American city throws epic party for Prince

To commemorate the 40th anniversary of Purple Rain, Prince's hometown is rolling out the purple carpet for fans in a four-day festival.

Forty years ago this summer, a little man dressed in purple changed music forever. On July 27, 1984, Warner Brothers released a film written, performed and set to music by a certain Prince Rogers Nelson. The film had no known stars, no real actors and was filmed on a relatively small budget.

However, when Purple rain Released theatrically, it quickly became the number one film in the United States, knocking Ghostbusters from the top spot. After the Purple Rain soundtrack and the single When the doves cry also number one, Prince became the first artist in United States history to have both a number one film, a number one album and a number one song.

You'd think the 26-year-old androgynous artist had appeared out of nowhere, but that's not the case: Prince came out of Minneapolis, as did his childhood friends and fellow musicians Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. They were all part of the Minneapolis scene that gave rise to what we now call the Minneapolis Sound.

Prince lived in Minnesota most of his life. “Anyone of a certain age in the Twin Cities [Minneapolis and nearby Saint Paul] has a Prince story,” says Elliot Powell, associate professor of American studies at the University of Minnesota, who teaches a course called Prince, Porn and Public Space: The Cultural Politics of Minneapolis in the 1980s. “They'll say, ' Let's go with “I'll tell you about the time I saw Prince hanging out here”, or “I was at this restaurant when Prince was here”. Having so many Prince sightings and stories really makes it seem like Prince. is part of Minnesota's culture and history.”

When Prince is dead in 2016, 10,000 people filled the streets of Minneapolis to mourn. But in honor of Purple Rain's 40th anniversary, the city is ready to party and is rolling out the purple carpet for visitors.

On June 21 and 22, Prince's legendary group, The Revolution, will meet for two shows at the iconic venue on First Avenue in Minneapolis as part of Celebration 2024: an annual extravaganza (June 20-24 this year) featuring Prince-themed events at the artist's home Paisley Park area and throughout Minneapolis. To commemorate the anniversary, the event will be bigger than ever this year, with panel discussions, downtown block parties, screenings of Purple Rain, boat cruises and much more. (Tickets available here.)

Here are some places to go in Minneapolis if you want to relive Prince's legacy this summer and beyond.

There are ghosts of Prince all over Minneapolis, but nowhere are the echoes of his four-inch heels louder than downtown.

The epicenter of the Principality is the legendary concert hall First Avenueincluding journalist Alan Light, whose book on the making of Purple Rain, Let's act crazy, claims that he was essentially a character from the film Purple Rain, given his on-screen presence. It was built as a Greyhound bus station in 1937 and became a dance club in 1970. For years, it was the only place downtown where black musicians could perform. Prince's first show here was in 1981 and his last on July 7, 2007. Be sure to check out the gold-painted star dedicated to Prince on the wall outside, and if it's open, take a tour behind the scenes or watch a show.

In 2022, the famous street artist Hiero Veiga was chosen to paint this 100 foot fresco commemorating Prince at the corner of First Avenue S and North Eight Street. It shows three iterations of the musician: one in his pre-stardom days, one during his Purple Rain heyday, and one after he became the artist once again known as Prince. The street between the Veiga mural and First Avenue was officially renamed Prince Rogers Nelson Way.

Just off Nicollet Avenue at 94 S 10th Street is the Music wall, where Prince had his first photo shoot in 1977, which helped him land a huge recording contract for his debut album. In 2018, Lizzo (another musician from Minneapolis) filmed the music video for his song Boys here, in homage to Prince.

Two days before his death, Prince entered The Dakota, a club where he often came to listen to music (and sometimes perform), and sit at the table that was always reserved for him. “Prince was someone who would go to places like the Dakota to hear local bands,” Powell says. “So when you visit these Prince monuments, make sure you visit the local music venues, because that’s something Prince did.”

Bunker's Music Bar & Grill

Bunker is an old-fashioned bar where Prince and other key players of the Minneapolis Sound were (and many still are) regulars. “I always like to tell people to go to the Bunker,” says Andrea Swensson, local music historian and author of the new book, Prince and Purple Rain: 40 years. “I feel like it's so much a Prince story and not just Prince, but his community and his scene. He used to get on stage there all the time. He recruited several people from the house band , Dr. Mambo's Combo, for his bands over the years over the years And there's still a little booth in the back with Christmas lights around it. That's where he always sat. So if people want to go see live music like Prince, it's a must.”

Most of the musicians who would create the Minneapolis Sound came from north Minneapolis. It was originally a predominantly Jewish neighborhood, but many black families landed there after fleeing the Jim Crow South in the 1970s. Great Migration. From the 1950s, it became an epicenter of musical talent.

1244 Russell Avenue North

Some the houses where Prince lived were destroyed, but the largest still standing is this modest brick house on Russell Avenue where Prince's friend and future bassistAndré Cymone lived. When Prince ran away from home at age 14, Cymone's mother let the aspiring musician live here as long as he stayed in school. He ended up living here from 1972 to 1977, and Prince, Cymone and their band, Grand Central, ended up in the basement. The house remains private, so visitors must maintain a respectful distance.

Built in 1927, The Capri Theater made history in 1979 with two Prince shows that marked the beginning of his fame. “The Capri Theater was his first show as a solo artist,” says Swensson. “He had probably played 100 shows with his high school band, but it was his first time on stage as Prince, and the Warner Brothers. The executives were there, so it was a big moment.”

Prince grew up primarily in north Minneapolis, he also spent a lot of time in south Minneapolis, where he went to school, recorded his first demos and albums, and lived occasionally.

When leaving the city center, be sure to stop at Electric fetus, Prince's favorite record store. It opened in 1968 and has been a mainstay ever since. Five days before Prince's death, on “Record Store Day”, he arrived and I bought six CDs by Joni Mitchell, Stevie Wonder, Santana and others.

If you've seen Purple Rain, you know that “The Kid” lives in a rundown house near the railroad tracks. This house, located at 3420 Snelling Avenue S, used for exterior shots, was actually purchased by Prince the year before his death. Since then, it has been mostly empty. But from August 2024, it will be relaunched as a Prince-themed Airbnb, with The Revolution members Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman serving as hosts. If you are unable to get a reservation, you can also try the PrinceLuv Studio, a homestay filled with Prince-inspired books and art. It is run by Michele Streitz, who worked for Prince in the late 1980s and who manages The Princes Museum, a personal collection of Prince memorabilia and art, by appointment only. “All of us [Minneapolis artists] worked for Prince or done projects for him,” she said.

Rudolph and Sebastian Joe

At 1933 Lyndale Avenue is located Rudolph's Bar-B-Que. The restaurant closed in 2018, but the building still stands and was Prince's favorite restaurant, according to journalist Neal Karlen, author of This thing called life: The Prince's Odyssey, on record and off record. Karlen first profiled Prince in Rolling Stone in 1985, and the two met several times at Rudolph's house. After dinner, they walked down the street to Sébastien Joe's. “He loved Sebastian Joe’s,” Karlen says. “He said it was his favorite place to get ice cream.” His favorite flavor? Mint chocolate chips.

No visit to the land of Princes would be complete without a stop at Paisley Parkthe huge studio house/compound that Prince built in the cornfields of Chanhassen in 1987. It's not exactly an architectural gem, and the visits are expensive, but worth it. Depending on how much you want to pay, you can see Prince's studio, office, and soundstage. Paisley Park is also the epicenter of Celebration 2024which, in addition to two performances by The Revolution, this year also features concerts by New Power Generation (Prince's backing band from 1990 to 2013), Prince's close friend and musical collaborator Morris Day, and the Former bandmate Liv Warfield.

In the 1990s, Prince opened a pop-up music and memorabilia store in Uptown, a Minneapolis neighborhood he loved andsung. Today, the closest thing to it is The Prince store at the Minneapolis-Saint Paul Airport, which opened in 2019 for a two-year period. The launch went off without fanfare, but there were so many fans lined up that they opened 45 minutes early. It's the perfect stop when entering or leaving the city that made Prince and will remember him forever.