Ep. 14 - Your Prince Stories
- 6 days ago
- 11 min read
Over the course of his 57 years on this earth, musical legend and icon Prince Rogers Nelson crossed paths with countless people. We put out a call on social media asking for people's stories about their own encounters with Prince, and listeners, you delivered. Listen on as we share these listener tales.
We want to greatly thank each and every one of you who took the time to write in. You can read all the submissions in full below:
[all spelling and punctuation in original]
Okay then, keep your secrets
I have a ton of Prince stories 🤣🤣🤣 too many to tell
***
Yes, but out of respect I keep those stories to my close friends and myself. My memories about Prince and others are about people simply being people. I am sure others have much more interesting and exciting ones to share - if they decide to.
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Before He Was Big
My grandmother's friend Ada lived in the neighborhood where he grew up in north Minneapolis. Ada is 100 years old now, and still recalls him as young Prince Nelson.
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My sister lived across the street from his grandmother.
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i had a friend that used to carr for him when he was a youngster
_
sorry babysit for him when he was a youngster. Oh ai sometimes does not want to act right. Carr?
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I went to school with Prince at Bryant Jr High and Central. Didn't know him well but he did get my face on TV!
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He played at Burnsville High School for Black Week. Everyone got to see him before he was famous!
Reply
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My sister and brother attended Central High when he was there and my sister hung around grand Central. My husband’s band recorded next to Prince in 1976. I think it may have been Moon Sound. My husband-to-be came home and said that a 17 year old recorded next to them and played all the instruments and sang all the parts to all the songs. I told him that must have been Prince who grew up
I’m our neighborhood!
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My real father was in bands that played the same venues as Prince in the early years of his career. They dated some of the same women. They did NOT like each other.
My real father is convinced the song “the Beautiful Ones” is about this. If anyone referred to Prince by name or a song to it was met with mumbling anger over Prince’s fame. I can only imagine how angry he is that Prince isn’t just a famous person but has Legend level status now. lol 😂
He could be a prick
The only stories acquaintances ever told me about their interactions with him were about how he was a world class prick.
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[reply to above]
you are correct, sir. First hand unfortunately
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As a local music industry professional, you don't want to hear my Prince stories.
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there's plenty of people who are very private people that don't treat people like crap like he did. The professionals who directly worked with him were put through hell.
Back in the 80s
I’m 46 now and one of my earliest memories is of me watching my Aunt … wash the purple out of her hair after attending a Prince concert!
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During college in the mid-eighties, I frequently visited First Avenue. One night, I was walking down the long circular dark ramp from upstairs. It was crowded and I was kind of walking on the wrong side. In the dim light, I ran right into this rather short guy. As I turned around to apologize, it was of course Mr. Nelson himself. That's the only time I ever ran into him.
It was Memorial Day weekend, 1983, and I had moved to the Twin Cities the year before.
Earlier that week, a friend in South Minneapolis had sent an invitation to a party that Saturday afternoon for anyone still in town. So I headed over to the Uptown area of Minneapolis in the morning to hang out in this area of funky shops, places to eat, and record stores before heading to the gathering.
Uptown was practically dead. Few people can be found anywhere. Certainly, this lent credence to this new Minnesotan that as few people as possible spent the first major summer holiday weekend in the city. I walked around a bit, looked in a store or two, then headed to the biggest record store on Lake Street.
I was the only car parked in front of the store. I went in, nodded to the bored 20-year-old behind the cash register, and headed to the record stacks. There was only one other customer in this huge store.
What a selection! With so much music to choose from, I took my time looking. About a half hour later, I found myself in the Broadway show tunes section of the stacks. Great old classics: Guys and Dolls, South Pacific, Oklahoma, West Side Story.
As I was flipping through the records, I noticed three more people had come into the store, two really beautiful, tall African-American women in wild, colorful outfits with lots of jewelry, and a guy with them. They were laughing loudly but quieted quickly when they started to move around the store.
I was still going through the Broadway albums when a smallish gentleman came up next to me and started to browse through the record stack next to the one I was at. I had just picked up an original pressing of the 1962 musical "Showboat" cast album and noticed the great condition and color reproduction (yes, I’m a graphic designer), and had just put it back down in the bin. The guy picks it up and starts to admire it. I turn to him to mention how great the songs from that show were.
It was Prince.
I held in my double-take the best I could and continued my comment about the album. To my surprise, he answered back. We talked about how we both loved the 1962 musical "Showboat." He said many of the great songwriters of the day worked on Broadway back then, and I agreed. After a couple of minutes of conversation, we nodded to each other in that guy-to-guy way of saying “we're done here” and both moved on to searching for new records.
Prince and the two women accompanying him stayed for another 15 minutes, buying a few records. I saw the kid behind the counter grab a Prince album and have him sign it. I thought about doing the same, but didn’t.
They left the store and the kid behind the counter, and I followed them out. There were only two cars on the street: my Honda and the black Corvette parked in front of me. The three of them got into the two-seat car and, with a bit of wheel screeching, sped away.
Prince bought the “Showboat" album. I already had a copy.
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I met Prince when I was an extra for Purple rain and because my last name is Carnes and Kim Carnes is my cousin Prince and I became friends
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My uncle was a makeup artist for Purple Rain. My family is from the same area as Mr. Nelson was. That was Prince's last name.
Met him a handful of times when I was a teenager.
Ive always been a huge Prince fan.
I love people who are unapologetically themselves.
And he was straight up FREAKY!! I love that, tooooooo!
In Concert
Seen many times at Uncle Sam’s .. It got to a point where he would close the club down and play privately for an exclusive audience
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I worked with Jerome Benton sister, in early 80’s she asked if I wanted to go to a concert I said sure it turned out to be Prince, Vanity Six and Morris Day and the time !!! We were invited backstage to meet the musicians and performers!! Jerome holds the mirror for Morris Day! Her other b is Terry Lewis what a night!!!
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I grew up in Arkansas. My wife at the time was a huge Prince fan. He was playing a show in Little Rock in 1998; I didn't have enough money to buy two tickets, so I bought one for my wife. I took her to the show, and we went by where the local radio station was set up. We sorta knew some of the DJs , and one was a huge Prince fan. He gave me a ticket to get into the show. He also told me that Prince was going to be at a club after the show.
We went to the show, and it was phenomenal. After the show, we went to the club. We ended up inside, by the back door, when Prince walked in. He walked by about three feet from where we were standing.
I became a fan after that, and an even bigger fan after I moved to the cities.
***
I was one of the caterers for the Paisley Park New years party where he premiered Sign of the Times in 1987. Great show, worked all night.
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Very briefly at Glam Slam early 90’s. He was beautiful and I was struck by how petite he was. 💜
Prince Crashes Lionel Richie and Sheila E. Concert
My first time seeing Prince live as a kid, and I’ll never forget it. Sheila did Erotic City solo, early in the set, and Prince came out and did Kiss with her. I seem to remember her dedicating it to her “main main.” He came out like a whirling dervish in a fuschia suit, did a spin, and the jacket went flying into the crowd. He stole the entire show in a matter of seconds, and everyone sat there dumbstruck after it was over.
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My buddy has Prince’s fuschia colored coat he threw into crowd during Sheila E/Lionel Ritchie concert Oct 1986
*** [Replies to above]
-Was there with girlfriend
-I was there . . . we stood on the right side of the stage. Who knows where our seats were or if we even went to them.
A Brush With Stardom
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It was the summer of 1991, and we were in the show Dracula on the U of MN Centennial Showboat, so all of our schedules were reversed; we'd stay up all night and sleep all day.
My friend Greg and I would therefore take a walk around Lake of the Isles every night (early morning) at 2:00 AM. We were almost always the only people around.
One night we saw a limo pass us and then park. Two people got out and started walking toward the path. When they got in view, I said:
"Huh, that's Prince."
And Greg said:
"Yup."
When we passed him and his date going in the opposite direction, Prince, Greg, and I all did the little chin tilt 'sup' greeting and went on our separate ways. Very Minnesotan lol.
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25 years ago I worked for Waste Management and would go pick up trash at Princes’ house in Chanhassen.
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We lived in Shorewood, just a few miles from Paisley Park. We also frequently drove down Galpin Road, and one time our 3-year old daughter said, "There's the King's house!" pointing off toward the east side of the road. I was puzzled until I described the event to our nanny, who said, "Oh that's where I always point out Prince's house."
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I was alongside him at a stoplight in Eden Prairie. He was on a motorcycle with a fairing and stereo (not the one from the movie/videos) and jamming out to himself. He did turn his head and smile just before leaving me in his dust.
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His agent once called the [James J.] Hill House when I was working at the front desk! They said he was interested in using the house in a Prince music video, but it didn't happen though, cause they wanted to shoot it the very next day... this was in 2012. But I think his agent spoke to . . . . .whoever was program supervisor at the time. I think the restrictions on what they were and were not allowed to do at a historic site may have played a role in them declining.
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I did not meet Prince Personally. But,I met Big Chick downtown outside First Ave. When I was still in High school & he got my friend & I hired as Extras in the Filming of Purple Rain!! I was 18..💜🎶🎶🙏
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I was living in Boston and went to see Prince at the Wooster Centrum (big suburb). Woulda been 1985ish. My bestie and I rented a car to drive out there, but of course we’re late and had no idea where we were going (pre-GPS days). We saw a white limo and thought - let’s follow that and cause out here in Wooster, there is only one place it’s going. We pulled up alongside and noted that there were roses etched in the frosted windows. When we got beside the driver, he rolled down his window and was an oversized dude who said with his eyes, What the f* are you young ladies up to? Silly young girls that we were, we drove off screaming, found the stadium and got to our seats exactly when Prince took the stage. Surely we were following the Purple One, himself.
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The first time I met Prince was back in about 1998/99. I was working the overnight shift at O'Sullivan's in Navarre. For those not overly familiar, this would be one of the ways to get to Paisley from downtown, and it's a bit more scenic this way as you go around Lake Minnetonka.
This big black limo pulls in and a massive human being steps out of the driver seat and comes inside. He proceeds to grab 6 whip cream spray cans (lol!) and starts checking out. A couple minutes later the door on the back of the limo opens and Prince steps out, walks in, and grabs as much water as he can carry and brings it to the register.
Full transparency, I transplanted here when I was 13. While I was vaguely aware of Prince and recognized him, I really didn't know much about him. I said hi, asked if he was coming back from a show (he was, 1st ave), fan boyed a little, and was completely taken aback how a human that smol had such a ridiculously deep voice. Nice dude, seemed fairly down to earth even if blazed outta his mind at the time 😄 been a fan ever since, and was lucky enough to run into him another couple times briefly before he passed. (He, of course, didn't recognize me, but I'll never forget)
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I worked for 20+ years out at Chanhassen Dinners Theatres, and there were many sightings there over the years. A castmate of mine went to the Lund's/Byerly's across from the theatre late one night, after our show. She rounded a corner in the store, and saw down the aisle what she initially thought was a beautifully groomed woman with two big dudes --- but she realized quickly that the perfectly coifed, high-heeled person was Prince. She followed at a discreet distance and stood behind him in the checkout as one of the big dudes paid for Prince's cookies, and then they whisked him out to a waiting limo💜💜🍪🍪💜💜
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I was in high school visiting a friend who worked at a gas station down the road. Prince pulled up on his motorcycle, came in to pay and chatted with us and invited us to come to Paisley Park, he was doing a show at 2:30am. One if my biggest regrets was not going. 😭
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Minnesota Unknown is produced, hosted, written, and researched by Alex Weston, Hannah Norton, and Josie Bergmann. This episode was edited by Alex Weston. Our theme song is by Union Shakedown. This episode is copyright 2026 by Minnesota Unknown, LLC. All rights reserved.
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