Replacements front-man Paul Westerberg played the same clubs as Prince as a young teenage punk rocker and the band recorded regularly at the star's Paisley Park studios.
"He was like a ray of light in a very cautious place," the singer-songwriter told Rolling Stone after hearing of the musician's death. "I guess it's just a reminder of how fragile we all are and how quick life is."
On hearing of Prince's passing, Westerberg found himself going back to the first times he saw him perform "and all the times we sort of grew up around him." The iconic star went to school "five, six blocks away" from where Westerberg was born. "So we walked the same streets. But I didn't know about him until he was already `the man.'
According to the singer, Prince would be playing the First Avenue club when The Replacements would be playing the Seventh Street Entry. He describes the latter venue as "the little 100-capacity club that connected, and he was in the big room with 900 people."
Prince would occasionally come in while they were playing, his fellow Minnesota musician recalls: "for three seconds, walk out and the entire room would empty, following him. I hope he did it on purpose. I think maybe he did. Hey, he was a star. There was no doubt about it."
Westerberg tells Rolling Stone about how Prince's showmanship hugely impressed him. " It made us all think that Minneapolis wasn't the dour town that we tried to pretend it was. He was like a ray of light in a very cautious place. . . he was glitz to a place that wasn't used to it. I remember a little scuffle broke out in front of the stage one night and Prince said, "Stop fighting, you'll mess up your clothes."
The Replacements front-man suggests that Prince " may have been a little more normal than he pretended to be.The first time they met him was at a urinal at a nightclub in St. Paul. "There he was, and I said, "Hey, what's up?" And he answered, "Life." One word: "life."
"And I can't say that we went on to be pals. But we did record a lot at Paisley Park, and he became comfortable enough to grace us with his presence, not bejeweled and not dressed up."
The Replacements: played connecting clubs with Prince in Minneapolis
