The Current

Great Music Lives Here ®
Listener-Supported Music
Donate Now
Local Current Blog

Music round-up: Minnesotan artists pay tribute to the Purple One

Tickle Torture and Velvet Negroni dance in front of Paisley Park in their "Full Court Press" music video.
Tickle Torture and Velvet Negroni dance in front of Paisley Park in their "Full Court Press" music video.

by Jackie Renzetti

April 21, 2017

To commemorate the one-year anniversary of Prince's death, we wanted to round up some of our favorite local tributes to the pop icon. While dozens of others are out there, our list was limited to songs available online. Here's our top picks for Minnesota-made Prince homages and covers.

Tickle Torture, “Full Court Press (feat. Velvet Negroni)”

Released a few months after Prince died, this video features Tickle Torture and Velvet Negroni serenading their hometown hero as they tour Minnesota, from First Avenue to Paisley Park’s memento-filled fence. 

The Bad Plus, “The Beautiful Ones”

Having built a reputation for their innovative jazz covers of popular songs, the Bad Plus deliver on this instrumental track on their latest album, It’s Hard.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkOdmnOrizs

Har Mar Superstar, “When You Were Mine”

One of Minnesota’s biggest pop stars covered this track for the A.V. Club last August. This week, he told Jade why he loves it so much.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_ERgz_UnAI

Reina Del Cid, “When You Were Mine”

Reina brings her folk rock sound to this classic hit, making for a beautiful tribute.

Tufawon - Solstice 2

This track details Tufawon’s return to Minnesota just one day after Prince died, and how “Purple Rain” [was] the backdrop” throughout that summer.

[soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/270334474" params="auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true" width="100%" height="450" iframe="true" /]

Jillian Rae, “When Doves Cry”

Jillian Rae adds a special touch to her rendition of “When Doves Cry” with her impeccable violin skills and sultry vocals.

Bob Mould, "When You Were Mine"

The day Prince died, Bob Mould was playing a MicroShow at the Turf Club. A few days later, he wove this cover into his First Avenue set.

And of course, we can’t forget last year’s block party with First Avenue, where local artists performed Prince covers. Here, you can find audio of tributes from Tiny Deaths, PaviElle, deM atlaS, Sarah White, Chastity Brown, Cameron Kinghorn and Lizzo.

Lizzo Nate Ryan
Lizzo performs "The Beautiful Ones" at last year's Prince Memorial Block Party from The Current and First Avenue. Photo by Nate Ryan/MPR.

Jackie Renzetti studies journalism and political science at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. She is an editor at the Minnesota Daily and co-hosts Radio K’s “Off the Record.”

Clean Water Land & Legacy Amendment
This activity is made possible in part by the Minnesota Legacy Amendment’s Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund.