Black-and-white photograph of a man with curly dark hair in a ruffled shirt and studded jacket, moving through a blurred crowd — Prince in a Warner Bros. press photograph, 25 July 1984. Gary Leonard; distributed by Warner Bros. · Public domain

Minneapolis · filmed November–December 1983 · released 27 July 1984

Purple Rain

Prince in a press photograph, 1984. Warner Bros. press photograph · Public domain
Prince The Kid
Apollonia Kotero at the Purple Rain premiere, July 1984. Ellen Jaskol, Los Angeles Times · CC BY 4.0
Apollonia Kotero Apollonia
Morris Day in a press photograph, 1985. Warner Bros. press photograph · Public domain
Morris Day Morris
The Uptown Theatre tower on Hennepin Avenue, Minneapolis, photographed by John Margolies in 1984. John Margolies · Public domain
Hennepin Avenue 1984

Drizzle over Minneapolis, 1984.

Directed by Albert Magnoli, his first feature. Photographs from 1984–85: Warner Bros. press photograph (Public domain); Ellen Jaskol, Los Angeles Times (CC BY 4.0); Warner Bros. press photograph (Public domain); Hennepin Avenue, John Margolies (Public domain).

Who was here

1The shoot

Seven weeks in Minneapolis

3 Aug 1983The benefit The Minnesota Dance Theatre benefit supplies live recordings of Purple Rain, I Would Die 4 U and Baby, I’m a Star for the soundtrack.
1 Nov 1983First day Principal photography begins in Minneapolis on 1 November 1983 and runs about seven weeks, on a $7 million budget.
1983A first feature Albert Magnoli had no feature credits when he was hired; he had made an award-winning student short, Jazz, at USC. He also edited the film.
1983Apollonia Patricia Kotero, a first-time actress, took the name Apollonia. The part had been written for Vanity.
26 Nov–20 DecThe club plays itself Many of the music performances are filmed at First Avenue, closed to the public for the shoot.

The black, star-covered corner building of First Avenue with its marquee — First Avenue from the street, 2005. sheldonschwartz / Mobile Objective · CC BY-SA 2.0

Prince rented the club for filming in the autumn of 1983, and it closed from 26 November to 20 December 1983 for the shoot. An edit of that night’s eleven-minute Purple Rain became the album version.

Call sheet

First Avenue

See a show at First Avenue

701 First Avenue North, Minneapolis · Mainroom 1,550 · 7th St Entry 250

The club still runs most nights: the Mainroom holds 1,550 and the 7th St Entry 250. The star wall is outside.

See what’s on

2The star wall

Paint a star

Silver stars on the black outside walls each carry the name of an artist who has played First Avenue or the 7th St Entry. When the club repainted the building in the summer of 2010, the stars came back with favourites past and present, and blank stars were kept for artists still to come. Here the blank stars are yours: each one you paint is a real place from the film.

The stars

701 First Avenue North

A wall of blank stars

Press any blank star. Silver goes on, a name goes in, and the place opens here.

Paint a star: 13 blank ones are waiting.

A black brick wall covered in painted silver stars with band names, around a doorway under a 7th St. Entry awning — The real wall: the 7th St Entry door, 2013. Tony Webster · CC BY-SA 4.0

A pale brick theatre front with a pink-lettered Orpheum marquee — The Orpheum Theatre on Hennepin Avenue, 2013. McGhiever · CC BY-SA 3.0

3Backstage

Down the road

The backstage and green-room scenes were filmed at the Orpheum, because First Avenue lacked the space. It is about 240 metres from the club’s door.

A working theatre. Hennepin Arts runs public tours that go backstage.

Call sheet

A glass-roofed atrium with trees, tables and an upper skyway level — The Crystal Court in the IDS Center, 2009. Randy Stern · CC BY 2.0

80 South 8th Street, Minneapolis

The skyway

Scenes were filmed on the skyway level of the glass-roofed Crystal Court.

Inside the IDS Center at 80 South 8th Street; the skyway level runs round the top of the court.

Call sheet

A blue lake edged with spring trees and the Minneapolis skyline in the distance — Cedar Lake, with downtown Minneapolis beyond, 2012. AlexiusHoratius · CC BY-SA 3.0

Cedar Lake, Minneapolis

The interiors

The interiors were shot on soundstages built in an abandoned locomotive repair shop on the shores of Cedar Lake.

Cedar Lake is a public lake in the city. The repair shop’s exact site is not given, so it is not on our map.

Call sheet

3420 Snelling Avenue South, Minneapolis

The Kid’s house

3420 Snelling Avenue South was The Kid’s house in the film. Prince bought it less than a year before he died; it needed a lot of work.

A private house: not open, and not on our map.

Call sheet

4The lake

That ain’t Lake Minnetonka

The film calls it Lake Minnetonka, west of the city. Move the sign to where it was shot.

The film calls this water Lake Minnetonka, out west of the city. The water on screen is somewhere else, in two places.

Move the sign along its rail, or press the place names under it.

5The bike

The bike

A long white and grey building complex behind a field and bare trees — Paisley Park from Audubon Road, 2018. Chris.Schiemann · CC BY-SA 4.0

7801 Audubon Road, Chanhassen

His own, at Paisley Park

Prince built Paisley Park in 1987, three years after the film. Its Purple Rain room, once Studio C, plays clips of the film and holds his motorbike from it.

A guided tour is the only way in. It takes in the atrium, Studio A, the Purple Rain room and the NPG Music Club. Guided tours only, booked ahead; closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. About 30 minutes from Minneapolis.

Call sheet

Paisley Park

Paisley Park tours

7801 Audubon Road, Chanhassen · Closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays

Guided only. The route takes in the atrium, Studio A, the Purple Rain room with his motorbike from the film, and the NPG Music Club. Paisley, VIP and Ultimate Experiences.

Tickets on sale to 28 February 2027

Book a tour

A downtown street between tall buildings, with a skyway bridge crossing it — Nicollet Mall, home of the Meet Minneapolis Visitor Center. Chad Davis · CC BY 2.0

505 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis

One of seven

The Purple Rain motorcycle on show here is one of seven replica bikes made by Ben Menth.

The bike is on show Tuesday to Saturday, 10am to 4pm.

Call sheet

A studio building and a water tower behind a quiet road junction, in soft hazy light — Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, in 1987. Images Alight · CC BY 2.0

3400 Warner Boulevard, Burbank

The cover, on a backlot

The photograph of Prince on his motorcycle used for the poster and the album cover was taken in Tenement Alley on the Warner Bros. backlot.

Inside the gate on a studio tour only. Tours run 8:30am to 3:30pm from 3400 Warner Boulevard.

Call sheet

Warner Bros.

Warner Bros. Studio Tour Hollywood

3400 Warner Boulevard, Burbank · From $79 · about 3 hours · 8:30am–3:30pm

About three hours on the Burbank lot, backlot streets included; which ones you see depends on what is filming. Pictured: the studio in 1987.

See the tours

6The opening

Two cities, one cut

MinneapolisCut 0

First Avenue: many of the film’s music performances take place at First Avenue.

Call sheet

A man in a pale double-breasted suit and tie holding his jacket open, black and white — Morris Day in a press photograph, 1985. Warner Bros. press photograph · Public domain

The Wiltern’s box office is behind Morris Day as he steps out of his yellow Cadillac. The motorcycle ride along the pavement was filmed just off Western Avenue.

A working concert venue: see a show. The Wiltern is a working concert venue at 3790 Wilshire Boulevard.

An ornate grey stone arch with a hanging lamp, against a dusk sky — An arch of the Cesar Chavez Avenue bridge over the Los Angeles River, 2008. Downtowngal · CC BY-SA 3.0

Cesar Chavez Avenue over the Los Angeles River

In the When Doves Cry montage, Prince rides along the railway under the 101 Freeway towards this bridge, less than a mile from Union Station.

A working road bridge: see the arches from the street. Keep off the railway.

Call sheet

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7Hollywood

The premiere

The pagoda-roofed Chinese Theatre with its red columns and a film title on the marquee — Mann’s Chinese Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard, photographed by Carol M. Highsmith. Carol M. Highsmith · Public domain

26 July 1984

The world premiere was at Mann’s Chinese Theatre on 26 July 1984. It opened in Los Angeles and New York the next day and took $7.7 million in its first four days.

In 2019 the Library of Congress added the film to the National Film Registry.

Now the TCL Chinese Theatre: a working cinema on Hollywood Boulevard.

Call sheet

A smiling young woman with long dark curled hair and hoop earrings, black and white — Apollonia Kotero at the Purple Rain premiere, July 1984. Ellen Jaskol, Los Angeles Times · CC BY 4.0

Patricia Kotero, a first-time actress, took the name Apollonia. The part had been written for Vanity.

8The encore

The encore

Named, not mapped

The Kid’s house 3420 Snelling Avenue South, Minneapolis. A private house: not open, and not on our map.

The Cedar Lake soundstages Cedar Lake is a public lake in the city. The repair shop’s exact site is not given, so it is not on our map.

Call sheet

Where it is now

11 places on the map: four downtown, all within 0.6 km of each other, two out of town and five in Los Angeles. The river is 68 km from the club as the crow flies.

Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.

General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A working club with two rooms: see a show. The star wall is on the outside, 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 theatre. Hennepin Arts runs public tours that go backstage.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Inside the IDS Center at 80 South 8th Street; the skyway level runs round the top of the court.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. The bike is on show Tuesday to Saturday, 10am to 4pm.

The 7th St Entry door in the black wall of stars, 2013. Tony Webster · CC BY-SA 4.0
701 First Avenue North, Minneapolis
First Avenue & 7th St Entry
Many of the film’s music performances take place at First Avenue.
A working club with two rooms: see a show. The star wall is on the outside, free to see from the pavement.
Call sheet
The Orpheum Theatre on Hennepin Avenue, 2013. McGhiever · CC BY-SA 3.0
910 Hennepin Avenue, Minneapolis
The Orpheum Theatre
The backstage and green-room scenes were filmed at the Orpheum, because First Avenue lacked the space.
A working theatre. Hennepin Arts runs public tours that go backstage.
Call sheet
The Crystal Court in the IDS Center, 2009. Randy Stern · CC BY 2.0
80 South 8th Street, Minneapolis
The Crystal Court, IDS Center
Scenes were filmed on the skyway level of the glass-roofed Crystal Court.
Inside the IDS Center at 80 South 8th Street; the skyway level runs round the top of the court.
Call sheet
Nicollet Mall, home of the Meet Minneapolis Visitor Center. Chad Davis · CC BY 2.0
505 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis
Meet Minneapolis Visitor Center
The Purple Rain motorcycle on show here is one of seven replica bikes made by Ben Menth.
The bike is on show Tuesday to Saturday, 10am to 4pm.
Call sheet

Stay

Across the street from the club.

A hotel facing First Avenue, joined to downtown by skyway.

The Lofton Hotel

Downtown Minneapolis

At 601 North 1st Avenue, across the street from First Avenue, and joined by skyway to the rest of downtown, the Crystal Court included. Pictured: First Avenue.

Check rooms

Go there