How Prince Helped Created A New Music Scene In Minneapolis

By Emma G. Gallegos in Arts & Entertainment on Apr 21, 2016 10:43PM

As a teen with dreams of stardom, Prince Rogers Nelson resented living so far away from the big cities where stars were born. He told his school newspaper in 1976, "I was born here, unfortunately. I think it is very hard for a band to make it in this state, even if they're good. I really feel that if we would have lived in Los Angeles or New York or some other big city, we would have gotten over by now."

But instead of heading to one of the coasts to become a star, he helped to create a new music genre in his hometown of Minneapolis that mixed funk and soul and dance music and rock.

When he appeared on American Bandstand in 1980, he shocked Dick Clark who asked him, "How did you learn to do this in Minneapolis?"

Prince just shrugged and laughed.

Prince was born in Minneapolis, the son of musicians, and he showed an aptitude for music at a young age. He began playing piano at age 7 and writing songs. School wasn't easy for him and he suffered from epileptic seizures, but he told PEOPLE that his struggles helped him create his image: "From that point on, I've been having to deal with a lot of things, getting teased a lot in school. And early in my career I tried to compensate by being as flashy as I could and as noisy as I could."

He definitely had a lot of attitude from a young age, which you can see in this photo of him in middle school:

Prince was reportedly an excellent basketball player, though after a certain point he stopped growing which killed his prospects, a coach told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. He apparently beat Eddie Murphy in a pick-up game, which gave rise to the famous Chappelle skit.

But Prince was focused on his music. He played in a local dance group until he was 16, when he started getting serious about his music. He was signed at 17. An assistant principal at Prince's high school told the Star-Tribune, "I admired him for his ambition."

Prince helped to create and mentor Minneapolis groups like Vanity 6, Apollonia 6, and The Time, which included the legendary songwriters Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. Prince later fired the duo, and they went on to work with other acts associated with what was called the Minneapolis Sound, including Cherrelle and Janet Jackson. Jackson recorded her breakout album Control in 1986 in Minneapolis. Being so far away from the music industry in Southern California and her dad Joe Jackson,was actually a plus.

Minneapolis and its now-iconic First Avenue were featured in Prince's cult classic movie Purple Rain. Released in 1984, the autobiographical movie follows a musician known only as The Kid (played by Prince), who is an up-and-coming musician in the Twin Cities and performed at First Avenue—which was first made famous by the film.

In 1983, Prince and his band The Revolution performed Purple Rain at First Avenue in real life, too, pretending the show was just a benefit for the Minnesota Dance Theatre, according to Rolling Stone. It was the first time the public heard selections from the album, including the titular Purple Rain. The performances of "I Would Die 4 U" and "Baby I'm a Star" also made it into the Purple Rain film's soundtrack:

First Avenue released a statement on Facebook calling him the venue's patron saint:

Our hearts are broken. Prince was the Patron Saint of First Avenue. He grew up on this stage, and then commanded it, and he united our city. It is difficult to put into words the impact his death will have on the entire music community, and the world. As the tragic news sinks in, our thoughts are with Prince’s family, friends, and fans. We deeply mourn the loss of our friend, a true star.

Employees of the venue put flowers outside his star on the outside: