Purple Reign began at the small but then popular UNLV college club Tom & Jerry's in the summer of 1997. Front man Jason Tenner formed the group with high school band-mates Jason Underwood (bassist) and Brent Wheeler (guitarist) after dressing as Prince for a Halloween party at the Hard Rock Hotel-Casino the previous year. " People's  reactions were crazy!" recalls Tenner. "They kept wanting pictures, asking where I was performing and how they could get tickets! It was wild!"

​

​By 1998, Purple Reign could be seen in much larger venues such as the Railhead in Boulder Station, The Beach night club, Club Rio (now Prince's club 3121) and has sharing billing with acts such as Destiny's Child, Reynaldo Ray of BET's  Comic View and The Bar-kays. In 2001 Purple Reign became headliners of the mini showroom at the Boardwalk Casino, and according to a Nov. 2006 article in What's On magazine "almost singlehandedly" kept the property alive for years. 

 

While there, they expanded on their vision and theme using the classic film "Purple Rain" as inspiration , and incorporated  the celebrity characters Morris Day and Jerome Benton of "The Time". The new show segment added a wildly entertaining  and upbeat dimension that rings just as true to the original artists  and character details that have made the show a success.