A video featuring late music icon Prince as a small child has surfaced thanks to local Minneapolis news outlet WCCO. It depicts the boundary-pushing multi-instrumentalist at age 11 answering questions about a teacher strike at his Minneapolis elementary school.
In the recovered footage, a reporter asks the young Prince if most of the kids are in favor of the picketing. Prince responds, “Yup,” after which the reporter asks, “How come?”
In a confidently adorable voice, Prince says, “I think they should get some more money ’cause they work extra hours for us and all that stuff.”
The video was discovered by WCCO Production Manager Matt Liddy as he reviewed a freshly restored film documenting an educator strike that took place in Minneapolis, MN in April of 1970. Liddy was looking for footage to offer context for a teacher strike that happened in the same district in March of this year when he noticed a familiar face in the footage.
“I just immediately went out into the newsroom and started showing people and saying, ‘I’m not gonna tell you who I think this is, but who do you think this is?’ and every single person [said] Prince,” he said in a WCCO report about the discovery.
Although the identity of the child in the video seemed clear, it was not easy to confirm. After failing to track down another student who identifies himself in the video as Ronnie Kitchen, Liddy spoke with Terrance Jackson, who attended school with Prince at the time and even played in his first band, Grand Central, when they were teenagers.
“Oh my God, that’s Kitchen,” Jackson exclaimed when he saw the video of Prince, whose childhood friends called him Skipper. “That is Prince! Standing right there with the hat on, right? That’s Skipper! Oh my God!”
Jackson then reminisced about the friendly musical rivalry he shared with Prince: “He was already playing guitar and keys by then, phenomenally. Music became our sport. Because he was athletic, I was athletic, but we wanted to compete musically.”
Watch WCCO’s report on the video of Prince at age 11 below.
11-Year-Old Prince Interviewed On Minneapolis News
[h/t CBS Minnesota]
On Sunday, May 8th (technically early May 9th), an all-star ensemble of musicians will pay homage to Prince with Purple Party: A Tribute To Prince at The Maison in New Orleans, LA.
On tap for this musical menagerie are Magic Beans’ Casey Russell (keys), The Motet’s Joey Porter (keys) and Ryan Jalbert (guitar), The Main Squeeze’s Corey Frye (vocals), The Nth Power’s Nate Edgar (bass), Rebelution saxophonist/Dark Matter bandleader Khris Royal, and singer-songwriter Lyle Divinsky. Also featured on the 2022 Purple Party lineup are a slew of former Turkuaz members including drummer Michelangelo Carubba (Death Kings), vocalists Shira Elias and Sammi Garett, guitarist/keyboardist Craig Brodhead, and The Horn Section, the plug-and-play brass section comprised of Chris Brouwers (trumpet), Greg Sanderson (alto/tenor sax), and Josh Schwartz (tenor/baritone sax). Tickets are on sale here.
