Arts | Page 2 | MNopedia

MN90: Prince's Cloud Guitar

1983—Dave Rusan had never built a guitar. He only repaired them. But now he’d been given the job of a lifetime: to create the iconic cloud guitar used in Prince’s film Purple Rain. Here’s Britt Aamodt.

"Purple Rain"

Excerpt of Prince's "Purple Rain" (1984), from the album of the same name.

Purple Rain (film and album)

Purple Rain is the title of both a film and an album by Prince, released in 1984. The album gave the twenty-six-year-old Minneapolis native his first Number One hits, and the movie, while not critically lauded, was a box office success. The film, album, and subsequent worldwide tour propelled Prince’s rising star into the stratosphere, making him as famous as contemporaries like Michael Jackson and Madonna.

Lionel Richie, Apollonia Kotero, and Eddie Murphy at the Purple Rain premiere

Lionel Richie, Apollonia Kotero, and Eddie Murphy at the premiere of the movie Purple Rain, held in Los Angeles on July 26, 1984. Photo by Ellen Jaskol. Los Angeles Times Photographic Collection, Department of Special Collections, UCLA Library.

Suit worn by Jellybean Johnson in the movie Purple Rain

Suit worn by Jellybean Johnson in the movie Purple Rain (1984).

Gloves worn by Prince in the movie Purple Rain

Purple knit-lace gloves worn by Prince in the movie Purple Rain (1984). The right glove has two rhinestone-and-gold-colored circular ornaments sewn to each side of the wrist, connected by two dangling strings of rhinestones in gold-colored settings.

Purple Rain playing at First Avenue

Prince fans in mourning watch a clip from the movie Purple Rain during an all-night dance party held at First Avenue on April 21, 2016, the day of Prince’s death from an accidental fentanyl overdose.

Purple Rain album cover

The cover of Prince’s album Purple Rain (1984).

Minneapolis Sound (music genre)

The Minneapolis Sound is a music genre popularized by Prince and his many side bands, including Morris Day and The Time, the Family, Vanity 6, and Apollonia 6, as well as Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis (working most notably with Janet Jackson) and the Jets. The Minneapolis Sound defined the sonic landscape of the 1980s and 1990s with its heavy punk- and rock-guitar solos, hard-driving, funky bass lines, and synth-forward, new-wave pop sensibilities. In the twenty-first century, it continues to influence artists like Janelle Monáe, Lizzo, Bruno Mars, and Brittany Howard.

“Escapade” by Janet Jackson

Excerpt from the song “Escapade,” from Janet Jackson’s 1989 album Rhythm Nation 1814.

Gale Family Library