 Paisley Park in 2015 | |
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| Established | September 11, 1987 |
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| Location | 7801 Audubon Rd Chanhassen, Minnesota, U.S. 55317 |
| Website | paisleypark |
Paisley Park is a 65,000 square foot estate in Chanhassen, Minnesota, United States, once owned by American musician Prince. It was opened to the public as a museum in October 2016.
Construction of the $10 million [1] complex began in January 1986, and officially opened on September 11, 1987. Designed by architecture firm BOTO Design Inc., of Santa Monica, California, the main designers were architect Brett Thoeny and acoustician Marshall Long. [2] [3] The complex shares its name with Prince's 1985 single, "Paisley Park". [4] [5]
The Paisley Park studio complex totalled 55,000 square feet by the early 1990s, and includes four recording studios, a 12,500 square-foot sound stage, a video editing suite, rehearsal room, offices, [2] tenant space, and an underground parking garage. Other amenities include an outdoor basketball court, [6] and living quarters. [7] [5]
Paisley Park's four recording studios are designated A, B, C, and D. Studio A is a 1,500 square-foot space and originally utilized a 48-channel mixing console, which was later replaced by a 64-channel SSL 6000E. Studio B is a 1,000 square-foot space that was, per Prince's specifications, patterned after Sunset Sound's Studio 3, with a custom-built Automated Processes, Inc. API mixing console. [8] Studio C has a 36-input Soundcraft TS24 console, and Studio D is a small DAW-based room. [2] [8]
Initially a private studio used by Prince and Paisley Park Records artists like The Time, Carmen Electra, Jill Jones, Sheila E. and others, Paisley Park's production facilities were used by numerous artists, including Tevin Campbell, Martika, Fine Young Cannibals, Barry Manilow, Steve Miller, Bee Gees, Chris Mars, BoDeans, Madonna, Bob Mould, George Clinton, George Benson, Stone Temple Pilots, Stevie Wonder, R.E.M., and A-ha. [9] [10]
After the Paisley Park Records label folded in 1994, Prince continued to live and record at Paisley Park Studios, and he intended to establish Paisley Park as a public venue like Graceland. [11] He was found dead in his estate's elevator on April 21, 2016. [12]
In the basement of Paisley Park there is a vault that held unreleased material, hundreds of hours of live recordings, music videos, and unheard songs. [13] [14] The contents of the vault have been since removed and relocated to a studio in Los Angeles to be restored, remastered, and stored in climate-controlled conditions to be used for later releases.
An urn in the shape of Paisley Park which contains Prince's ashes was on display in Paisley Park's main entrance for a period of time after his death; after being moved into the vault, the urn was brought back out in 2021. [14] [7] [15] [16] [17]
After Prince's death, Paisley Park was turned into a museum open to the public, [18] [19] and tours of the Paisley Park Museum started in October 2016. Graceland Holdings, the company that has managed Elvis Presley's Graceland since 1982, organizes the tours. [20] Tours include recording studios, soundstages, and artifacts from Prince's personal archives. [21]
Navy Pier is a 3,300-foot-long (1,010 m) pier on the shoreline of Lake Michigan, located in the Streeterville neighborhood of the Near North Side community area in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Navy Pier encompasses over 50 acres (20 ha) of shops, restaurants, live theaters, family attractions, parks, gardens, and exhibition facilities and is one of the top destinations in the Midwestern United States, drawing over nine million visitors annually. It is one of the most visited attractions in the entire Midwest and is Chicago's second-most visited tourist attraction.
Prince Rogers Nelson was an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and actor. The recipient of numerous awards and nominations, he is regarded as one of history's greatest musicians. He was known for his flamboyant, androgynous persona; his wide vocal range, which included a far-reaching falsetto and high-pitched screams; and his skill as a multi-instrumentalist, often preferring to play all or most of the instruments on his recordings. His music incorporated a wide variety of styles, including funk, R&B, rock, new wave, soul, synth-pop, pop, jazz, blues, and hip hop. Prince produced his albums himself, pioneering the Minneapolis sound.
Graceland is a mansion on a 13.8-acre (5.6-hectare) estate in Memphis, Tennessee, United States, once owned by American singer Elvis Presley. Presley is buried there, as are his parents, paternal grandmother, grandson, and daughter.
Graceland Cemetery is a large historic garden cemetery located in the north side community area of Uptown, in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Established in 1860, its main entrance is at the intersection of Clark Street and Irving Park Road. Among the cemetery's 121 acres (49 ha) are the burial sites of several well-known Chicagoans.
Ivo Francis Walter Bligh, 8th Earl of Darnley, styled The Honourable Ivo Bligh until 1900, lord of the manor of Cobham, Kent, was a British nobleman, parliamentarian and cricketer.
Universal Studios Hollywood is a film studio and theme park in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles County, California. About 70% of the studio lies within the unincorporated county island known as Universal City while the rest lies within the city limits of Los Angeles, California. It is one of the oldest and most famous Hollywood film studios still in use. Its official marketing headline is "The Entertainment Capital of LA". It was initially created to offer tours of the real Universal Studios sets and is the first of many full-fledged Universal Studios theme park resorts located across the world.
Madhouse was an American jazz fusion band from Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, created by Prince. Two Madhouse albums were officially released, both in 1987.
Around the World in a Day is the seventh studio album by American recording artist Prince, and the third release on which his backing band the Revolution is billed. It was released on April 22, 1985, by Paisley Park Records and Warner Bros. Records. Departing somewhat from the commercial sound of his previous release, the massively successful Purple Rain (1984), the album instead saw Prince experimenting with psychedelic styles and more opulent textures. In compliance with Prince's wishes, the record company released the album with minimal publicity, withholding accompanying singles until almost a month after the album's release.
"Paisley Park" is a 1985 song by Prince and The Revolution. It was the first single released in some international markets from their 1985 album, Around the World in a Day and so is also the album's last single internationally. "Paisley Park" was recorded 3 months after the Purple Rain album was released. Violin on the song was played by Novi Novog, and Wendy & Lisa provide backing vocals. The rest of the song was performed by Prince. The song reached the Top 40 in all of the countries it was released in. It peaked within the Top 20 in both Ireland and the UK.
"Peach" is a song by American musician Prince, released in October 1993 by Paisley Park Records and Warner Bros. Records from his 1993 compilations, The Hits 2 and The Hits/The B-Sides. He both wrote and produced the song, featuring a female gasp performed by American actress Kim Basinger. "Peach" peaked at number seven on the US Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart; however, it did peak at number 14 in the United Kingdom. Its B-side, "Nothing Compares 2 U", charted at number 62 on the Billboard Hot R&B Singles chart. Prince performed the song live during his 1993 tour. It was the main sound theme of the Spanish-language talk show Corazón, Corazón in the mid 1990s. The accompanying music video was filmed inside and outside of Prince's residence, Paisley Park, and was included in The Hits Collection on home video.
"Gold" is a song by American musician Prince, his stage name at that time being an unpronounceable symbol, and was released as the third single from his seventeenth studio album, The Gold Experience (1995). Obviously proud of the song, Prince touted it as the next "Purple Rain" to reporters before the album's release.
Prince was well known in the entertainment industry for having a vast body of work that remains unreleased. It has been said that his vault contains multiple unreleased albums and over 50 fully produced music videos that have never been released, along with albums and other media. The following is a list, in rough chronological order, of the most prominent of these unreleased works. Many were later released and circulated among collectors as bootlegs.
The Family is the sole studio album by the band of the same name, released on August 19, 1985 by Prince's Paisley Park Records.
Capitol Studios is a recording studio located at the landmark Capitol Records Tower in Hollywood, California, United States. The studios, which opened in 1956, were initially the primary recording studios for the American record label Capitol Records. While they are still regularly used by Capitol recording artists, the facilities began to be made available to artists outside the label during the late 1960s to the early 1970s. The studios are owned by Universal Music Group, the parent company of Capitol Music Group.
Westlake Recording Studios is a music recording studio in West Hollywood, California.
Tourism in Memphis includes the points of interest in Memphis, Tennessee such as museums, fine art galleries, and parks, as well as Graceland the Beale Street entertainment district, and sporting events.
Since the first broadcast of the British science-fiction television serial Doctor Who in 1963, there have been a number of exhibitions of props, costumes and sets relating to the show throughout the United Kingdom. Some have been intended to be permanent, and others seasonal; most have been staged at existing tourist locations. None are currently open to the public.
Susan Rogers is an American professor, sound engineer, and record producer best known for being Prince's staff engineer during his commercial peak (1983-1987), including on albums like Purple Rain, Around the World in a Day, Parade, Sign o' the Times, and The Black Album. During this time, Rogers laid the foundations for Prince's now-famous vault by beginning the process of collecting and cataloguing all his studio and live recordings. She has also worked as a sound engineer and record producer for other musical artists such as Barenaked Ladies, David Byrne, Robben Ford, Jeff Black, Rusted Root, Tricky, Michael Penn, Toad the Wet Sprocket, and Tevin Campbell. Rogers is an associate professor in the Music Production and Engineering and Liberal Arts departments at Berklee College of Music.
Tyka Evene Nelson was an American singer. She was the daughter of jazz musician John L. Nelson (1916–2001) and jazz singer Mattie Della Shaw (1933–2002), and the sister of Prince (1958–2016). In addition, she had seven half-siblings. She was Prince's only full sibling.
The Bryant Park Studios is an office building at 80 West 40th Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, at the corner of 40th Street and Sixth Avenue. The building, overlooking the southwest corner of Bryant Park, was designed by Charles A. Rich in the French Beaux-Arts style. Built from 1900 to 1901 by Abraham A. Anderson, the building is one of several in Manhattan that were built in the early 20th century as both studios and residences for artists.