The Minnesota State Fair has announced that Friday, Aug. 26 will be a “Unite in Purple” day paying tribute to Prince. After 5 p.m., stages throughout the fairgrounds will feature Prince tributes, DJ Dudley D will spin tracks for a Prince party in Carousel Park, State Fair landmarks will be lit purple, and a Prince laser show…

You can’t believe everything you read on TMZ. The Bremer Trust, temporary administrators of Prince’s estate, have refuted a report that they plan to sell Paisley Park. Though the trust did file a petition on Friday asking for permission to sell properties including Paisley Park, the trust says that at present, “Bremer Trust, the special administrator for…

As part of the “A.V. Undercover” series, Har Mar Superstar stopped by the A.V. Club’s Chicago offices to perform his take on the Built to Spill song “Big Dipper.” While he was there, the A.V. Club asked him to also perform his cover of Prince’s “When You Were Mine.” Watch the video at the A.V. Club. Mercury…

Before the 1984 blockbuster Purple Rain catapulted Prince on to the national stage, there was an Aug. 3, 1983 benefit concert for the Minnesota Dance Theatre at the recently re-branded First Avenue. It was there that the budding pop star debuted much of the Purple Rain album tracks, and recorded the versions of “Purple Rain,” “I Would…

According to the Associated Press, members of Prince’s family are planning an authorized tribute concert for Thursday, Oct. 13 at U.S. Bank Stadium — the Minnesota Vikings’ brand-new home in Minneapolis. Performers will be announced gradually, the family told the AP, and tickets will go on sale some time next month. “We are excited for…

Three members of the Rolling Stones were fined after being caught short; Elvis Costello released his debut album; Johnny Cash hit No. 1 in the album charts posthumously; Rufus Wainwright was born; and Prince had a hit album based on a superhero, Today in Music History.

NYC-based Emily King has been wowing fans with her smooth pop-soul blend for over a decade, opening for the likes of John Legend, Nas, Chaka Khan, and Alicia Keys. Now, she’s come into her own with the polished and powerful sophomore album The Switch, a long-awaited follow-up to her Grammy-nominated J Records release East Side Story (2007). King will…

Last summer, the Minneapolis house that appeared in Purple Rain as the home where Prince’s character “the Kid” lived went up for sale. Who bought it? Prince himself, it turns out. To celebrate Prince’s legacy, we’re going all-Prince on our Local Current stream of Minnesota music every day through Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2016, from 11 a.m. to noon.…

John Lennon suffered a tragic loss; Elton John got his first No. 1 album in the U.S.; Ray Davies temporarily resigned from the Kinks; Ian Curtis of Joy Division was born in Greater Manchester; and Prince gave free albums to U.K. tabloid subscribers, Today in Music History.

I grew up in Chanhassen, Minn., a small, ordinary suburb of the Twin Cities that also happened to be the part-time home of Prince Rogers Nelson. Prince, in all his expressive, eccentric, flamboyant glory, was everything that Chanhassen was not. His presence and everything he stood for was starkly juxtaposed against this white backdrop. As…