When Prince was still a prince: unique footage of pop legend emerged at age 11 | celebrities

If you know it, you will recognize him immediately. But Matt Liddy, producer of WCCO TV station in Minneapolis, was initially hesitant. Was that now…? Yes, that was indeed Prince he saw on archive footage of a report about a school strike; only eleven years old and known to friends and schoolmates as Prince Nelson.

Matt Liddy found the footage while WCCO was working on an item about a teachers’ strike in Minneapolis. Someone recalled that there had been a similar strike in the same district in 1970. When viewing the 52 years of untouched film footage, the producer made his discovery. The recording was taken in April 1970 and apparently it was cold that day as little Prince is wearing a thick coat and ear muffs. He fully supports the striking teachers at his school, he says. They work hard and deserve more holidays and should be paid better, the boy says confidently.

Everyone who showed Matt Liddy the footage thought they saw a very young Prince just like him. Kristen Zschlommer, a local historian with a special interest in the pop star, was sure. The final confirmation came from childhood friends and schoolmates from Minneapolis. Among them Terry Jackson, an ex-boyfriend of Prince and member of his first band. The images are also unique. Furthermore, there are no film images of such a youthful Prince. Eight years later, in 1978, his self-titled debut album was released. He became a superstar – the most talented of his generation – in the 1980s. The singer forged funk, soul, rock and pop into music all his own. He died in 2016 at the age of 57 from an overdose of painkillers.

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