Paisley Park is throwing a three-day party for one of Prince's most ambitious albums. The Chanhassen compound that served as Prince's home and studio will host a weekend-long celebration marking the 30th anniversary of Emancipation, kicking off Nov. 19 — the same date the triple-disc album originally dropped in 1996.
According to Bring Me The News, the celebration includes panels, parties, film screenings and live music spread across three days. Emancipation was a three-CD set, with each disc running precisely 60 minutes, according to the Prince Official Discography. It was also his third album released in 1996 alone and his first after parting ways with Warner Brothers' music label, as the station's report notes.
The album's track list includes “I Can't Make U Love Me” and “One of Us.” Commercially, Emancipation debuted at No. 11 on the Billboard charts and sold more than 500,000 copies, the discography site notes. Prince toured behind it for six months on what became known as the wildly successful Jam of the Year Tour.
A Three-Day Lineup of Panels and Parties
The anniversary celebration opens Nov. 19 with a virtual panel and a dance party. Day two, set for Nov. 20, includes a panel called “Prince and the 5 Freedoms + 250th Anniversary of America,” a screening of Emancipation-era vault footage, and a late-night jam session.
The final day, Nov. 21, is billed as a community day built around family activities, with a panel on youth voices, a session titled “Emancipation Revolution,” and an emerging artist showcase. The night caps with a concert from the New Power Generation on the Paisley Park soundstage.
Ticket Prices and Free Programming
Single-day tickets for the celebration run between $30 and $31.21, while daytime events on Saturday are free to attend. The New Power Generation concert carries its own pricing: $31.21 for general admission and $50 for VIP access.
This isn't the first time Paisley Park has marked the album's release with a live event. A prior Emancipation celebration took place at the venue on Nov. 12, 1996, featuring a concert that was broadcast simultaneously on MTV, VH1 and BET, according to the discography site.
More Vault Material Keeps Surfacing
The anniversary lands amid a broader wave of posthumous Prince releases. Timeless, a posthumous compilation, had been released earlier that year. Separately, a Prince concert film was scheduled for a limited theatrical release.
More vault material is also on the way tied to a different era of Prince's catalog. An upcoming reissue of 3121 is scheduled, and a 3121-era concert film will get an accompanying theatrical release, the station reports. That lines up with a cluster of releases detailed by Shore Fire Media, which notes that Prince: 3121 Las Vegas Concert will hit theaters in the U.S. and Canada beginning Dec. 3, while 3121 Las Vegas Live arrives on vinyl and CD for Record Store Day Black Friday on Nov. 27.
