On the exterior wall of First Avenue concert venue, among the hundreds of gold stars bearing the names of local artists who have played there, one star is different: Prince's star was spray-painted gold by a fan within hours of his death in April 2016, and the venue subsequently made the modification permanent. The star is on the north wall of the building, on 7th Street.
The tradition of stars began in 1979 when venue owner Steve McClellan started marking the wall with stars for artists who had sold out the venue. Prince played First Avenue dozens of times between 1979 and his death. His gold star — larger than the others by convention, surrounded now by smaller tribute stars placed by fans — has become the most visited location in Minneapolis for devotees of his music.