Gunjan Nath on April 5, 2022
Prince, the iconic multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter was recognized for his colorful, androgynous appearance and vast vocal range. That included a far-reaching falsetto and high-pitched screams. He was widely regarded as one of the best musicians of his period. It seems a rare footage of Prince’s childhood interview recently surfaced.
The video is dated April 1970, and it shows a reporter from local television station WCCO asking little Prince about the picket lines outside of schools. The kid was wearing a winter hat and flashing the same sly smile that the rest of the world would recognize 13 years later.
Prince gave his first interview at the age of 11 but it’s not about music. It’s about a boy giving his thoughts on a Minnesota teachers’ strike. It is a remarkable piece of lost TV footage indeed.
I think they should get a better education too cause, um, and I think they should get some more money cause they work, they be working extra hours for us and all that stuff.
The boy appeared to be Prince Rogers Nelson at first glance, but the reporter never inquired about his name. Therefore there was no verification on tape that it was Prince Rogers Nelson. WCCO went on the hunt for more kids from the archived tape who shared their names, but they came into some roadblocks.
When they saw the clip for the first time, they turned to Prince historian Kristen Zschomler, who gasped. Prince is clearly seen in the video, standing outside his old Lincoln Junior High School stomping grounds, according to Zschomler, who also claims that footage of Prince as a child is extremely rare.
The television network acquired more proof that it was Prince by contacting an old classmate who recognized Prince and others of their classmates on audio. The only reason this Prince film was discovered was because WCCO remastered archival footage to provide context for a teachers’ strike that occurred in the same school district last month.
April 5, 2022 8:28 am
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