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Prince's Paisley Park now open as public museum

Following the passing of music icon and legend Prince on April 21, his studio complex, Paisley Park, is about to be opened as a museum to the public. 

News Desk (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Tue, August 30, 2016

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Prince's Paisley Park now open as public museum Fans commemorate the passing of Prince at Paisley Park, Chanhassen, Minnesota, on April 21. (Shutterstock.com/Steve Quinlan)

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ollowing the passing of music icon and legend Prince on April 21, his studio complex, Paisley Park, is about to be opened as a museum to the public. The state-of-the-art establishment is widely known among his fans.

 The project is a collaboration between the estate agents and the company behind Graceland, Elvis Presley’s home-turned-museum in Memphis that brings in over 60,000 visitors a year. The complex will be open around Oct. 6 this year for tours, a week before fans attend a memorial tribute concert for Prince at the new US Bank Arena in his hometown of Minneapolis.

Tyka Nelson, sister of the beloved pop star, said she had always looked forward to allowing the public to enjoy the beauty of Paisley Park. It opened in 1987 in the Minneapolis suburb of Chanhassen. She made a statement on Wednesday saying, “Opening Paisley Park is something that Prince always wanted to do and was actively working on, only a few hundred people have had the rare opportunity to tour the estate during his lifetime. Now, fans from around the world will be able to experience Prince's world for the first time as we open the doors to this incredible place." 

AFP reported that the guided tour runs for 70 minutes and covers Prince’s recording and mixing studios, his concert hall and most anticipated of all his so-called NPG Music Club, which was kept secret, according to a plan that was proposed to the City of Chanhassen.

(Read also: Five museums in Indonesia for your next family vacation)

The museum will only serve vegetarian food and no alcohol, which was an unwritten rule of Prince’s when he threw parties at Paisley Park. In addition, the museum will also exhibit thousands of the star's personal belongings such as his concert outfits, musical instruments, cars and motorcycles and rare recordings. Tickets will cost around US$38.50, with VIP tickets for special, smaller tours to run over an estimated $100. 

Prince invested around $10 million in this establishment, which with today’s currency values would almost be double that figure. Paisley Park consists of four main studios equipped with sound and vibration isolation, allowing artists to record and perform simultaneously, led by the Los Angeles-area architects Boto Design. Top recording artists such as Madonna, Stevie Wonder and R.E.M. have all either mixed or even recorded at Paisley Park.

When Prince initially rented the park, he made the isolated suburban complex an unlikely hub for the global music industry. Only a decade later, as it was his exclusive domain, only a limited number of fans were able to see Paisley Park with their own eyes. During his last performance before his death at the age of 57 from an accidental overdose of painkillers, Prince himself played at Paisley Park at a party he held on April 17. 

The Bremer Trust, which handles Prince’s affairs with the permission of his siblings, said that it expected 1,500 to 2,000 people to visit Paisley Park on peak days and it was still open to developing the site in the future, with fans eventually able to stay overnight. (kha/kes)

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