Prince was a legendary performer who could play a whopping 27 instruments. The term “musical genius” doesn’t even begin to cut it. But he was also very into the aesthetics of being Prince. His sprawling home and studio Paisley Park even had an atrium where the doves actually cried. And back in 1985, the tour bus for Prince and the Revolution, who were in the midst of their legendary Purple Rain Tour, was appropriately a variety of purple hues.
And soon, you’ll have the chance to own it. We’ve learned, via Boing Boing, that Prince’s original Purple Rain tour bus will be auctioned off by Mecum from December 3-5.
Mecum
The Purple Rain Tour bus is actually a heavily modified 1983 Eagle Model 10 motorcoach bus. His Royal Badness customized it to his liking. And that meant adding lots of luxury to the interior. The former Prince tour bus comes with a bathroom, kitchen, double couch that extends into a double bed, and more. As one might expect, all the carpets and curtains are purple. The bus has changed hands a few times over the years, but it’s nice to see that the other owners were wise enough to keep the Princely color scheme going. If these bus walls could talk, we’d sure like to listen.
The Purple Rain Tour stretched across the country from 1984-1985. It included nearly 1oo shows over five months and sold nearly two million tickets. This tour represented Prince at his MTV peak, when he was one of the biggest musical acts on the planet. During this tour, Prince played the entirety of the Purple Rain album, as well as his biggest hits from his breakthrough record 1999. On the L.A. stop for the tour in 1985, Madonna and Bruce Springsteen joined Prince for an on-stage performance. He also debuted his hit song “ Raspberry Beret” on the tour. Basically, if there was one concert from the past you could attend using the Wayback Machine, this show might have been it.
Featured Image: Warner Bros. Record / Mecum