Pop legend: The new Prince exhibition opens at London’s O2 later this month
He was a brilliant vocalist, virtuoso musician and theatrical showman.
And now Prince’s legion of British fans are being given the chance to get up close and personal with the late U.S. superstar when an exhibition dedicated to his life is launched this month.
The show, titled My Name Is Prince, opens on October 27 at the O2 Arena in London, the same venue used by the singer for a record-breaking, 21-night run in 2007. Initially set to last for 21 days in an echo of that residency, the exhibition was extended this week to 72 days and will give some insight into Prince’s quirky lifestyle and obsessive attention to detail.
Alongside eye-catching and custom-made guitars, his outlandish costumes will be a centre of attention.
Having seen him play live a number of times, I’m not surprised that Prince is the latest musician to be honoured with his own major London tribute.
Since David Bowie’s career was celebrated at the Victoria & Albert Museum in 2013, The Rolling Stones and Pink Floyd have been given similar treatment. Prince belongs in the same elevated bracket.
The singer, who died last year at 57 after an accidental overdose of the painkiller fentanyl, was an innovative, often risqué, artist. Never tied to a single genre, he played soul, funk and rock ’n’ roll, and excelled at them all.
Among the hundreds of artefacts on display are clothes from 1984’s Purple Rain tour, 1988’s Lovesexy show and his 2007 London residency.
With Prince there was never any shortage of bling and the more unusual items include dazzling ear-cuffs, a diamond vest worn for U.S. fashion magazine V and a cap with a chain veil that graced the sleeve of the 1992 single, My Name Is Prince, that lends its title to the exhibition.
Behind the chain veil: Prince performing at a Los Angeles club in 1993
Striking: The ‘Cloud’ orange guitar Prince used during his Earth tour in 2007
‘The outfits will take people back to a moment in time,’ says Prince’s director of archives Angie Marchese, speaking from the late singer’s Paisley Park estate outside Minneapolis. ‘He was very hands-on with his clothes… He’d explain how he wanted to present himself and his team would cut the cloth and put the garments together in an upstairs room at Paisley Park.’
Prince Rogers Nelson was extravagant offstage, too. The ear-cuffs were worn to an NBA basketball game. Another much-loved accessory was his diamond-studded cane.
‘He was very secure in his sense of style,’ continues Marchese. ‘Once, as he was getting ready to attend a red-carpet event in Los Angeles, he realised he’d left the cane at Paisley Park. So it was flown, first class, to the West Coast. It arrived as he was getting out of his car to walk the red carpet.’
For fans willing to pay extra for a VIP ticket, the exhibition will offer a glimpse of what it was like backstage with Prince by recreating his dressing room.
Emblem: A diamond-studded cane encrusted with Prince’s iconic logo, known as the ‘love symbol’
So, what did an Access All Areas pass grant you? Not a wild party, as Marchese explains: ‘The atmosphere backstage was Zen-like. People would hang around, but Prince was always preparing himself mentally. He knew some people would be seeing him for the only time and he wanted to give them the greatest possible show.’
For guitar geeks, a treasure trove awaits. As a fan who saw Prince on the Purple Rain tour, his O2 residency and the intimate Hit N Run shows he played in 2014, I can vouch that his instruments were almost as important as visual props as they were musically.
Among those going on show in London are a Gibson guitar (the L6-S) from 1980’s Dirty Mind tour, the bass used for 1989’s Batman film soundtrack and a custom-built Vox model that he played live in New Orleans and Las Vegas in 2013.
Out of this world: The moon-shaped diamond ear-cuffs first worn by Prince in 2004
Pride of place, though, goes to the orange Cloud guitar designed for him in Minnesota. A similar model in yellow sold for £103,000 at a U.S. auction last year, making the unusual instrument one of the most valuable in the collection.
‘The orange Cloud was used when he visited the O2,’ says Marchese. ‘So it’s great to be bringing it back.’
The Paisley Park estate, which contains studios, living quarters and a concert hall, was opened to fans a year ago, six months after the singer’s death, and the curators of the London spectacular are aiming to bring the flavour of the 65,000 sq ft complex to the UK.
‘With Paisley Park, Prince was able to develop his music without interference,’ says Marchese.
‘If he wanted to do a photoshoot or a recording at 4am, he could. He could never just sit around, because his mind was constantly working.
‘It’s not unusual to find a notebook or an envelope lying on a desk with his handwritten lyrics on the back. Music was his way of expressing all the thoughts he had in his head. He was a creative individual who marched to his own beat.’
- My Name Is Prince opens on October 27 at London’s O2 Arena (mynameisprince.co.uk).