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Last week, Prince was found dead on the premises of his Paisley Park estate in Minnesota. Now, as Yahoo! News points out, his family has confirmed that the storied complex — which served not only as the music legend’s home, but a site for all-night dance parties, concert events, recording sessions, and the occasional bike ride — will be turned into a Graceland-esque museum in his honor.
“We will turn Paisley Park into a museum in Prince’s memory,” Prince’s brother-in-law Maurice Phillips told The Sun. “It would be for the fans. He was all about the fans — this would remember his music, which is his legacy. Prince was always private but would have wanted his music remembered.”
Since The Purple One’s tragic passing, fans (as well as Mother Nature) have flocked to the 50,000 sq foot Paisley Park to pay their respects. According to frequent collaborator and one-time fiancee Sheila E., prior to his death, Prince had already considered turning the property into something of a memorial where lovers of his music could gather en masse to learn more about his life and career.
“We’re hoping to make Paisley what [Prince wanted] it to be,” she explained to ET online. “[He] was working on it being a museum. He’s been gathering memorabilia and stuff from all the tours, like my drums and his motorcycle.”
“There’s a hallway of his awards and things, which he really didn’t care about too much, but he displayed it for the fans because he knows that they would want to see it,” she added.
“There’s pictures of him all down the halls, some you’ve seen before and some never [seen]… There’s a mural on the wall with his hands out and on one side is all the people he was influenced by and the other side is all of us who have played with him… It’s beautiful.”
Below, watch footage of Prince performing “1999” at Paisley Park:
