Step Inside Prince’s Paisley Park Complex With ‘Today’ Tour
Prince‘s Paisley Park complex in Chanhassen, Minnesota opens to the public for the first time Thursday – after a brief delay – as a museum and tribute to the late artist’s legacy. Before the purple doors officially open, Today‘s Al Roker took a tour of the massive facility, which has been left largely untouched since Prince‘s April 21st death.
The weatherman takes viewers on a behind-the-scenes tour of the property, from the control room of Paisley Park’s Studio A – where Prince’s handwritten notes still rest on the console – to the “Purple Rain Room,” a space bathed in Prince’s trademark hue that features the film’s motorcycle, script and Best Original Song Score Academy Award. The 1984 film is also projected in an endless loop on the purple walls.
The complex also includes the NPG Music Club, Prince’s basketball court-turned-music venue.
“He did plan it to be a museum. Everything is strategically placed,” Prince’s sister Sharon Nelson told Roker. Prince’s sister Tyka Nelson added, “I want them to maybe feel like maybe they saw Prince up close, Sometimes when you’re a fan, you get to only to see them from a seat, but this way, you’re almost face-to-face with him.”
In a separate interview with Entertainment Tonight, Tyka Nelson further discussed the Paisley Park museum as well as when fans might start hearing unreleased music from Prince’s stocked vaults.
“We’re going to pull it up and we’re going to remix it and we’re going to get it out,” Nelson said, adding that the posthumous releases would arrive “as soon as possible.”