by Though neither of us is an especially big Prince fan, we know an iconic singer when we see one, and Prince is a full-on legend in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
So of course we found ourselves visiting his recording studio and sometime home, Paisley Park – coincidentally on his birthday, of all days!
Be prepared for some sticker shock if you want to go – tours start at $75 (plus taxes and fees), and then you’re not even allowed to take pictures in most places! However, it was still a fun experience, with lots of costumes, guitars, and memorabilia to see, and it’s hard not to be impressed.
Tours are managed by Graceland Holdings, the company that manages Elvis Presley’s Graceland!
The 65,000 square foot estate (which is in Chanhassen, about 15 miles southwest of Minneapolis) is a shrine to Prince, focused only on the positive and his many musical achievements. There’s no mention of drug use, his dying there, or really anything much about his personal life at all.
Paisley Park opened as a museum in 2016 shortly after Prince’s death, but for the 20 years preceding that Prince used it extensively for work and play. It has four recording studios, a sound stage, a video editing suite, a rehearsal room, and offices, plus living space.
It’s named after Prince’s 1985 single, “Paisley Park”, and many artists other than Prince have also recorded there.
Prince Rogers Nelson (1958-2016) is regarded as one of the best guitarists of all time.
If you’ve never seen his iconic 2007 Super Bowl Halftime show in a torrential downpour, you’re in for a treat.
And please don’t miss his playing on “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” at the 2004 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony for George Harrison.
Beyond the guitar, Prince played many instruments, often playing all or most of the instruments on his recordings. He also had a wide vocal range, was an incredible and prolific songwriter, and even did some acting and wrote the plot to a big movie called Purple Rain and wrote the screenplay for a little movie called Graffiti Bridge.
He signed his first record deal at just 19, and achieved critical success with Dirty Mind in 1980 when he was only 22. The album and movie for Purple Rain came out in 1984 when he was just 26, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Original Song Score. The movie grossed more than $70 million.
Though only 5’2”, Prince had a larger-than-life wardrobe, and the swagger and confidence to pull it off. He was known for his androgynous style and unapologetic high heels. He had seamstresses on staff and had his clothing custom-made or modified to fit him to a “T.” Though actively religious, sex and sexuality permeated his look and music (and it was his song “Darling Nikki” that prompted Tipper Gore to start the Parents Music Resource Center, ha ha!).
Prince was just 57 when he died of an accidental fentanyl overdose due to an opioid addiction. He’d released 39 albums and sold more than 100 million of them during his lifetime, but left behind a vault of unreleased material, so his story isn’t over yet.
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