Prince Remembered

Adam Scher, senior curator at the Minnesota Historical Society, joined Current Morning Show hosts Jill Riley and Brian Oake to talk Prince memorabilia -- including Prince's suit from the 1984 movie 'Purple Rain.' The Minnesota History Center in St. Paul put the suit on display the same day the news broke that Prince had died.

People who collaborated with Prince and worked for him talked less about Prince the superstar -- and more about how they will remember him as a musician. First, producer Jimmy Jam, who was in the band The Time, which opened for Prince in his early years of touring.

My Morning Jacket frontman Jim James reflects on his memories of seeing Prince perform at Coachella in 2008, SXSW in 2013 and the impact 'Sign O' the Times' had on his own songwriting.

Aaron Janse, a violinist with the Minnesota Orchestra, spoke with Classical MPR host Brian Newhouse during a live orchestra broadcast about recording with Prince, most recently on the song 'Baltimore.'

Richard McKernan was a sound engineer in Los Angeles when he worked with Prince on his '1999' album. (McKernan calls it the 'Little Red Corvette' album.) He told MPR News reporter Peter Cox about playing basketball with Prince.

If there was a soundtrack to her life, Suzanne O'Keefe said, Prince would be it. Standing outside Paisley Park not long after learning of the artist's death, she talked about coming of age in the Twin Cities, not far from Prince's orbit. "I guess I always thought that I would have a chance to see him here at Paisley Park," she said. She brought her camera with her. At least she'll have the pictures.

Just a few days after Prince's death, MPR News host Tom Weber offers a glimpse into the musical tributes to the artist across the country.

Jimmy Jam is best known for his work producing songs with R&B hitmakers Janet Jackson, Boyz II Men, Mariah Carey, Usher, George Michael, Chaka Khan and others. But before all that, he was a member of the band the Time, which opened for Prince in the early days of the Minneapolis Sound. He remembered Prince as a virtuoso and a workhorse.

Susan Rogers talked to MPR News host Cathy Wurzer about working as a sound engineer for Prince from 1985 to 1989, when she recorded classic albums like "Purple Rain" and "Sign of the Times." She is now an associate professor in the Music Production and Engineering Department at Berklee College of Music in Boston.

David Rivkin was a producer on Prince's 'Purple Rain' album. He talked to MPR News host Tom Weber about Prince's musical style, his personality and his contributions to the Minneapolis Sound.

The Current's music reporter and Local Show host, Andrea Swensson, covered Prince in the last few years of his life. She talked with Current Morning Show hosts Jill Riley and Brian Oake about one of her first interactions with Prince.

All day on MPR News Thursday, listeners, fans and former colleagues and collaborators called in to share stories of their encounters with Prince. But a woman named Victoria told host Tom Weber a story like none other: "I can't remember where we held it, but for our St. Paul Central [High School] '76, they were the band: Grand Central Station."

Longtime Twin Cities music writer Britt Robson remembers hearing Prince's first album when it came out and was struck by how unique his sound was. He talked to MPR's Euan Kerr about Prince's legacy.

Lowell Pickett is a co-owner of Minneapolis' Dakota Jazz Club. He last saw Prince Tuesday night, during R&B/jazz musician Lizz Wright's concert at the club. They didn't get a chance to chat.

The Current's Andrea Swensson recalls the sweet, funny, quiet encounters she's had with Prince over the past few years. It all started with a doodle, she tells MPR News host Cathy Wurzer.

At McNally Smith School of Music one of Prince's guitars sits on a chair, draped with a black shroud. Scott LeGere, the chair of the school's music business department, managed recording sessions for Prince at Paisley Park in the early 2000's. He told MPR News reporter Marianne Combs his time there taught him first and foremost just what an amazing musical talent Prince was.

Minnesota has lost a legend. Prince melded the best of R&B, soul, hard rock -- and a host of other styles to create something entirely new. He died in April at the age of 57. MPR News reporter Euan Kerr looks at his legacy.

Peter Greenlund is chair of the live sound and show production department at the Institute of Production and Recording -- IPR College of Creative Arts in Minneapolis. Outside his academic career, Peter is involved in live show production, and he's worked with such well-known artists as Phil Collins and Willie Nelson. Peter talked with Current Morning Show hosts Jill Riley and Brian Oake about the nine years he spent touring with Prince and producing his live concerts.

Of all the journalists who have covered Prince, the one who knew him the longest and the best was Jon Bream of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Bream first interviewed Prince in 1978 when the musician just 20 years old. Over the years, the two of them had a close, sometimes contentious, relationship. Prince was anything but happy with Bream's unauthorized 1984 biography ("Prince: Inside the Purple Reign") Prince wanted control of his own story. There was the time Prince set fire to a Bream review of one of his albums on Arsenio Hall's TV talk show. But in later years, the two mended fences.