TRAVEL: Paisley Park opens up for Prince fans

FANS of pop star Prince are now able to pay homage to their idol shortly as his home at Paisley Park in Minnesota has opened up to the public.

The flamboyant showman and consummate performer was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota and sold more than 100 million records, won seven Grammys and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Ohio, in 2004.

Both Minnesota and Ohio are members of the Great Lakes USA; one of the leading US destinations for pop culture and home to many musical legends.

The $10 million Paisley Park complex was completed in 1986 and Prince recorded 30 albums there between 1987 and 2016.

It was both his private estate and his production complex and he even released a single in 1985 called Paisley Park.

The tours, which started earlier this month, enable fans to have the unprecedented opportunity to experience first-hand what it was like for Prince to create, produce and perform inside Paisley Park.

Throughout the experience, visitors can see artefacts from Prince’s personal archives, including iconic concert wardrobe, awards (his Grammys, a Golden Globe Award and the Academy Award for ‘Purple Rain’), musical instruments, artwork, rare music and video recordings, concert memorabilia, automobiles and motorcycles.

Great Lakes USA is known for musicians throughout the entire region including Minnesota’s other favourite son who celebrated his 75th birthday this year, Bob Dylan.

The ‘Electric Blues’ started in Chicago Illinois, the famous ‘Motown’ sound was created in Detroit, Michigan, one of the top selling albums of all time Nirvana’s ‘Nevermind’ was recorded in Madison, Wisconsin and Cleveland, Ohio is where the famous music genre ‘Rock and Roll’ was first coined and it is home to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The Great Lakes USA is also the largest expanse of freshwater in the world with a unique and diverse landscape. The region, which is the size of continental Europe, includes the US states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin.