>> Cathy: IT HAS BEEN TEN YEARS SINCE PRINCE'S SUDDEN DEATH FROM A FENTANYL OVERDOSE AND IT SHOOK THE MUSIC WORLD.

MOST MINNESOTANS CAN TELL YOU EXACTLY WHERE THEY WERE ON APRIL 21st, 2016, WHEN THEY HEARD THE NEWS, INCLUDING ANDREA SWENS SON, A MUSIC OF JOURNALIST WHO WORKED AT THE CURRENT, THE SISTER STATION FOR MINNESOTA PUBLIC RADIO, SHE RUSHED TO PAISLEY PARK WHEN THE RUMORS HIT AND WAS THERE WHEN PRINCE'S DEATH WAS CONFIRMED.

I KNOW IT WAS INCREDIBLY HARD FOR YOU, YOU DID A GREAT JOB THAT DAY.

I WAS WONDERING,S AS A REPORTER, WHO TIPPED YOU OFF?

>> WELL, THE NEWSROOM GOT A TIP, ACTUALLY, AND IT WAS REALLY SOON FTER HIS -- HE HAD BEEN FOUND.

SO I DIDN'T WANT TO BELIEVE IT, OBVIOUSLY.

BUT I DROVE OUT TO CHANHASSEN IMMEDIATELY, AND I WAS WORKING REALLY HARD TO TRY TO DISPROVE THAT THIS HAD HAPPENED.

BUT I STARTED CALLING EVERY PERSON THAT I'D EVER MET IN PRINCE WORLD, AND EVENTUALLY GOT THROUGH TO BOBBY Z, AND HE'S THE ONE THAT CONFIRMED IT TO ME, AND THEN I CALLED JADE ON AIR, ON THE CURRENT, AND WE BROKE THE NEWS.

AND THEN IT IMMEDIATELY BECAME GLOBAL AND IT WAS JUST SO SURREAL TO BE STANDING OUT THERE, I MEAN, I THINK I WAS ONE OF THE FIRST TWO OR THREE JOURNALISTS TO BE ON THE LAWN AND THEN PRETTY SOON SOMEONE'S PUTTING A FLOWER AND A BALLOON AND THERE'S HELICOPTERS AND THERE'S THIS STORM OF PEOPLE AND ATTENTION AND I WAS OUT THERE ALL DAY LONG JUST WATCHING IT ALL UNFOLD.

IT WAS SO STRANGE AND SURREAL, BUT ALSO THERE WERE SOME VERY PRINCE-Y MOMENTS, IT WAS RAINING AND THEN LATER IN THE DAY THE SUN CAME OUT AND A RAINBOW FORMED OVER PAISLEY PARK, I'LL NEVER FORGET IT.

>> Eric: YOUR HISTORY WITH PRINCE, YOU'VE TALKED ABOUT IT BEFORE, BUT IT WAS DEEP AND LONG LASTING.

>> AND FUNNY.

>> Eric: YEAH.

>> VERY FUNNY.

I WAS A REPORTER COVERING HIM AND THEN ENDED UP ON HIS RADAR BECAUSE I DREW THIS LITTLE DOODLE OF HIM IN MY NOTEBOOK AT A SHOW HE WAS DOING AT THE DAKOTA.

THEY WOULDN'T ALLOW US TO SEND A PHOTOGRAPHER.

SO I PUT THE DOODLE WITH MY REVIEW OF THE SHOW AND HE EMAILED ME.

I FOUND OUT LATER IT WAS ACTUALLY HIM, NOT HIS ASSISTANT OR MANAGER.

AND HE SKED IF HE COULD HAVE IT.

AND THEN HE USED IT AS THE COVER ART FOR A RECORDING FROM THAT SHOW THAT HE PUT ON HIS YouTube PAGE.

AND A RELATIONSHIP WAS BORN.

ME AND PRINCE, UNLIKELY FRIENDS.

>> Cathy: RIGHT.

COMPLICATED GUY.

I MEAN, CLEARLY, INCREDIBLY CREATIVE, BUT JUST A COMPLICATED INDIVIDUAL.

AND WHAT WORK ETHIC, TOO.

>> ABSOLUTELY.

>> Cathy: YOU SAW THE STEELES ON WITH US.

AND THEY WERE TALKING ABOUT HOW HE OULD CALL THEM AT 2:00, 3:00 IN THE MORNING, COME ON OVER AT PAISLEY PARK, WE'RE JAMMING, WE'RE WORKING ON SOME STUFF.

HE WAS SUCH A WORK HORSE.

>> YEAH, HE DESCRIBED IT AS BOTH A BLESSING AND A CURSE BECAUSE HE JUST HAD TO.

HE HAD TO MAKE MUSIC.

THESE SONGS WERE JUST BURSTING OUT OF HIM.

AND HE WOULD STAY UNTIL THEY WERE DONE.

I MEAN, IT'S REALLY INCREDIBLE TO THINK ABOUT THE THINGS THAT HAVE BEEN UNEARTHED FROM HIS VAULT.

YOU WOULD THINK, OH, MAYBE IT'S DEMO RECORDINGS WITH SCRATCH VOCALS OR KIND OF HALF-FINISHED IDEAS.

NO, FULLY PRODUCED SONGS THAT HE WOULD FINISH IN A DAY AND THEN JUST PUT AWAY AND SAY, IT'S NOT TIME TO RELEASE THAT YET.

>> Eric: I WONDER, YOU'D BE A GOOD PERSON TO COMMENT ON THIS, THAT THE STUFF'S IN THE VAULT, HE DIDN'T THINK IT WAS READY FOR PRIME TIME OR DIDN'T THINK IT WAS READY FOR RELEASING.

SOME STUFF INEVITABLY IS GOING TO BE RELEASED AS TIME GOES ON.

WOULD WE WANT THAT OR DID HE NOT THINK THAT THEY'RE FIT FOR PUBLICITY?

>> WELL, HE SAID MANY TIMES IN INTERVIEWS THAT HE KNEW EVENTUALLY THEY WOULD BE RELEASED, AND SOMETHING THAT I FOUND ERY POIGNANT AS I WAS GOING THROUGH ALL OF HIS INTERVIEWS, IN ONE OF HIS FINAL INTERVIEWS WITH EBONY MAGAZINE, HE SAID HE CONSIDERED HIS CATALOG TO BE PART OF AMERICAN CULTURE, HE REALLY SAW THE VAULT AS SOMETHING THAT SHOULD BE PRESERVED, PROTECTED, END UP SOMEWHERE LIKE THE SMITHSONIAN, HE REALIZED IT WAS THAT SIGNIFICANT.

YEAH.

>> Cathy: DID HE TALK ABOUT A YOUNGER GENERATION AT ALL, IT SEEMS LIKE THERE IS A YOUNGER GENERATION RECOVERING HIM, WHICH I THINK IS SO FAN FACT.

>> -- FANTASTIC.

>> HE WAS INSPIRED BY YOUNG PEOPLE.

WHEN I WAS OUT AT PAISLEY PARK, HE WAS HOSTING MUSICIANS IN THEIR 20s.

HE WAS REALLY INTERESTED IN CUTTING-EDGE MUSIC, WHAT THE NEW IDEAS WERE AND REALLY TAPPING INTO THAT YOUTHFUL ENERGY AND INSPIRATION.

HE WAS SURROUNDED BY THIRD EYE GIRL, HIS BAND, THEY WERE ALL IN THEIR 20s AT THE TIME.

SO HE WAS, I THINK, REALLY THINKING ABOUT THAT AND HOW TO POSITION HIMSELF AS KIND OF AN ELDER STATESMAN AND A MENTOR, AND NOW IT'S, YOU KNOW, INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT THAT HIS MUSIC REACHES YOUNG PEOPLE.

>> Eric: PAISLEY PARK AND THE ESTATE HAVE GONE THROUGH A COUPLE OF OVERSEERS, INCLUDING THE GROUP THAT DID GRACELAND, I THINK.

>> YES, THAT WAS THE FIRST TEAM.

>> Eric: HAS THAT CALMED DOWN, PEACE IN THE VALLEY IN PRINCE WORLD?

>> WELL, THERE'S NEVER TOTAL PEACE IN PRINCE WORLD, THERE'S ALWAYS A LITTLE DRAMA.

NO, THE ESTATE WAS SETTLED IN 2022.

AND WENT TO THESE TWO PARTIES.

ONE SIDE IS THE REMAINING HEIRS THAT KEPT THEIR SHARES, REPRESENTED BY AYOU LAWYER, AND THE OTHER -- REPRESENTED BY A LAWYER, AND THE OTHER WAS SOLD TO A BIG PUBLISHING COMPANY.

THERE'S THE TWO ENTITIES MANAGING THE ESTATE, THEY'RE DOING THINGS LIKE THE BROADWAY MUSICAL THAT OPENED IN THE FALL RIGHT HERE IN MINNEAPOLIS.

>> Cathy: THAT'S RIGHT.

HOW CAN YOU MARK THE TENTH -- HOW DID YOU MARK THE TENTH ANNIVERSARY?

I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT I WAS GOING TO FEEL THAT DAY AND I WENT THROUGH EVERY EMOTION, OUR BY HOUR.

IT WAS REALLY POIGNANT THIS YEAR TO HIT THAT TEN-YEAR MILESTONE, AND I WAS THINKING ABOUT HOW MUCH MINNESOTA HAS GONE THROUGH SINCE WE LOST PRINCE AND HOW MANY OF THESE REALLY PUBLIC GLOBAL TRAGEDIES WE'VE EXPERIENCED AND PRINCE WAS ONE OF MANY OF THESE, WHERE WE'VE EXPERIENCED THIS INFLUX OF MEDIA AND ATTENTION AND PAIN.

SO I WAS THINKING A LOT ABOUT THE SAD FEELINGS IN THE MORNING, AND THEN AS THE DAY WENT ON, I SAW SUCH AN OUTPOURING OF LOVE FOR HIM AND PEOPLE WERE SHARING HIS SONGS AND VIDEOS AND MEMORIES AND THEN I JUST WAS FILLED WITH SO MUCH JOY AND GRATITUDE THAT I GOT TO EVEN BE ALIVE AT THE SAME TIME AS PRINCE, THAT I GOT TO SEE HIM, THAT I GOT TO MEET HIM, ALL OF THESE THINGS I JUST FEEL SO GRATEFUL FOR NOW.

>> Eric: THANKS FOR SHARING.

GREAT TO SEE