Following a vote by Minnesota lawmakers on Thursday (May 4), the late pop superstar Prince will have a highway named after him in his home state.
The highway that runs past Prince’s Paisley Park Museum and Studios was renamed by the Senate on a 55-5 vote. Sharon Nelson, his oldest sister, was among those watching. On the seventh anniversary of Prince’s death, the bill passed the House unanimously last month, and it now goes to Gov. Tim Walz, who is expected to sign it.
The Prince Rogers Nelson Memorial Highway will be designated by purple signs along a seven-mile stretch of State Highway 5 in the Minneapolis suburbs of Chanhassen and Eden Prairie. According to the lead sponsor, Prince’s friends and fans are footing the bill Republican Sen. Julia Coleman, of Waconia.
“Prince was a true genius, a visionary artist who pushed the boundaries of music and cultures in ways that will never be forgotten,” Coleman said in a statement to her colleagues. “His influence can still be heard in the work of countless musicians who came after him, and his legacy continues to inspire new generations of artists to this day.”
Paisley Park, where Prince lived and recorded, is now a popular tourist destination for people from all over the world.
Paisley Park is also where Prince died on April 21, 2016, at the age of 57, from an accidental fentanyl overdose. His estate has turned the 65,000-square-foot complex in Chanhassen into a museum, event space, and recording studio.
Sharon Nelson told reporters that her brother’s music would live on in perpetuity and that his spirit “sneaks up on me sometimes.” She also encouraged fans to go on the tour and see his 3,000 shoes on display.
Mark Webster, a longtime friend of the star who works security at Paisley Park, proposed naming the highway after Prince three years ago. He was among the supporters who gathered at the Minnesota Capitol to celebrate the election results. He said they’ll find a date that works for fans soon and put up the signs.
Prince’s birthday was June 7, but as a Jehovah’s Witness, he didn’t celebrate it.
The late 1970s saw the singer, songwriter, arranger, and instrumentalist breakthrough, and he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004. He wrote and recorded hits such as “Little Red Corvette,” “Let’s Go Crazy,” and “When Doves Cry,” and sold over 100 million records worldwide.
The Library of Congress added Prince’s 1984 film Purple Rain to the National Film Registry in 2011.
After a six-year legal battle that consumed tens of millions of dollars, the Internal Revenue Service and the estate administrator put the value of his estate at $156.4 million. Since Prince died without a will, his six surviving siblings at the time of his death were designated as his heirs. The three youngest eventually sold most of their interests to the music company Primary Wave.
