Monday marked nine years since the death of Minnesota superstar Prince, and his former home and recording studio honored the occasion by inviting fans for a day of remembrance.
The two-part event, dubbed A Day 2 Remember | A Night 2 Reflect, started at 10 a.m. at Paisley Park in Chanhassen. The public was invited inside to create an origami dove and add a message to it.
At 4:21 p.m., there was a candle lighting for Prince, who was found dead inside the complex on April 21, 2016. The ceremony was livestreamed online for those who couldn’t make it to Paisley Park.
On Monday night, Prince’s former home — which now serves as a museum to the Purple One — was scheduled to screen a concert from 2011.
“The music is a gateway to discovering who he is,” said Dorothy-Inez.
Dorothy-Inez and Danielle Gaskins were among those paying their respects at Paisley Park Monday.
“I would say around the seventh year of his passing, I kind of felt like this transition from mourning to just remembrance and celebration,” said Gaskins, who says she had seen Prince perform live 69 times.
Dorothy-Inez says she has been a Prince fan since 1978, and moved to Minneapolis from Los Angeles because of the man himself.
“My first experience is camping out the summer of ’84. I saw Purple Rain 55 times,” said Dorothy-Inez. “I dressed up like Vanity every single time I saw the movie.”
Fans said Prince was truly a one-of-a-kind artist, the likes of whom may never be seen again.
“He told us that, in his music, there will never be another. There will never be another like me,” said Dorothy-Inez. “He was the Mozart of our day.”
Over the weekend, musicians who played with Prince gathered in Hopkins to pay tribute to the late musician.
“It’s hard to believe it’s been nine years [since] he left,” said longtime Prince collaborator Dr. Fink ahead of the show.
Lawmakers in Minnesota have proposed a bill this session to make Prince’s “Purple Rain” one of the state’s official songs.
Prince, a Minneapolis native, died of a fentanyl overdose at the age of 57.
