Prince used to invite fans to show up at Paisley Park on a moment's notice. The operators of his studio-turned-museum, however, are being accused of not extending the same invitation to one of his best-known friends and collaborators.
Sheila E. took to social media over the weekend claiming that Paisley Park staff turned her away when she showed up unannounced Friday to pay her respects on Prince's birthday. She swung by the Chanhassen music landmark ahead of her gig with Morris Day & the Time on Saturday at Northern Lights Casino in Walker, Minn.
"Shame on u Paisley Park," the singer/drummer and onetime girlfriend of Prince wrote on Instagram, where she also posted a video detailing what happened.
"I went in to celebrate him," Sheila said in the video, "and I wanted to go into the studio and do a live video, take a picture, and they said, 'No.'"
"My heart's broke," she added. "That's kind of messed up. … Not a nice way to celebrate his birthday."
Paisley Park representatives were quick to respond in a comment under her Instagram post. They cited the fact that public tours were happening at the time of her arrival, as is the case most days.
"Hello Sheila," the museum's reps wrote. "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!"
Paisley Park will soon welcome throngs of visitors and many of the late rock icon's old cohorts for its almost-annual Celebration, scheduled June 20-24. Sheila isn't scheduled to appear at this year's event, which is centered around the 40th anniversary of "Purple Rain's" release.
The museum — where Prince did most of his recording after 1987, and where he died while living there in 2016 — is managed by his estate. That estate is split into two factions now that three heirs sold stakes in it to Primary Wave, a large music industry management company.
Prince would have turned 66 on Friday.
