Footage of pre-teen Prince discovered in Minneapolis
A reporter looking at archival footage in Minneapolis uncovered what is believed to be Prince's first TV interview
When the late music legend Prince was alive, he was known to be a very private man. Although there was some information available about his childhood growing up in Minneapolis, the prolific musician didn’t reveal much about it in interviews.
As reported by Variety, this week, a production manager at Minneapolis TV station WCCO made an unexpected discovery that sheds more light on Prince’s formative years. When looking through archival footage to illustrate how a teacher’s strike in the city in 1970 might be influencing a current one, Matt Liddy spotted a child that looked familiar.
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He saw what appeared to be a young Prince outside of the junior high school where the 1970 strike was taking place, answering questions for a reporter. The pre-teen shares Prince’s complexion, and as Prince fans online have noted, also had similar mannerisms and the confidence that would come to be associated with the musician later in life.
In the short clip, an 11-year-old Prince is asked if he supports the teacher’s strike. As he blinks into the sun, other kids gather around him as he shares his opinion.
“I think they should get a better education too cause, um, and I think they should get some more money ‘cause they’re working extra hours for us and all that stuff,” the child who would be Prince says.
Though Liddy was pretty sure he’d found what looks like the earliest footage of Prince ever before seen, he still needed to confirm it. The child in the video hadn’t said his name. First, he checked with others in the newsroom who agreed that it did appear to be the hometown superstar. Then the newsroom took over, trying to see if they could confirm via another young man, Ronnie Kitchen, who was interviewed and did mention his name.
After fruitless Google searches and phone calls, a self-styled Minneapolis historian provided the final clue. Kristen Zschomler has compiled over 100 pages of information on Prince and has contacts for many of his childhood associates.
One of them, Terrance Jackson, a kindergarten classmate who went to school with Prince for several years, recognized Prince, and Kitchen, right away when shown the footage by a WCCO reporter. Jackson, who said he was “blown away” by the video, was a member of one of Prince’s early bands, Grand Central.
“He was already playing guitar and keys by then, phenomenally. Music became our sport,” Jackson said. “Because he was athletic, I was athletic, but we wanted to compete musically.”
Prince would record some early music with Grand Central and another childhood friend, Andre Cymone, who would play in Prince’s band and then produce for (and marry and have a child with) Jody Watley. By age 19, the Minneapolis genius had signed to Warner Bros. Records, beginning his 37 years as a professional musician, arguably one of the best to ever do it.
But in 1970, he was just a kid who supported his teachers. Perhaps inspired by his early experiences, Prince gave generously to educational causes throughout his life, both in his native Minneapolis and elsewhere.
The Purple Rain artist donated money and held a benefit for Chicago teacher Marva Collins‘ progressive school, Westside Prep, back in the ’80s, and in 2011, he donated $1 million to Harlem Children’s Zone, a school founded by Geoffrey Canada to end generational poverty through education.
“It’s possible the public will never know how much he gave, and to how many people,” WCCO’s Reg Chapman said in 2019.
Maybe it all started when Prince made his first TV appearance.
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