Lempriere, originating from his father's childhood nanny (the drummer and his father share the same name).