Prince’s Childhood Home
2620 8th Avenue North
The Nelsons purchased this home on Eighth Avenue North in March 1965. For the previous seven years they had been living at 915 Logan Avenue North. They kept that house and rented it out. It has since been demolished.
Prince’s musical genius emerged while he was living in this rambler. According to his mother, Mattie Shaw Nelson, Prince could hear music from a young age, but it was in this modest mid-century house that his talent flourished. He mastered the piano by the age of eight and began writing songs. Prince later took up the guitar. He played both instruments in the band he founded with cousin Charles “Chazz” Smith, who lived nearby at 927 Sheridan Avenue North.
When he was about 13--around 1973--Prince moved out. He was trying to escape mounting tensions with his mother and stepfather.
Images
Prince on the lap of his father, John Nelson, circa 1959
His cousin Charles Smith, later a band mate and musical collaborator, is on the floor to the immediate left. | Source: Photo credit: Charles Smith. View File Details Page
Prince's childhood home, 2620 8th Avenue North
Prince lived here from 1965 through approximately 1973 (ages 6 - 13). The house he lived in from an infant to age 6 at 915 Logan Avenue North has been demolished. | Source: Photo credit: Kristen Zschomler, 2018. | Creator: Kristen Zschomler View File Details Page
Prince wrestling with his cousin, Charles Smith, who was later a band mate and musical collaborator, circa 1959
Prince wrestling with his cousin, Charles Smith, who was later a band mate and musical collaborator, circa 1959 | Source: Photo credit: Charles Smith. View File Details Page
Prince as a toddler with his Aunt Edna Mae and his grandfather Frank Shaw, circa 1959
Prince as a toddler with his Aunt Edna Mae and his grandfather Frank Shaw, circa 1959. | Source: Photo credit: Charles Smith. View File Details Page
Prince (fourth from the left, first row) at a family birthday party, mid-1960s
Prince (fourth from the left, first row) at a family birthday party, mid-1960s. | Source: Photo credit: Charles Smith. View File Details Page