From unheard songs to cat doodles, this man catalogs the contents of Prince's vault
An unreleased album is one of many discoveries made by the man in charge of Prince's archives.
April 20, 2021 — 10:18am
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He's sorted through hundreds of lyric sheets, listened to thousands of songs, viewed countless videos of concerts and rehearsals. And he's far from done.
As official archivist for the estate of Prince Rogers Nelson, Michael Howe is in charge of cataloging all the material the Purple One left behind in his storied vault.
Since the fall of 2017, he's immersed himself in an overwhelming volume of recordings and ephemera, some carefully labeled, others waiting for an assistant Prince never hired. Whether music or doodles — cat drawings, anyone? — Howe makes sure it's inventoried, digitized and preserved. Then he figures out what to take to market.