Precocious Prince Revealed in Rare Footage

Screenshot: WCCO - CBS Minnesota

The keen eye of Minnesota news production manager Matt Liddy, unearthed a long-lost treasure recently in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.

A Minnesota native, Liddy, was looking through archival footage for WCCO, where he works, last month when he spotted a familiar face in a story about a school strike that took place in 1970.

The resemblance to Minnesota's Muse, the Purple One himself —Prince, as an 11-year-old speaking in support of the teacher's strike was so stunning that Liddy immediately ran to the newsroom to confirm that he was not crazy.

"I immediately just went out to the newsroom and started showing people [the footage] and saying, 'I'm not going to tell you who I think this is, but who do you think this is?" he told WCCO.

According to Liddy, every single person responded "Prince."

Still, after being advised by experts that pre-teen videos of Prince are nearly nonexistent, the team at WCCO had to go the extra mile to verify the video and confirm that their footage contained a rare look at the legend who came to embody the Minnesota music scene as a child.

After restoring the video, the station found Kristen Zschomler, a professional historian, archeologist and researcher who has written extensively on his journey from Minneapolis’ northside to Paisley Park and the world.

When she was shown the clip, in which the young boy is called Skipper by his classmates (a nickname Prince had as a child), she was convinced it was the star immediately.

“I think that’s him, definitely. Oh my gosh! Yeah, I think that’s definitely Prince,” Zschomler said. “This definitely looks like Lincoln Junior High School where he would have been attending school in April of 1970."

The news team got its final confirmation when it hunted down Terrance Jackson, a childhood friend and former neighbor who was also in the singer’s first band, Grand Central, as teens.

“We go far back as kindergarten at John Hay Elementary in north Minneapolis,” Jackson told WCCO.

“That is Prince! Standing right there with the hat on, right? That’s Skipper! Oh my God!" Jackson exclaimed.

So, what did the star, who died at age 57 in 2016 from a fentanyl overdose, have to say about the striking teachers?

“I think they should get some more money because they be working extra hours for us," he said.

Watch the clip below for the entire story: