April 7, 1985: The artist known as Prince performs at the Orange Bowl during the final show of his Purple Rain tour
During the spring of 1985, there wasn't a bigger music star in the world than the artist known as Prince. His landmark Purple Rain album had catapulted the eccentric musician to the top of the pop charts,eclipsing Michael Jackson. Not only was the album number one in sales at the time, he also starred in the movie "Purple Rain" which also did well at the box office.
At the very height of his career, Prince brought his band The Revolution to the Orange Bowl on April 7, 1985 for the final concert of his Purple Rain tour. The Orange Bowl was transformed into the "Purple Bowl". More than 55,000 people attended and they didn't leave disappointed. The opening act was percusionist/singer Sheila E., who was a Prince protoge and had a popular song on the pop charts "The Glamorous Life". Prince performed 22 songs that evening, including every song from the Purple Rain album. He closed his show appropriately with the album's title track.
The tour sold 1.7 million tickets according to Spin Magazine. It also marked the touring debut of his band The Revolution. The Orange Bowl performance would be Prince's only appearance at the legendary stadium. But it wouldn't be his last or most memorable South Florida concert. Nearly 22 years later, Prince performed at halftime of Super Bowl XLI at Dolphins Stadium (Now known as Sun Life Stadium).
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