Yesterday, as protests over the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police spread across the nation, the Prince estate released a 2015 live recording from a “Dance Rally 4 Peace” the artist played with 3RDEYEGIRL at Paisley Park. The concert was held to honor the late Freddie Gray and support Baltimore protesters […]
Paisley Park has announced a film series showcasing “important films — each reflecting a profound moment in music and culture.” The three films, presented on successive Saturdays next month (Jan. 11, 18, and 25), are Wattstax, Amazing Grace, and Dave Chappelle’s Block Party. DJ afterparties will follow the first and third movies in the series. Announcing the […]
Paisley Park has announced the dates for the fourth annual Celebration, a festival that commemorates the life and legacy of Prince. After three years of April dates, the upcoming Celebration will move to June. The event, which features performances and panels with prominent Prince contributors and associates, will be held from June 4-7, 2020. As […]
Jon Bream at the Star Tribune has already used the obvious line, albeit a week prematurely: Elvis has left the building. Graceland Holdings’ unprecedented agreement to manage Paisley Park as a museum will come to an end this Sunday, Oct. 1, with Prince’s estate taking over. Publicly, at least, there are no hard feelings between […]
Paisley Park announced on Monday that the Chanhassen venue and museum will be dedicating Friday’s Paisley Park After Dark party to Piano & A Microphone 1983. The album, being released that day, is a collection of private rehearsal recordings including renditions of “Purple Rain” and “International Lover,” among many others. Three tracks from the album have already […]
Will Celebration return? It sure sounds like it, based on the questions that Graceland’s managing partner Joel Weinshanker asked attendees on Saturday — and the responses he got. “Who’s coming back next year?” he asked a full soundstage audience before the evening activities began at Paisley Park. Most hands shot up. “Okay,” he noted. “Next […]
A recent Washington Post article reports on the unease surrounding “the prospect of turning Paisley Park into Minnesota’s Graceland.” When I read that, my first thought was: is that really a bad thing? Blatantly commercialized as Graceland is, it’s given Elvis Presley’s home the status of an iconic landmark — and it’s solidified the status […]
Since 2016, Paisley Park has opened its doors to the public as a museum, allowing Prince fans to catch a glimpse of the icon’s life through exhibits of his personal belongings. Now, Paisley Park is looking to hire someone to maintain their collection of Prince artifacts. The job’s official title is archives supervisor. It is […]
Two recently surfaced videos offer a rare look inside Paisley Park circa the early 1990s. Michael Williams, then a VJ on the Canadian TV channel MuchMusic, visited the studio in 1992 — wearing a very 1992 sweater — to shoot an episode of his show Soul in the City. He knew he was at Prince’s […]
After 30 years, Prince’s legendary library of audio and video recordings — his “Vault” of largely unreleased music — has left the building. The building in question is Paisley Park, the Chanhassen studio where Prince did much of his recording and rehearsal after it was constructed in the mid-1980s, and where he was living in […]