The loss of Prince still hurts, but it helps to watch this original footage video of Prince performing Purple Rain for the first time publicly in 1983.
Way back in August of 1983 (pretty sure many of you were not even born yet), Prince debuted his iconic song, “Purple Rain,” at a benefit show in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was impossible to know then just how legendary the song would become; the movie wasn’t out, and while Prince was a big deal, he wasn’t quite “Prince” yet. For many of us, if we could go back and buy tickets… we would!
Although regret runs deep, and sadly, we’ll never attend a Prince show again, we can relive the debut performance of “Purple Rain” thanks to an amazing fan and the internet. The footage is from the First Avenue club in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where Prince explained a bit about his new song and then played it for a good 13 minutes. The performance included a rarely heard third verse, which was cut out of the film and radio edit.
The fan who uploaded the video, originally on Facebook, included many facts about the night’s performance. Prince fans can learn in-depth information and enjoy the insanely good debut all at once! If you’ve already seen the video, isn’t it worth another watch/listen?!
(alternate link: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x464x97)
