By Keosha Thomas
This week, I was invited to be a part of Prince’s fifth anniversary of his passing with exclusive access to his 65,000-square-foot creative sanctuary, studio and home known as Paisley Park located in Chanhassen, MN. ( It was a life changing experience being a part of Prince History.)
The Paisley Park studio atrium was open to 1,400 guests who had made free reservations to attend the Sold Out: Prince Remembrance event.
The lucky winners of these special tickets were provided designated time slots from 9am-9pm to stand in front of Prince’s custom made ceramic urn customized with his Paisley Park home design with a bling purple and crystal Prince Symbol. Other fans remained outside the front doors and left memorabilia, flowers and special messages at his famous purple Love Symbol.
After paying your respects, the Paisley Park staff walked you outside to an area where you were provided tissue and a moment to fellowship with other fans as well as an opportunity to write a special message that would later go into Prince’s archives for Paisley Park.
When Prince wrote the song “Paisley Park” (featured on Around the World in a Day, released 1985) he envisioned a place of love and peace, where there are not any rules or limitations for creativity. The lyrics became a reality when Paisley Park opened its doors in 1987.
Dj EL Monte, founder of TheDJs of the Craft ( Masonic Affiliated DJ Coalition), drove 6 hours from Chicago. “On April 20th it was my first time at Paisley Park . I have always loved all of Prince’s music and respected his creativity. I wanted to be with and a part of all the memorials at his home. I went on the tour and I was most impressed with the studio where he would work on his music late at night,” he said. “That showed his love and dedication to the music he loved and then hearing he loved to share randomly by having concerts in his home by giving fans 2 hour notice was cool. Much respect to Prince. Peace be unto Prince!”
Prince fan Melanie Bullock said, “I flew in from Los Angeles to pay tribute to Prince. It has been 5 years since Prince has passed and today was a day to honor him and a celebration of his life and remembering everything he gave us with his music and legacy and honoring and cherishing his memory.”
For nearly 30 years, the facility served as Prince’s home, creative sanctuary, and production complex. Fulfilling Prince’s vision that Paisley Park would one day be open to the public, the venue today welcomes fans, musicians, and audiophiles for tours, concerts, festivals, and special events.
Overall, today you could feel the Purple love, spirit and respect at Paisley Park for our Dearly Beloved Prince! The world will forever adore Prince!
For those who didn’t make it today and would love to see Paisley Park one day. I strongly advise you to plan a trip and see the beautiful sanctuary for yourself.
The sanctuary displays hundreds of Prince’s personal items including iconic clothing, numerous awards, handwritten pages, musical instruments, vehicles, and rare music and video recordings.
Paisley Park can be experienced through three tour types: The Paisley Experience, The VIP Experience, and The Ultimate Experience. Tour tickets start at $45 and can be purchased online at PaisleyPark.com, or in person.
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