Premium

Did Prince ever play Beale Street?

By , Daily Memphian Updated: November 30, 2025 6:03 PM CT | Published: November 24, 2025 4:00 AM CT

For most of those who saw Prince play on Beale Street that spectacular Sunday morning, the memories are a bit hazy as time, alcohol and exhilarated exhaustion have a way of doing that.

But it really happened.

Twenty-eight years ago, in the wee hours of a Sunday morning in front of a crowd of a few hundred people who each paid $25 to be there, one of the greatest musical forces of the modern age took the stage at the New Daisy Theatre on Beale Street.


Memphis was a character in several of Todd Snider’s songs. Here are the best of them. 


That man was Prince, and while wearing something that looked like very expensive pajamas, he and his full band played 11 songs, eight of them covers, in an absolutely magical show that didn’t even last an hour.

It was a night people still talk about, a show that has long since gone past history to become a Memphis legend.

This is an excerpt of this story. To read more, please click here and subscribe.

Topics

New Daisy Theatre Prince Subscriber Only Rufus Thomas Ask the Memphian

It’s GivingTuesday week! Will you join the celebration?

Donate now to help power our free community news access program.

You
know the value of having unlimited access to The Daily Memphian’s news. When you subscribe, you get full access to our news. But when you donate, you help us reach all Memphians with quality, in-depth local news through
  • free access at over 300 schools and libraries
  • free podcasts and radio broadcasts
  • free newsletters
  • and more!
Pay it forward. Make a fully tax-deductible donation to The Daily Memphian today. 

Thank you for keeping up with local news. Thank you for investing in our community. 

Jody Callahan

Jody Callahan graduated with degrees in journalism and economics from what is now known as the University of Memphis. He has covered news in Memphis for more than 25 years.


Comments

Want to comment on our stories or respond to others? Join the conversation by subscribing now. Only paid subscribers can add their thoughts or upvote/downvote comments. Our commenting policy can be viewed here