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Prince fans pay respects at Paisley Park five years after death

The rock star died in 2016 of an accidental fentanyl overdose.

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The late rock star Prince’s sprawling Paisley Park property welcomed select fans on Wednesday to mark the fifth anniversary of his death from inside his creative sanctuary.

The massive studio’s atrium opened to 1,400 people who were able to secure free reservations, while other fans paid their respects in front of a statue erected outside the front doors in the shape of his famous purple Love Symbol.

Some wore custom Prince clothes and shoes and left flowers and other mementos as tributes to the late superstar.

A custom-made ceramic urn shaped like Paisley Park with Prince’s symbol on top was originally placed in the middle of the atrium when the pop legend’s 65,000-square-foot studio in suburban Minneapolis first opened as a museum in October 2016.

Prince Anniversary
The feet of a Prince fan at Paisley Park (Stacy Bengs/AP)

Wednesday was the first time the urn has returned to the atrium for display to the public.

“He reached me through his music and through his words and everything. My daughters, I raised them with the love of Prince,” said Raquel Ponce of Mason City, Iowa. She noted while fighting back tears that she tried to give birth to one of her daughters on the singer’s birthday, but missed that mark by a day.

Prince Anniversary
Fans pose for a photo before entering Paisley Park on the fifth anniversary of Prince’s death (David Joles/Star Tribune/AP)

“We celebrate his life and legacy every day at Paisley Park, a place that Prince wanted to share with the world,” Paisley Park executive director Alan Seiffert said in a statement.

“So, on this day especially, we acknowledge the incredible force and inspiration Prince is in people’s lives and open up our doors for them to pay their respects.”

Prince Anniversary
A fan takes a photo of a memorial as others line up to go into Paisley Park (Stacy Bengs/AP)

Pepe Willie, Prince’s uncle and an early music mentor, still tears up when he thinks of the lost star.

“It was devastating,” he recently told The Associated Press of the moment he learned the news. “I’m standing in the living room with my underwear on watching the TV. I couldn’t go anywhere, I couldn’t do anything. I was just in so much shock. It was unbelievable.”

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