Typically famous musicians make a home out of Los Angeles, New York or even Nashville, but not Prince.
It's safe to say the legendary singer went against the grain in all aspects of life. He broke barriers, wrote and performed groundbreaking music and marched to the beat of his own drum. Nothing reflects that more than his choice to live full-time in Minneapolis, Minnesota, at his iconic Paisley Park home.
Prince's close friend and bassist Nik West opened up on Fox News Thursday and weighed in on why the star felt so connected to his Midwest home.
"He said Minneapolis raised him...[moving]will never happen," she recalled. " He would say, 'I'm never leaving...there's a legacy here for me' He was just all about just being who he was—being at home."
She continued, "Paisley Park was his home. He had his concerts there but he also lived there."
Fans have come out in waves to lay purple flowers at the fence of his home, which according to sports reporter Brian Sherriffe said resembled a jail. Despite its ominous exterior—it has no windows and is a large, gray building—Sherriffe said the inside was absolutely breathtaking, much like the star who inhabited it. Inside the walls was a massive music studio, which would eventually record 30 albums.
A glass pyramid would glow purple whenever the signer was at his home, but aside from that public display Prince was an incredibly private person who enjoyed his Midwestern life; Paisley Park became his haven. Even though it's abundantly clear how special Minnesota was to the late star, it's even clearer how much his presence meant to Minnesota.
Minneapolis nightclub First Avenue hosted an all-night block party for people ages 18 and older in his honor. We'll let the scene speak for itself:
A Facebook post on the club's page said, "Our hearts are broken. Prince was the Patron Saint of First Avenue. He grew up on this stage, and then commanded it, and he united our city...Rest in peace and power Prince."
The city's Target Field displayed "Goodnight Sweet Prince" on its screens along with a picture of the icon on a motorcycle. Fans also laid flowers at a wall where iconic musicians' names, including Prince's, have been painted in stars.
Bob Fuchs, store manager at Electric Fetus in Minneapolis, talked to E! News Thursday about the star's passion for for working with the community.
"There's people who've been coming by and sharing stories and crying in disbelief. [Prince] has a strong, strong, strong following in this town. So it's just been a lot of outpouring of love and grief," Fuchs shared. "But he had been doing, working, he wanted to work more locally with local businesses. We sold his CD here exclusively at the store for about three weeks and he had talked to us about wanting to work with us in the future maybe a little more. He really wanted to work with people locally and cut out the middle man as much as possible."
Fuchs continued, "I don't have any idea of if he was planning another show, he might've talked to the owner about that a while back but I don't know anything about that at all. He just wanted his new CD, we sold it exclusively here for about three weeks online and in the store. But he really wanted to have a local connection direct to customers so we were trying to make that happen. He really wanted to support the local scene with his music."
It goes without saying that the world loved Prince and Prince loved the world, but there is something extra memorable about what the city of Minneapolis does for its fallen star—and its star did for it.