Macon man carried Prince to the stage for 1981 concert

Steve Strange’s football-playing days at Central High School paid off in 1981 while he was working at Prince’s first concert in Macon.

Strange and several of his friends regularly moonlighted at Macon Coliseum concerts in those days, either helping load and unload equipment from trucks or performing stagehand duties.

Prince came to Macon on New Year’s Eve 1981 to perform for a sold-out Coliseum audience of 8,400. He had released his fourth album, “Controversy,” a couple of months earlier.

As anticipation grew for the start of Prince’s set that night, Strange was tending to duties near the performer’s dressing room. Suddenly, one of Prince’s assistants turned to Strange and told him that he’d be escorting Prince to the stage.

Not side by side, though.

“He picked you to carry him on your shoulders,” the man told Strange. And Strange, 24 years old at the time, obliged.

“I was the biggest one backstage,” he said, chuckling.

It wasn’t a short trip either. Strange carried the diminutive Prince, who weighed about 120 pounds, most of the length of the Coliseum floor. Strange walked through the audience with Prince before dropping off the singer near the stage.

Strange, now 60, doesn’t remember what Prince was wearing that night or any interaction the singer may have had with fans. It was 34 years ago and, besides, he had other things on his mind that night.

“I went on back down because I had some more work to do,” he said.

This story was originally published April 22, 2016 at 11:12 AM with the headline "Macon man carried Prince to the stage for 1981 concert."