Michael Bland (born March 14, 1969) is an American musician best known as a drummer for Prince starting in 1989.
He still lives in Minneapolis, but plays in Los Angeles as a session drummer for such artists as Mandy Moore, Clay Aiken, Backstreet Boys, and the Anchorman soundtrack.
[4] In 2000, he played in the Minneapolis project of French reed player Michel Portal (the rest of the band was Tony Hymas, Sonny T., Vernon Reid and Jef Lee Johnson).
With Jef Lee Johnson and Sonny T., Michael Bland created News from the Jungle, which recorded one album for Universal, also produced by Jean Rochard.
In 2005, Bland was the drummer for Paul Westerberg's tour, and he recently played on the Hurricane Katrina Relief telethon with the Dixie Chicks.
During the fall of 2007 Michael Bland has been busy working on a release by his own protégé, Mayda, performing with her regularly in the Minneapolis area as well as recording a studio album.
Michael Bland continued working with Mayda and played on and produced a full-length album with her in 2009, titled The Interrogation.