New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Prince's Paisley Park in Chanhassen, Minnesota has announced a broad list of exciting speakers and performers participating in Celebration 2017. Taking place April 20-23 at Prince's historic recording sanctuary outside Minneapolis, the event will honor the life and legacy of the music icon
Prince Rogers Nelson.
As the world marks the first anniversary of Prince's passing, Paisley Park will welcome fans from around the world to enjoy four days of live music, panel discussions and special presentations highlighting Prince's tremendous talent, influence and importance as a composer, musician, producer, live performer and filmmaker.
Celebration 2017 will make history in bringing to Paisley Park musicians crossing all four decades of Prince's performing career, from The Time, The Revolution, New Power Generation and 3RDEYEGIRL. Each day will include live performances in Paisley Park's multi-purpose Soundstage - the site of countless
Prince concerts - from filming for the Sign O' The Times movie through to the Rave Un2 the Year 2000 New Year's Special and untold late-night jams with musicians including Miles Davis,
Maceo Parker,
George Clinton, Larry Graham,
Lenny Kravitz and Alicia Keys, to name just a few.
The list of special guests includes close creative collaborators and friends spanning five decades in Prince's life - from his childhood in North Minneapolis through to his stratospheric success in the 80s, his groundbreaking and chameleon-like artistic development in the 90s and 2000s, and his creative output through recent years. At Paisley Park,
Prince constructed and inhabited a creative reality that was wholly unique, allowing him to fluidly develop music and artistic works spontaneously and without limitation.
Prince collaborated with a wide array of musicians, recording engineers, graphic designers, photographers, video producers, stylists, clothing designers and production and business personnel. The panel discussions planned for Celebration will bring together many of the people who shared this time with
Prince at Paisley Park and who worked with him to actualize his creative visions - recording, performing and shifting culture as an inimitable icon.
Celebration 2017 - Special Guest Speakers
Afshin Shahidi - Lisa Coleman
Arturo Padilla - Mark Brown
Bobby Z - Matt Fink
Chris
James - Morris Hayes
Chuck Hermes - Randee St. Nicholas
Damaris Lewis - Red White
Damon Dickson - Rob Colby
Dave Rusan - Sal Greco
David Z - Sam Jennings
Debbie McGuan - Shelby J
Dylan Dresdow - Stacia Lang
Jeff Munson - Steve Parke
Jeremy Gavin - Susan Rogers
Kim Berry - Takumi Suetsugu
Kip Blackshire - Tony Mosley
Levi Seacer - Wendy Melvoin
Beyond the unique panel conversations Celebration 2017 will reflect the spirit of the inaugural Prince: A Celebration event, hosted by
Prince and held at Paisley Park June 7-13th, 2000. This event welcomed fans from around the world into an immersive
Prince experience that showcased Paisley Park, many of Prince's rarely seen stage outfits and instruments, alongside special events and exclusive music performances. In subsequent years,
Prince hosted similar immersive fan experiences at Paisley Park, first in 2001 with Prince: A Celebration "The
Rainbow Children" and in 2002 with Xenophobia. Celebration 2017 will carry on in this spirit of community and connection, welcoming
Prince fans from everywhere into a truly unique and celebratory experience highlighting the life, creative works, unique achievements and enduring legacy of Prince.
The international fan community set to attend Celebration 2017 includes individuals from the UK, South Africa, Japan, Sweden, Germany, Spain, Norway, Netherlands, Australia, Thailand, France, Canada and the USA.
Tickets to Celebration 2017 are nearly sold out, with very limited general admission Track 1 tickets available (all VIP for Track 1 and Track 2, and general admission tickets for Track 2 are sold out). Fans interested in attending are encouraged to visit OfficialPaisleyPark.com now to secure remaining general admission while the limited supply lasts. Attendees to Celebration 2017 can access special promotional rates at hotels surrounding Chanhassen. Full details and promotion codes are available at OfficialPaisleyPark.com.
A Prince4Ever Tribute Fence, built in the interior grounds of Paisley Park along the grass adjacent to the north parking lot, now displays archived fan-donated memorial messages and artifacts originally attached to the exterior perimeter fence in the weeks following Prince's passing last year. Visitors who have purchased tickets to Celebration 2017 and scheduled tours throughout April will also have the opportunity to view the Prince4Ever fence and add personal tribute messages as part of their overall Paisley Park tour experience.
ABOUT PRINCE
Prince sold over 100 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling artists of all time. He won seven GRAMMY® Awards, a Golden
Globe Award, and an Academy Award® for the film "Purple Rain," all of which are displayed at Paisley Park. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004, the first year of his eligibility.
Prince was born in Minneapolis and resided in the Minneapolis area throughout his life.
ABOUT PAISLEY PARK
Paisley Park, Prince's private estate and production compound in Chanhassen offers fans of the late music icon the unprecedented opportunity to tour the legendary, 65,000-square-foot complex that served as the center of Prince's creative universe. Operated by P Park Management, guided tours take visitors throughout the extensive main floor of Paisley Park, including recording and mixing studios where
Prince recorded, produced and mixed most of his biggest hits, exhibit spaces that chronicle films such as Purple Rain and Graffiti Bridge, Prince's private NPG
Music Club, and a massive soundstage and concert hall where
Prince rehearsed for concert tours and held exclusive, private events and performances. The tour also features thousands of artifacts from Prince's personal archives, including iconic concert wardrobe, awards, musical instruments and concert memorabilia.
Paisley Park is located at 7801 Audubon Road, Chanhassen, Minnesota, approximately 30 minutes outside of Minneapolis. For more information about Paisley Park, visit OfficialPaisleyPark.com.
Paisley Park online:
Facebook - www.facebook.com/OfficialPaisleyPark
Instagram - www.instagram.com/officialpaisleypark
Twitter - https://twitter.com/paisleypark
