Minneapolis · 1958–2016
Mixing 50% 1982 into 50% 1988.
Twelve pads · one player
Each pad is a real place, in the order it entered his life. Press Play to run the pattern from the piano to Paisley Park, or use keys 1 to 0, - and =.
PRN-12 · Minneapolis
2620 8th Avenue North · Willard-Hay, north Minneapolis
Six years old in a new house, he teaches himself the piano.
The Nelson family lived here from March 1965 to 1970; Prince was six when they moved in.
He learned to play the piano here and began to write and perform.
A private home: it is not open to visitors. The city protects the outside only.
North Minneapolis · Seward · 4th Avenue South
1965
The Nelson family lived here from March 1965 to 1970; Prince was six when they moved in. He learned to play the piano here and began to write and perform.
2620 8th Avenue North. A private home: it is not open to visitors. The city protects the outside only.
1976–77
Between December 1976 and April 1977 Prince recorded demo tapes here, playing every instrument himself.
He signed with Warner Bros. on 25 June 1977 and came back that September to begin his first album, For You.
Not open to the public: Orfield Laboratories works in the building. See it from the street.
2016
The shop opened in 1968; Prince was its most famous customer and called it the “wrecka stow”. On Record Store Day 2016, days before he died, he bought six CDs here, among them Stevie Wonder’s Talking Book and Joni Mitchell’s Hejira.
1 of 6: Talking Book, Stevie Wonder
A working record shop on 4th Avenue South, with a small stage at the back; check the hours before you go.
701 First Avenue North
One star on this wall is gold. Find it.
A working club: see a show. The stars are painted on the outside walls, free to see from the pavement. Across the street, a 100-foot mural by Hiero Veiga on Ramp A shows him in 1977, 1985 and 2009; it was finished in 2022.
Downtown Minneapolis
At 601 North 1st Avenue, across from First Avenue, with a skyway into downtown. Pictured: the star wall over the street.
Check roomsPurple Rain, 1984
In Purple Rain, the Kid tells Apollonia to purify herself in the waters of Lake Minnetonka.
The scene was actually filmed on the Minnesota River near Henderson. Los Angeles’s tourism board says the sequence was also partly shot in Franklin Canyon Park.
Free: Excelsior Commons is a public park on the lake, with a sand beach.
London 2007 · Inglewood 2011
Tear a stub for each night.
In 2007 he played 21 nights here, his only shows in Europe that year. Tickets cost £31.21, and each came with a copy of his new album, the follow-up to 3121.
A working arena: open for concerts and events.
Studio 3
“When Doves Cry”, “Take Me With U”, “The Beautiful Ones” and the strings of “Purple Rain” were recorded in its Studio 3.
He also recorded here for Controversy, 1999, Around the World in a Day, Parade and Sign o’ the Times.
A working studio, not open to visitors: see it from Sunset Boulevard.
Miami Gardens · 4 February 2007
He played the Super Bowl XLI half-time show here on 4 February 2007, in the rain. In 2015 Billboard called it the greatest half-time show ever.
Rain: dry.
“Can you make it rain harder?”
The stadium was Dolphin Stadium then; it took the name Hard Rock Stadium in 2016. A working stadium: open for games and concerts.
Atlanta · 14 April 2016
On 14 April 2016 he played two sold-out shows here, alone with a piano and a microphone.
They had been put back a week; he played through flu-like symptoms the audience did not see.
A working theatre; guided tours run about an hour.
Atlanta · About one hour · stairs included
About an hour inside the theatre where he played his last two full concerts; holiday tours run from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Eve.
See the tours7801 Audubon Road, Chanhassen
His studio, home and concert hall, about 30 minutes from downtown Minneapolis. Prince died here on 21 April 2016, at 57; it opened as a museum that October.
Tours take in the studios, the NPG Music Club, the soundstage and the concert hall; the longest goes into Studios A, B and C.
“I like Hollywood. I just like Minneapolis a little bit better.”
Guided tours Thursday to Monday, timed tickets bought online in advance: $75–$199 before fees. Phones go in a sealed pouch.
Chanhassen · Thursday–Monday · $75–$199 before fees
Ninety minutes through the studios, the NPG Music Club, the soundstage and the concert hall. The VIP and Ultimate tours go further into the archive and Studios A, B and C.
Timed tickets on sale to 28 February 2027 · no children under 7
Book a tourChanhassen
Less than a mile from Paisley Park, on Highway 5. The hotel offers 15% off Thursday to Sunday with the code PAISLEY. Pictured: Paisley Park.
Check rooms
11 places you can visit. His family’s house on 8th Avenue North and the Purple Rain house are private homes and are not on the map.
Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.
General reference · Restricted access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Not open to the public: Orfield Laboratories works in the building. See it from the street.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A working club: see a show. The stars are painted on the outside walls, free to see from the pavement.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A working record shop on 4th Avenue South, with a small stage at the back; check the hours before you go.
Seward, Minneapolis
Between December 1976 and April 1977 Prince recorded demo tapes here, playing every instrument himself.
Not open to the public: Orfield Laboratories works in the building. See it from the street.
701 First Avenue North, Minneapolis
The building opened as the Greyhound bus depot in 1937 and as a club, the Depot, on 3 April 1970.
A working club: see a show. The stars are painted on the outside walls, free to see from the pavement.
2000 4th Avenue South, Minneapolis
The shop opened in 1968; Prince was its most famous customer and called it the “wrecka stow”.
A working record shop on 4th Avenue South, with a small stage at the back; check the hours before you go.
Stay
A hotel under a mile from Paisley Park, and one across the street from First Avenue.
Chanhassen
Less than a mile from Paisley Park, on Highway 5. The hotel offers 15% off Thursday to Sunday with the code PAISLEY. Pictured: Paisley Park.
Check roomsDowntown Minneapolis
At 601 North 1st Avenue, across from First Avenue, with a skyway into downtown. Pictured: the star wall over the street.
Check roomsGo there
Paisley Park’s three tours, the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, and Minneapolis tours on the open market.
Chanhassen · Thursday–Monday · $75–$199 before fees
Ninety minutes through the studios, the NPG Music Club, the soundstage and the concert hall. The VIP and Ultimate tours go further into the archive and Studios A, B and C.
Timed tickets on sale to 28 February 2027 · no children under 7
Book a tourAtlanta · About one hour · stairs included
About an hour inside the theatre where he played his last two full concerts; holiday tours run from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Eve.
See the toursMinneapolis
Live marketplace results for Prince and Minneapolis music tours. Check each itinerary.
Live marketplace results · itineraries change
Compare toursWhat’s on
The musical opens on Broadway in spring 2027.
Checking current event dates…
Take it home
Original Purple Rain and Graffiti Bridge posters from our store, his memoir, Alan Light’s book and three LPs.
The big French poster for the film, 120 × 160 cm, from 1984.
In stock
View posterThe same 1984 French design, 40 × 60 cm.
In stock
View posterThe 1990 sequel, which put his Glam Slam club on film.
In stock
View posterA 1993 concert poster, art by Arlene Owseichik and Jeff Lockhart.
In stock
View posterPrince, edited by Dan Piepenbring
His own book, unfinished: the memoir he had begun before he died.
Find the bookAlan Light
The making of the album and the film.
Find the bookPrince and the Revolution · LP, Warner Bros., 1984
Ends on the title song, recorded live at First Avenue.
Live marketplace search · listings and condition change
Find a copyPrince · 2LP, Warner Bros., 1982
Partly recorded at Sunset Sound.
Live marketplace search · listings and condition change
Find a copyPrince · 2LP, Paisley Park, 1987
On his own Paisley Park label.
Live marketplace search · listings and condition change
Find a copyDates, prices, rooms and stock change: confirm with the provider before you travel or buy. A stay or tour is described as a filming location only where the card says so.
Every place and moment behind this page, with sources.
13 of 13 places · 17 of 17 Moments
Willard-Hay, north Minneapolis
Six years old in a new house, he teaches himself the piano.
Seward, Minneapolis
He records his demos playing every instrument himself.
He signs with Warner Bros. and returns to make For You.
701 First Avenue North, Minneapolis
He records the song at a benefit show; the edit becomes the album track.
First Avenue closes for the Purple Rain shoot.
His star on the wall is painted gold.
2000 4th Avenue South, Minneapolis
He buys six CDs at his record shop.
Snelling Avenue South, Minneapolis
The Kid’s house in the film, bought back by his company decades later.
7801 Audubon Road, Chanhassen
He dies at Paisley Park; it opens as a museum that October.
Excelsior Commons, Excelsior
The Kid tells Apollonia to purify herself in the lake.
Henderson, Sibley County
The lake scene is shot on the Minnesota River near Henderson.
Henderson names part of a road after the film.
6650 Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood
“When Doves Cry” is recorded in Studio 3.
3900 West Manchester Boulevard, Inglewood
The 21 Nite Stand at the Forum.
Greenwich Peninsula, London
Twenty-one nights at £31.21 a ticket.
347 Don Shula Drive, Miami Gardens
He plays the half-time show in a downpour and ends on “Purple Rain”.
660 Peachtree Street NE, Atlanta
His last two full concerts.
.png){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
-104A8449.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}