After 9 Years, They FINALLY Opened Prince’s Secret Vault… What They Found Will SHOCK YOU | HO!!!!

CHANHASSEN, MINNESOTA — When Prince Rogers Nelson died suddenly in April 2016, the world mourned the loss of a musical genius. But for those closest to him, his passing was only the beginning of a new mystery—one that would take nearly a decade to unravel. In the basement of Paisley Park, Prince’s legendary estate, lay a bank vault that no one could open. Inside, it was rumored, were hundreds—maybe thousands—of unreleased songs.

For years, the vault was sealed, its secrets locked away by a code known only to Prince himself. Now, nine years later, the vault has finally been opened. What investigators discovered inside was nothing short of staggering—a musical treasure trove that may forever change how we understand Prince’s legacy.

The Legend of the Vault

The myth of Prince’s vault began long before his death. In interviews, Prince would coyly admit to having “hundreds” of unreleased songs, but those who worked with him knew the truth was far more extreme. Susan Rogers, Prince’s trusted audio technician from 1983 to 1987, revealed she was the architect of the original vault. “I started the vault,” Rogers said. “I wanted us to have everything he’d ever recorded right here, in one place.”

When Rogers arrived at Prince’s orbit in 1983, she found a creative maelstrom. Prince was recording at a pace that defied belief, laying down 50 to 60 songs per album cycle, but only releasing a fraction. “The leftover material wasn’t rough demos or half-finished ideas,” Rogers recalled, “these were fully produced, radio-ready tracks that could have been hits.”

Rogers became a musical detective, tracking down master tapes from studios in Minneapolis, Los Angeles, and New York, amassing a collection that would become the basis for Prince’s fabled vault.

Building a Fortress

As Prince’s output accelerated, so did his paranoia about control. Scarred by the music industry’s exploitation of Black artists, Prince made a decision early in his career: he would own every piece of music he ever recorded. When construction began on Paisley Park in 1986, the vault was a central feature. Prince commissioned a Mosler American Century safe—a bank-grade steel fortress with a spinning combination lock, climate control, and fireproof construction. The code? Memorized by Prince, and never written down.

By the time Rogers left in 1987, nearly 800 unreleased songs filled the vault. But Prince was just getting started. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, his creative pace only intensified.

Engineers and band members described a 24/7 operation, with Prince working through the night, sometimes completing two or three fully produced tracks in a single session. “If he was awake, as long as he wasn’t on the phone handling business, for the most part, Prince was recording,” said Michael Koppelman, a longtime engineer. “From the late ‘70s up until when I was there, I’d say about 2,000 songs. He probably has more now.”

The Philosophy of Unreleased Genius

Prince’s vault wasn’t just a warehouse for rejects. It was a living archive, a time capsule of artistic statements that didn’t fit his current vision. “He treated the vault like a musical savings account,” said Rogers. “Depositing songs continuously without immediate plans for withdrawal.” Albums like “Camille” and “The Black Album” were fully completed, only to be shelved for personal or spiritual reasons. Complete projects like “Dream Factory” and “Crystal Ball” were condensed or abandoned, their tracks left in limbo.

Sometimes, Prince would record entire albums—like 2010’s “Welcome 2 America”—then simply move on, leaving finished masterpieces locked away for reasons known only to him. “Prince was always working several projects ahead,” said Morris Hayes, his musical director for over 20 years. “By the time fans heard the latest album, he’d already recorded the next three.”

The Day the Music Stopped

On April 21, 2016, Prince was found dead at Paisley Park. He left no will, no instructions, and—most crucially—no combination to the vault. The estate’s lawyers faced an unprecedented challenge: how to access a fortune in unreleased music that was, for all intents and purposes, sealed away forever. The Mosler safe was infamous in security circles; no burglar had ever successfully cracked one without the code.

Enter Dave McOmie, a professional safe cracker from Oregon. Hired by the estate, McOmie faced a daunting task. One wrong move could trigger a spring-loaded relocker, permanently sealing the vault. Using surgical precision, McOmie drilled a microscopic hole, inserted a specialized periscope, and painstakingly aligned the tumblers. After hours of tension, the steel door swung open. What was revealed inside stunned everyone present.

The Shock of Discovery

The vault was far larger than anyone expected: 800 square feet, packed floor to ceiling with industrial shelving. Every shelf was lined with master tapes, DATs, digital files, and handwritten notes in Prince’s unmistakable script. Initial estimates had pegged the collection at hundreds of songs. The reality? Between 6,000 and 8,000 unreleased recordings—enough for 500 to 600 albums.

But it wasn’t just the quantity. Archivists discovered that many tracks were fully produced, radio-ready, and in some cases, arguably superior to Prince’s released work. There were also over 50 unreleased music videos, concert footage, and hours of studio session tapes, offering a window into Prince’s creative process.

“The vault wasn’t just a collection of leftovers,” Rogers explained. “It was an alternate history of Prince—his purest creative impulses, preserved without filters.”

Rewriting History

The vault’s contents have already begun rewriting Prince’s legacy. In 2021, the estate released “Welcome 2 America,” a completed album recorded in 2010 but shelved for unknown reasons. Its political themes and musical sophistication resonated with a new generation, debuting at number four on the Billboard 200 and topping vinyl sales charts. Critics hailed it as a prophetic masterpiece, proof that Prince’s unreleased material was not just historical curiosity but living art.

Each new release is handled with care. The estate knows it is managing one of the most valuable music catalogs in history. “Their career no longer matters so much as their legacy,” Rogers said. “That’s what matters now.”

The Future of the Vault

Nine years after Prince’s death, the vault remains a musical Fort Knox. Only a fraction of its contents have reached the public. With thousands of songs still unheard, experts estimate the estate could release a new album every year for the next century.

But the vault is more than a commercial windfall. It is Prince’s ultimate act of defiance—a way to control his narrative, even from beyond the grave. As archivists continue to explore its depths, they are discovering not just more music, but new dimensions of Prince’s genius. The vault is a reminder that, for Prince, creation was never about the present. It was about building a legacy that would outlast him, a legacy that—now, finally—belongs to the world.