Did Minnesota’s Paisley Park Go Too Far, Or Are They Justified?

Paisley Park in Chanhassen is the former studio/home of Minnesota native and music prodigy Prince.  Since his sudden death a few years ago, Paisley Park has been turned into a museum, but does still have a studio that musicians can rent out to use to record their work.

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You need to make an appointment, as you would with any sort of studio time at any studio.  You generally can't just walk in and expect them to say "yeah, no problem, go ahead, it's all yours".

But, that is exactly what musician/drummer/singer Sheila E did recently.  And it didn't go well.  It seems as though she just thought she could walk into Paisley Park and use the studio to record some of her work.  She figured that since she and Prince were so close, that the estate, who run Paisley Park, would be able to accommodate her.  She didn't make an appointment, she didn't even call ahead to say she was even stopping by, let alone make an appointment for the studio time and to make sure it was available.

The thing is that there is the Purple Rain 40th Anniversary event that Paisley Park is preparing for. They didn't just turn Sheila E away, as she eluded to on her Insta story.  They offered to let her do what she would like to do in another area of Paisley Park, just not in the main studio like she wanted to.  She was giving her side of the story, which she is absolutely entitled to do, but there were some things that were missing.  There are always 2 sides to every story, and Paisley Park did come back with their side.

Some of the comments from her followers saying "shame on Paisley Park", "so sorry that happened to you", "Sheila E should get a pass", etc.  Paisley Park did come back with a statement.

Hello Sheila - We love and respect you, and we did offer for you to come in and film in the soundstage or other areas, but we couldn’t allow filming in the studios without prior knowledge and planning, especially with tours going on at the time. We hope to have you back to Paisley Park in the future - just give us a heads-up! Happy Prince Day 💜

 

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I also can understand some people's outrage being that is IS Sheila E, and any Prince fan knows the relationship that she and Prince had. They were close friends and had worked on a few projects together  But she also needs to take into consideration the situation of what is going on right now.  She needs to also just have some basic consideration and not pull the "DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM" schtick.

Hopefully she will go back, after giving them a heads up and be able to work in the studio(s) at Paisley Park.  Sometime when there isn't a giant celebration going on that they are preparing for.