Paisley Park

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Lore & Background

The Paisley Park studio complex totaled 65,000 square feet by the early 1990s, including four recording studios (A, B, C, and D), a 12,500-square-foot sound stage, a video editing suite, rehearsal room, offices, tenant space, and an underground parking garage. Other amenities included an outdoor basketball court and living quarters. Studio A originally utilized a 48-channel mixing console, later replaced by a 64-channel SSL 6000E. Studio B was patterned after Sunset Sound's Studio 3 per Prince's specifications, with a custom-built API mixing console. Studio C had a 36-input Soundcraft TS24 console, and Studio D was a small DAW-based room. Initially a private studio used by Prince and Paisley Park Records artists like The Time, Carmen Electra, Jill Jones, and Sheila E., the production facilities were also used by numerous artists including Madonna, Stevie Wonder, R.E.M., and A-ha. After the Paisley Park Records label folded in 1994, Prince continued to record there, eventually living there in the final years of his life. He intended to establish Paisley Park as a public venue like Graceland. He was found dead in the estate's elevator on April 21, 2016. In the basement, a vault held unreleased material, hundreds of hours of live recordings, music videos, and unheard songs; the contents have since been relocated to a studio in Los Angeles to be restored, remastered, and stored in climate-controlled conditions. An urn in the shape of Paisley Park containing Prince's ashes was on display in the main entrance for a period after his death; after being moved into the vault, it was temporarily brought back out in 2021 for the fifth anniversary of his death, only to be removed once again.

In Their Own Story

After Prince's death, Paisley Park was turned into a museum open to the public, with tours starting in October 2016. Graceland Holdings, the company that has managed Elvis Presley's Graceland since 1982, organizes the tours. Tours include recording studios, soundstages, and artifacts from Prince's personal archives.

Reader's Guide

Albums recorded at Paisley Park by Prince include: Lovesexy (1988), Batman (1989), Graffiti Bridge (1990), Diamonds and Pearls (1991), Love Symbol (1992), Come (1994), The Gold Experience (1995), Chaos and Disorder (1996), Emancipation (1996), The Truth (1998), Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic (1999), The Rainbow Children (2001), One Nite Alone... (2002), Xpectation (2003), N.E.W.S. (2003), Musicology (2004), 3121 (2006), Planet Earth (2007), Lotus Flower (2009), MPLSOUND (2009), 20Ten (2010), Plectrumelectrum (2014), Art Official Age (2014), Hit n Run Phase One (2015), Hit n Run Phase Two (2015), and Welcome 2 America (2021).

Did You Know?

• Construction of the $10 million complex began in January 1986 and officially opened on September 11, 1987.
• The complex shares its name with Prince's 1985 single, 'Paisley Park'.
• Studio B was patterned after Sunset Sound's Studio 3 per Prince's specifications.
• Prince was found dead in the estate's elevator on April 21, 2016.
• An urn in the shape of Paisley Park containing Prince's ashes was temporarily brought back out in 2021 for the fifth anniversary of his death.