Today, Local Spins revisits the remarkable career of an American legend, showcases the continued popularity of Minnesota’s Paisley Park and traces West Michigan connections to The Purple One.
The Purple One, The High Priest of Pop: Prince, as depicted in a display at Paisley Park outside Minneapolis. (Photo/Local Spins)
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When visitors enter Paisley Park outside Minneapolis, they’re immediately immersed into the awe-inspiring kingdom of Prince.
Bathed in purple hues seemingly everywhere amid the sprawling residence, museum, recording studio and music venue once occupied by The Purple One, the unusual memorial to the influential guitar virtuoso and funk royalty regularly sells out daily tours packed with diehard fans from across the globe.
The curiosity seekers not only revel in the discovery of insights into the genius of Prince Rogers Nelson, who tragically passed away from a fentanyl overdose at age 57 exactly nine years ago Monday (April 21), but take home little pieces of his legacy souvenir-wise.
His iconic, trailblazing albums speak for themselves — “Purple Rain,” “Sign O’ The Times,” “Dirty Mind,” “1999” — but there’s something about strolling amid his hallowed environs and breathing Paisley Park air that cements the fan-superstar relationship.
Prince’s Castle: The author outside Paisley Park. (Photo/Local Spins)
The musical wizardry of Prince emanates from every nook and cranny inside Paisley Park as tour guides unearth historical milestones from the artist’s four-decade-long career, giving glimpses into his infectious-yet-mysterious personality via his impressive office, stunning recording studio and in-house nightclub that regularly entertained small cadres of devoted fans for impromptu weeknight concerts over the years.
One of those devotees happens to be a West Michigan super-fan who saw Prince in concert many times over the years and spent long hours at Paisley Park.
Jack Reedy. owner of Lowell’s Rookies Sportscards Plus, had listened to Prince since he was a teen, but became wholly entranced by his music via the 1989 “Batman” album and started exploring Prince’s back catalog.
“Bought his albums on release day from that day on, and I enjoyed new music from him every year until his death in 2016,” he said, noting he also saw him in concert about 20 times across the country, starting with a 1997 Detroit Fox Theatre show.
INTIMATE PAISLEY PARK CONCERTS AND TREATING FANS TO THE MOVIES
The highlight? A week-long Paisley Park celebration that included several live shows by Prince, culminating in an all-acoustic affair at the intimate venue. “(Prince) then treated my wife and I and around 300 fellow fans to a movie at the local Chanhassen Theater. He told us he felt like a movie and to follow the limousine. He had rented out two screens for all of us at 2 a.m. at the local cinema,” Reedy recalled. “Yup, Prince took me to the movies.”
Jack Reedy: With a replica “Cloud” guitar. (Courtesy Photo)
Prince often played at Paisley Park on weekends “with little to no advance notice,” Reedy said, noting he and his wife once waited outside in hopes of a show. The doors opened around midnight and fans were allowed to enter for free.
“Prince treated us to an entire night of deep cuts and cover songs. Elvis’ ‘Teddy Bear,’ I can remember. We were there until the sun came up the next morning,” He said. “Did we just spend the night at Paisley Park? We couldn’t believe it.”
Reedy likened Paisley Park to “Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory for Prince fans,” a place “where he could live a life of constant musical creation” and an impressive building still filled with instruments, clothing and artifacts.
“Prince could do so much, so well: multi-instrumentalist, including one of the great guitar players in rock. He was a world-class talent as a songwriter, vocalist, producer, bandleader. He’s generally acknowledged as a musical genius,” Reedy said.
“He was also unbelievably prolific, constantly recording and performing through his whole life. He was fearless as an artist, and often fought for artists rights, while also having enjoyed immense commercial success. The No. 1 reason he’s a legend to me? His live performances. And his screams. Best screams in the business!”
TOURING WITH ‘CRAZY CREATIVE’ PRINCE AS A SOUND ENGINEER
Another Michigander had an even closer and more significant relationship with Prince.
Grand Haven’s Bill Chrysler, founder of Third Coast Recording Co. and a longtime touring sound engineer with John Mayer, Maroon 5, Madonna, Paul McCartney and other stars, handled stage sound on tour with Prince in the late 1990s.
Bill Chrysler (Photo/Loren Johnson)
“He was demanding and commanding and crazy creative and talented,” he recalled of the diminutive and “odd” musician. “Not your run-of-the-mill, every-day pop/rock star.
“I definitely have distinct and fond memories of my time with him. … He liked me, so we talked often, but (for) some crew members that were with him for years, he didn’t even know their name.”
Chrysler also spent a lot of time on the sound stage at Paisley Park in Minnesota where Prince and his band could do “a full arena stage set-up” for upcoming tours, including sound and lighting.
Paisley Park, he said, stands as an “important place for the music scene. … I’ve wandered the building, including the storage and garage below. Found some cool stuff down there.”
As for the concert tours themselves, Prince “had a strange way of booking tours and would often postpone or cancel a tour that was in process for any number of odd reasons,” Chrysler recalled.
Of course, Prince’s stage performances — from memorable tours across the globe to his much-ballyhooed 2007 half-time show at Super Bowl XLI and stunning guitar work during an all-star Rock and Roll Hall of Fame rendition of “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” (view below) — were much-buzzed-about milestones.
Prized Memorabilia: Reedy with the jacket Prince wore on the Arsenio Hall Show. (Courtesy Photo)
Rolling Stone ranked Prince No. 27 on the magazine’s list of 100 Greatest Artists and No. 16 on a list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time. And a 2003 Rolling Stone roster of the all-time greatest albums of all time featured four Prince recordings.
While controversy dogged Prince during his career (his famous feud with Warner Bros. that led him to adopt the ‘Love Symbol’ as his stage name, various copyright disputes and more) and after his death (counterfeit pills containing fentanyl made to look like painkillers that led to his overdose; lack of a will that led to all sorts of claims to his estate), his music influenced an entire generation of superstar artists, including Beyonce, Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars, Rihanna, Usher, D’Angelo, St. Vincent, Lenny Kravitz and untold others.
Paisley Park continues to celebrate that history-making music, hosting “Prince Celebration 2025” June 5-8 at Paisley Park and in downtown Minneapolis with performances by Morris Day & The Time, Jesse Johnson, The Family, Johnny Venus and more. Get details and tickets online here.
In tribute to Prince and to recognize the 9th anniversary of his death, Local Spins asked Reedy for his Top 9 list of under-the-radar Prince songs. Check them out via Spotify below.
VIDEO: “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” Tribute to George Harrison
2004 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
Prince, Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne, Steve Winwood, Dhani Harrison
VIDEO: “Purple Rain (Live),” Prince & The Revolution
PRINCE: Jack Reedy’s Top 9 ‘Under-the-Radar’ Playlist on Spotify
Inside Paisley Park: Artifacts, photos, videos, outfits and more. (Photo/Local Spins)
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