Somewhere in the depths of Chanhassen, Minnesota, within the basement of Prince’s Paisley Park estate, there lies a legendary vault, supposedly the storing place of vast hoards of music which Prince recorded but never released.
Prince had Paisley Park built in 1988. A complex which served simultaneously as recording studio, live venue and rehearsal space, and as his home, he lived there until his sudden death in April at the devastating age of just 57 years old. Prince was found unresponsive in one of Paisley Park’s elevators, a demise which many reputable news outlets have noted he foreshadowed back in 1984, on ‘Let’s Go Crazy’, the opening track from Purple Rain.
According to former Paisley Park studio hands, Prince’s vault has long since been overflowing with tapes. The briefest of peeks inside the climate-controlled room, which stands firmly locked and hidden behind a steel door, are said to have indicated reel upon reel littering the floor of the vault, carrying everything from extended jam sessions to entire albums.
Fans have longed for and lusted after and yes, even gone crazy for the unheard live performances and shelved mid-80s masterpieces which have theoretically lain dormant within. It was even speculated that Prince had stored enough material to make for a new album every year for the next one hundred years.
Alas, the steel door has now been prised open, after somebody loitering within the grounds of the estate found the key. And what the room contains is not stacks of records, but a simple piece of gymnastics equipment, an old-fashioned vaulting horse with worn brown leather and sturdy wooden feet. More than a diminutive pop genius, Prince was evidently a spry and supple gymnast.
The musical legacy of Prince’s lifetime, established in the 80s thanks to hits like ‘Little Red Corvette’, ‘Purple Rain’, ‘Raspberry Beret’, ‘Kiss’, and ‘Venus de Milo’, will surely remain unsurpassed. But as for the likelihood of him adding to this legacy after death? As his contemporaries Van Halen would say, might as well jump!
