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T his year marks the 40th anniversary of Purple Rain. So it makes sense that Prince is finally being honored with a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame. The iconic musician joins a group of new inductees that includes ballerina Misty Copeland, who Prince championed and took on tour. Fantasia, Bill Duke, Glynn Turman, Nia Long, Sherri Shepherd, Busta Rhymes, Courtney B. Vance, The Isley Brothers, and more are part of the latest class.
Prince is the only posthumous performer joining the Walk of Fame this year, as their rules only permit one in any given year. In his lifetime, Prince refused the honor, but his Estate must have decided to accept it, as it comes with a $75,000 fee for installation and upkeep. The iconic artist died in 2016 of an accidental fentanyl overdose at his Paisley Park studio complex outside Minneapolis. He was 57.
Jimmy Jam, an original member of The Time, the band created by Prince, announced this year’s honorees with Niecy Nash and actor Joe Mantegna. Recipients of a star have two years to schedule a ceremony, after which the nomination expires.
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The announcement was made after thousands of fans headed to Minneapolis for the annual Prince Celebration. The four-day event brought together Prince fans, collaborators, and band members to celebrate his life and legacy. Morris Day, The Revolution, with special guest Judith Hill and teenage guitar prodigy Taj Farrant, performed at a series of events and concerts in Minneapolis. Day has announced his retirement from touring after this year.
During the Celebration, the creative team behind Purple Rain the musical, currently in production, previewed it for selected Prince ‘fam’. The team includes Lincoln Center Theater resident director Lileana Blain-Cruz, book writer Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, a recent Tony Award winner for Appropriate ; music director Jason Michael Webb, who did MJ The Musical, drummer Bobby Z., a member of Prince’s band The Revolution and keyboardist Morris Hayes of the New Power Generation, Prince’s longest-serving bandmember and former musical director. Hayes and Z., were recent adds to the production as musical advisors.
“There only so many of these Black icons that we have,” Webb told Billboard. “Working with the Michael [Jackson] legacy prepared me for the one I really wanted — which is this one.”
At the preview, the actors playing Appolonia, Jerome Benton, and Morris Day, performed some preliminary scenes from the musical. The creative team is taking some liberties with the source material, adding more songs from Prince’s catalog than the nine that appear in the film. The stage version of Vanity 6 performed “The Glamorous Life” – a Sheila E. song not in the movie.
The production is still looking for multiple cast members, including the most important one—the actor who will play The Kid, the character Prince played in Purple Rain.
Purple Rain will premiere at Minneapolis’ State Theater next April.
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