I would love to hear stories from you guys about living there with Prince. Any of u guys ever just see him randomly at places?

I went to mn craigslist to see what rants and raves would have to say, most of the locals didn't really seem to really care for him. that's par for the course of a local hero though. Add on to that to my understanding, mn is pretty white, Prince loved the place but I don't think it was really reciprocated in a broad manner, post -death, it's always different though. I'm sure he'll have things named after him and museums etc..,

PeteSilas said:

I went to mn craigslist to see what rants and raves would have to say, most of the locals didn't really seem to really care for him. that's par for the course of a local hero though. Add on to that to my understanding, mn is pretty white, Prince loved the place but I don't think it was really reciprocated in a broad manner, post -death, it's always different though. I'm sure he'll have things named after him and museums etc..,

Yeah I noticed that his suburb was mostly caucasian but its cool Craigslist folks are a mess....I think they truly loved him though. They never bothered him at least.

nursev said:

PeteSilas said:

I went to mn craigslist to see what rants and raves would have to say, most of the locals didn't really seem to really care for him. that's par for the course of a local hero though. Add on to that to my understanding, mn is pretty white, Prince loved the place but I don't think it was really reciprocated in a broad manner, post -death, it's always different though. I'm sure he'll have things named after him and museums etc..,

Yeah I noticed that his suburb was mostly caucasian but its cool Craigslist folks are a mess....I think they truly loved him though. They never bothered him at least.

ya, they are a mess, i was just trying to get a feel for how the average Minnepolitan feels, it's typical for hometown heroes not to be appreciated, that's why I looked. And, as mentioned, Prince was pretty unique for the area so I'd assume that plenty of people were either indifferent to him or just thought he was wierd. I once read that Minneapolis was like 5 percent black or something, might have even been less.

PeteSilas said:

nursev said:

Yeah I noticed that his suburb was mostly caucasian but its cool Craigslist folks are a mess....I think they truly loved him though. They never bothered him at least.

ya, they are a mess, i was just trying to get a feel for how the average Minnepolitan feels, it's typical for hometown heroes not to be appreciated, that's why I looked. And, as mentioned, Prince was pretty unique for the area so I'd assume that plenty of people were either indifferent to him or just thought he was wierd. I once read that Minneapolis was like 5 percent black or something, might have even been less.

Probably less He was the best thing that ever came out of Minnesota

sonshine said:

Minnesota loved Prince! Idk about Craigslist rants and raves - aren't those all just weirdos on there? Anyway, people here say he was a wonderful neighbor and community member. Lots of folks bumped into him outside the local Caribou or would see him riding his bike around the area. He didn't like to be approached so folks respected his space. He also was known to ask people not to snap pics of him when he was out trying to be a normal guy. My sister-in-law lives only a couple miles down the road and she saw him just the week before he passed away bicycling on a path that runs parallel between his property and the roadway. After an event at PP last fall we were walking to our vehicle and in the distance we saw someone bicycling around in the dark on the grounds and I later read a post online from someone at the same event that it was Prince and he stopped to chat with them for a moment as they were leaving PP and he was pedaling around. I was at the same electric fetus record store he shopped at and they said he was just in recently with a friend to buy some new music, very low profile and no one bothered him. But I just wanted to clear us any misconceptions that he was not thought of fondly by his fellow minnesotans of all ages. Some lady even told a story about Prince showing up at her door with the JW to preach a bit and said he was very kind and polite.

nice to hear that they respected his privacy....seems like he was nice to his neighbors. very sweet.

sonshine said:

The suburb he lives in is predominantly Caucasian, but he was adored by all here. Mpls is more than 5% black but i couldn't say for sure what the numbers are. The north side of mpls where Prince went to school is undergoing some bad times right now with a lot of gang related violence sadly. But there is no doubt there was deep devotion to Prince here and most people are very proud of him and his accomplishments 💜

sad to hear his old neighborhood is having it hard, but it really is nice to hear that he was so respected and loved there. Makes it more understandable why he never left

well, if you want stories there was that time he borrowed my leiderhosen. fifty below it was, a freezing january morning, not long after prince had closed the house down at paisley park with a rousing chorus of weddingfeast at one of his famous late-night parties. as i was idling my mnote carlo, waiting for the light to change, someone tapped on my passenger side window and when i glanced over there stood prince, shivering in the cold winter breeze. i opened the door immediately and, noticing that he seemed to be turning blue i turned the heat up to eleven. his teeth were chattering pretty badly as he described how his tour bus had broken down on the road a way back and as he spoke i rummaged around in the back for some warm clothes to give him, something - anything but that pale, blue silk nightie he was wearing. he gratefully accepted my offer of pink moon boots, leiderhosen, a sweater hand knitted from the wool of virgin llamas, and a flask of chocolate milk and tabasco. i told him to keep the clothes, which i think he did and i like to think that my moon boots started that fad he enjoyed back then.

i'm glad to hear it, and hope it's true and that my presumption is wrong. I was on a chatline about two months ago and some lady was from minneapolis, i asked her if she saw prince, all she said back was that she'd "wring his little neck" if she saw him.

XxAxX said:

well, if you want stories there was that time he borrowed my leiderhosen. fifty below it was, a freezing january morning, not long after prince had closed the house down at paisley park with a rousing chorus of weddingfeast at one of his famous late-night parties. as i was idling my mnote carlo, waiting for the light to change, someone tapped on my passenger side window and when i glanced over there stood prince, shivering in the cold winter breeze. i opened the door immediately and, noticing that he seemed to be turning blue i turned the heat up to eleven. his teeth were chattering pretty badly as he described how his tour bus had broken down on the road a way back and as he spoke i rummaged around in the back for some warm clothes to give him, something - anything but that pale, blue silk nightie he was wearing. he gratefully accepted my offer of pink moon boots, leiderhosen, a sweater hand knitted from the wool of virgin llamas, and a flask of chocolate milk and tabasco. i told him to keep the clothes, which i think he did and i like to think that my moon boots started that fad he enjoyed back then.

This is where the song Starfish and Coffee got its inspiraton

My mom is 85 and was born and raised in Chan, and she was upset when she heard about him. They loved him.

PeteSilas said:

nursev said:

Yeah I noticed that his suburb was mostly caucasian but its cool Craigslist folks are a mess....I think they truly loved him though. They never bothered him at least.

ya, they are a mess, i was just trying to get a feel for how the average Minnepolitan feels, it's typical for hometown heroes not to be appreciated, that's why I looked. And, as mentioned, Prince was pretty unique for the area so I'd assume that plenty of people were either indifferent to him or just thought he was wierd. I once read that Minneapolis was like 5 percent black or something, might have even been less.

MPLS as a whole is around 15% black (my neighborhood in So Mpls is around 30%), Chanhassen is probably around 5% as it's a wealthier far out suburb.

Everyone here that I know repected his talent and took pride in his staying in MN, even if they weren't a fan. He was one of us and we let him do his own thing...but often to the point of taking for granted how lucky we were to have him...until we lost him. The whole state mourned when he died. Even the local senate held a moment of silence on the morning that the news broke.

ChanGirl said:

My mom is 85 and was born and raised in Chan, and she was upset when she heard about him. They loved him.

So sweet....glad he was loved there.

simm0061 said:

PeteSilas said:

ya, they are a mess, i was just trying to get a feel for how the average Minnepolitan feels, it's typical for hometown heroes not to be appreciated, that's why I looked. And, as mentioned, Prince was pretty unique for the area so I'd assume that plenty of people were either indifferent to him or just thought he was wierd. I once read that Minneapolis was like 5 percent black or something, might have even been less.

MPLS as a whole is around 15% black (my neighborhood in So Mpls is around 30%), Chanhassen is probably around 5% as it's a wealthier far out suburb.

Everyone here that I know repected his talent and took pride in his staying in MN, even if they weren't a fan. He was one of us and we let him do his own thing...but often to the point of taking for granted how lucky we were to have him...until we lost him. The whole state mourned when he died. Even the local senate held a moment of silence on the morning that the news broke.

Aww so wonderful Thank u for giving some insight on the area.

Minnesota and Mpls. is a great area. I lived there my whole life until 5 years ago. Most people have great values and are honest and hard working.

Mpls., St. Paul and Uptown has a great "creative, art" vibe and is pretty culturally diverse.

He was definatly loved and respected.

I know many people in the club/bar business and whey always said when he would come in (sometimes unannounced) he would sit in a more private area (the Dakota had it's own upper room for him) and the locals just knew to leave him alone.

My best friend lived about 2 miles from P.P. I was so used to driving by P.P. I would forget to even look to see if he was outside or on his bike. I guess I just thought he'd always be there and took it for granted....

Minneapolis is definitely more than 5% black. Seriously...in general the "metro" area (Mpls-St. Paul) is super diverse. Minneapolis specially has people from all over the world. Minnesota loved Prince but they did leave him alone. Prince was respected and he also respected his neighbors.

There were tons of Prince related art and such all around Mpls. He was part of the community, but again, people didn't stalk him like they do in cities like Los Angeles or New York. Maybe the difference was that he was born in Minnesota and never left so we always knew he was here.

He will be greatly missed

i just wikied the percentage and it said over 17 percent in 2006-2008. I'm trying to remember where i heard that statistic, I think it was in Poplife, the excellent bio on Prince and I'm sure that the percentage was different when P was a kid. Funny thing, i always thought Prince sounded a tad bit like the black kids I knew who grew up around white people. I'd see some adoptee of a white family who'd come to the hood every so often and he'd speak like a straight up white kid. prince, in the 80's sounded somewhat like that. What to make of his ever getting closer to typical black vernacular (and music) I'm not sure what that implied. But many people have said they cringed when Prince said 'motherfucker" in Purple Rain, part of the reason being because he sounds like a white kid trying to sound street.

and just to be clear, i assumed that his own home may have been indifferent to him, not because of him but because that's the way things usually work. It works that way in families, in friendships and close relations, people just often don't appreciate what's right under their noses. Elvis did one of his best songs with a bitter rendition of "Stranger In My Own Hometown", yes, even Elvis wasn't really accepted in Memphis before his death, that's the story anyway.

Agree with those above that MN overall has an abundance of pride, respect, affection for Prince. HOWEVER in my opinion it's also fair to note that MN houses a decent share of folks who have been on the receiving end of his penchant for reneging on agreements and not paying his bills.

Speaking from my unique perspective - I was born in Mpls, raised on the East coast and moved back here in the early 90's (and so blessed to be able to see him many many times over the yrs)

Minnesotans have HAD a love/indifferent relationship with Prince over the past 25 years IMO. Depending on where you lived or what music you were into - generally determined how you felt about him. Most of my friends in Mpls - where I lived for 20 or so years - liked hearing about him, listening to his music, and especially going to his concerts. Granted, I tend to gravitate toward Prince fans - most of my siblings and my mom love his music too - but that was the general feeling I got.

In the outer suburbs of Mpls - Eden Prairie and Chanhassen especially - they seemed to tolerate his presence - clearly unaware or underwhelmed that one of the most amazing performers to EVER walk the Earth, lived and sometimes shopped amongst them.

(Rural Minnesotans -much like rural America - generally thought he was bizarre. They probably still do, their loss).

In any case, I've always been perplexed by greater-Minnesota's(outside of Mpls) general ambiguity toward him. Was he too controversial? Sometimes. Was he too flamboyant ? Probably. But...did he keep his roots here, his bands, recordings, homes, PP studio ? Damn straight he did.

Either way, he put Minneapolis AND Minnesota on the map all by himself. Not Bob Dylan, not Garrison Keillor, nor the Vikings or Twins. We will forever owe him a huge debt of gratitude for that.

All said, as a Prince fan, the outpouring of respect and love toward him in the last several weeks has astounded me in SOOO many ways. Thank you Minnesota for going out of your way to show him all the love and admiration he so dearly deserved That, too, will never be forgotten. - Xtian

morningsong said:

Spike Lee said that Minneapolis had the highest per capita mixed race couples in the nation. I have no idea if that's true, but if it is then it explains a temperment that generally isn't experienced in a lot of places in the US, a temperment that Prince grew up around in the 60s and 70s.

Yeah, it does. It's kind of the norm - or maybe that's just the circles I travel in. It's also the highest per capita in "same sex households" but that may have changed since the equal marriage act.

The 5% quote that keeps floating around is a stat for the whole state from like 1990.