Nearly three years after it opened as a museum, the management of Paisley Park, Prince’s sprawling production complex outside of Minneapolis, will “transition entirely” to the late artist’s estate, according to a statement. The move, effective Oct. 1 of this year, will see the estate take over from P Park Management Inc., an entity created in 2016 and stewarded by Memphis-based Graceland Holdings, which operates Elvis Presley’s Graceland home and museum.
Opened in 1987, the 65,000-foot Paisley Park was a studio, a home base, a residence and a sanctuary for the artist: He held many concerts and events at its large soundstage and for many years it operated as a commercial studio before he dedicated it primarily to his own work. Nearly all of his albums since 1988’s “Lovesexy” were recorded at least in part there. According to the announcement, Prince developed many aspects of Paisley Park with a view that it would one day be a public-facing museum, and the estate says it is “committed to continued growth and development of Paisley Park, passionately presenting Prince’s life and work and connecting authentically with his fans – both new and old – each and every day.”
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“It was always the intent for the family to take over,” Joel Weinshanker, managing partner of P Park, told the Minneapolis Star Tribune. “It’s always been my desire for the heirs’ voice to become louder and louder.”
Sharon Nelson, the oldest of Prince’s six surviving siblings, told the paper the change is taking place simply because the contract expired. A new executive director will be named, and two veteran Prince associates, Trevor Guy and Kirk Johnson, will likely continue as creative adviser and estate manager, respectively.
Prince died without a will, and while the estate has largely stabilized the late artist’s business affairs and arranged several commercial deals, including ones with Warner Bros. and Sony Music to release previously unavailable or long out-of-circulation titles — such as last year’s “Piano & a Microphone 1983” and the recent “Originals,” which featured Prince’s versions of his compositions that were made famous by others — the six siblings who have been named heirs continue to be at odds with each other.
A memoir that Prince began before his death, “The Beautiful Ones,” will be published Oct. 29, and a documentary series with Netflix, featuring previously unreleased recordings and live footage, is expected in the coming months, although filmmaker Ava DuVernay stepped down as director of the project.