Prince’s death made me upend my life and move to his home town

The star’s potent sexuality made him my ‘secret friend’ but, with my career in the arts stalling, his death led me to the life-changing decision to move to Minneapolis and maintain his legacy I distinctly remember the first time I heard Prince. I was a dreamy, artistic child growing up in 80s rural Australia, feeling completely out of place. One day, I turned towards the cassette radio in my bedroom, hearing something totally different to the rock music I had grown up with – something electric and alive. From that moment, he became my secret soul friend, his music carrying a powerful mix of sexuality and spirituality that I didn’t yet have the language for. Songs such as Controversy and Purple Rain felt like permission to be fully expressive, and fully myself.

My love for Prince remained as I grew up. I moved to New York to pursue a career in the arts, but never quite fully managed it, ending up as an arts administrator. I supported other artists, organised programmes, lived alongside creativity rather than inside it. The star’s potent sexuality made him my ‘secret friend’ but, with my career in the arts stalling, his death led me to the life-changing decision to move to Minneapolis and maintain his legacy I distinctly remember the first time I heard Prince . From that moment, he became my secret soul friend, his music carrying a powerful mix of sexuality and spirituality that I didn’t yet have the language for.

Songs such as Controversy and Purple Rain felt like permission to be fully expressive, and fully myself. My love for Prince remained as I grew up. I moved to New York to pursue a career in the arts, but never quite fully managed it, ending up as an arts administrator. I supported other artists, organised programmes, lived alongside creativity rather than inside it. Throughout my life I had wanted to see Prince live, but always hesitated.

Within weeks of his death, the idea of visiting Minneapolis , Prince’s home, began to take hold. It didn’t feel logical – Prince was gone, what could I possibly find there now? In that way, Minneapolis became both my subject and my home. But Minneapolis still felt like a second home. I came to Minneapolis looking for Prince, tracing the places he had lived, researching his life.

Explore more on these topics Share Reuse this content The star’s potent sexuality made him my ‘secret friend’ but, with my career in the arts stalling, his death led me to the life-changing decision to move to Minneapolis and maintain his legacy I distinctly remember the first time I heard Prince. Songs such as Controversy and Purple Rain felt like permission to be fully expressive, and fully myself. My love for Prince remained as I grew up. I moved to New York to pursue a career in the arts, but never quite fully managed it, ending up as an arts administrator. Prince’s death made me upend my life and move to his home town