American folk-rock singer-songwriter Bob Dylan performing at BBC TV Centre, London, 1st June 1965. … [+]
RedfernsPrince’s “Purple Rain” and Bob Dylan’s “Girl from the North Country” may soon have a new meaning to Minnesotans, thanks to state legislators.
According to Minneapolis TV station Fox 9, the late Prince’s sister, Sharon Nelson, appeared in front of a Minnesota Senate Committee Tuesday to support an effort by legislators to make the music icon’s “Purple Rain” an official state song.
“His spirit lives on not just in the melody of the song, but in the hearts of all who call Minnesota home,” Nelson said in front a Senate committee on Tuesday (via Fox 9). “To see it now recognized as the official state song of Minnesota is an honor that I know would have meant so much to him.”
Prince — whose full name was Prince Rogers Nelson — is not the only native of the Land of 10,000 Lakes who may get a song recognized. Per Fox 9, legislation sponsored by Minnesota DFL Sen. Rob Kupec of Moorhead would also make Dylan’s classic tune “Girl From the North Country” an official Minnesota State Song as well.
Kupec, per Fox 9, also included the 1904 marching band tune “Hail! Minnesota” as part of the legislation because it wasn’t officially designated as a state song when it unofficially became an anthem for the University of Minnesota in 1945.
Fox 9 reported that the bill is still awaiting a vote in the state legislature.
UNITED STATES – SEPTEMBER 13: RITZ CLUB Photo of PRINCE, Prince performing on stage – Purple Rain … [+]
RedfernsThe Bob Dylan Biopic ‘A Complete Unknown’ Was A Movie Hit And A Prince Stage Musical Is On The Way
Bob Dylan, who was born Robert Allen Zimmerman on May 24, 1941, in Duluth, Minnesota, and grew up in nearby Hibbing.
While Minnesota is mentioned in passing in the recent Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown, the story largely takes place from the early 1960s to 1965 as the legendary troubadour rose to prominence on the New York City folk music scene.
Timothée Chalamet played Dylan in A Complete Unknown, which earned eight Oscar nominations including Best Picture, Best Actor for Chalamet, Best Directing for James Mangold, Best Supporting Actor for Edward Norton (who played Pete Seeger) and Best Supporting Actress for Monica Barbaro (who played Joan Baez).
The film, however, was shut out at the 97th Academy Awards.
“Girl from the North Country,” which was among the Dylan songs Chalamet sang in A Complete Unknown, was a track on musician’s 1963 album The Freewheeling Bob Dylan.
Prince’s movie history includes the classic music drama Purple Rain in 1984. Prince, who was born on June 7, 1958, in Minneapolis, died at age 57 on April 21, 2016, in Chanhassen, Minnesota.
Prince won an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song Score for Purple Rain at the 1985 Oscars. The Purple One also created the original song score for director Tim Burton’s Batman in 1989.
Per Playbill, the Prince stage musical Purple Rain will makes its world premiere in Minneapolis sometime in the spring of 2025.
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