Singer Prince arrives with his wife Manuela Testolini for the 77th Academy Awards in this Sunday, Feb. 27, 2005 file photo, in Los Angeles. Pop superstar Prince, who died Thursday, had a special relationship with Toronto, the city where he once lived ??? and where he performed one of his final shows.The notoriously private '80s icon married Toronto native Manuela Testolini in the early-to-mid 2000s, settling in the tony Bridle Path neighbourhood. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Kevork Djansezian, FILE

TORONTO - Pop superstar Prince, who died Thursday, had a special relationship with Toronto, the city where he once lived.

The notoriously private '80s icon married Toronto native Manuela Testolini in the early-to-mid 2000s and settled in the tony Bridle Path neighbourhood. The pair divorced in July 2006, but the "Purple Rain" singer apparently never lost his affection for the city.

Among his final public appearances were back-to-back shows at Toronto's Sony Centre last month, surprise concerts announced just 48 hours earlier.

"I love Toronto," the singer told The Canadian Press in 2004 during an interview in Jacksonville, Fla.

"It's cosmopolitan," he continued. "There's all sorts of different kinds of people everywhere you go in Toronto, there's all sorts of great music, great restaurants, great night spots that don't respond to a lot of American playlists and have playlists which I really dig. It's a real melting pot in every sense of the word."

It was during his time in Toronto that Prince recorded his critically acclaimed "Musicology." The CD jacket features the diminutive funk master in front of the gleaming Toronto skyline at night, and includes at least one veiled reference to the street where he lived.

At the time, the funk, rock and R&B legend spoke of Canada's tendency to ignore the American recording industry.

"'Musicology' is the first record I've recorded in Toronto and I can really feel the difference. It has a completely unique sound that came from the total disregard for what's happening in American music, and for the workings of the American music industry. It doesn't sound like anything else that's out there right now," Prince said.

As news of his death spread, his fans — including R&B star the Weeknd — were wistfully recalling their favourite memories of the artist. The Weeknd tweeted a photo of Prince giving him a fist-bump while presenting the Toronto-native with a trophy at the American Music Awards last November.

"I promise this was the greatest moment of my entire life," he wrote on Twitter. "I wish I could relive it everyday."

Toronto fans who attended the recent Sony Centre shows recalled how Prince offered up fresh interpretations of hits culled from his long and varied career, as well as covers.

"With Prince, it was always the greatest night that you'd ever experience," said Colton Eddy, a radio producer who was at the second show.

"There was literally not a song that he didn't play that you wanted to hear, and he played until he couldn't play anymore."

Eddy said Prince seemed to have "endless energy" and performed with as much gusto as he had the previous three times he'd seen him in concert.

"He'd walk off and walk away like, 'There you go, I just gave you everything,' and then he'd come back on five minutes later and keep going," said Eddy. "He didn't really seem tired or anything indicative of poor health."

Reshma Modi said the audience in the Toronto concert hall represented just how wide-ranging Prince's influence was, with teenagers and seniors rubbing shoulders. And Prince was there to impress them all.

"He was dancing on top of the piano and dancing on the stage," Modi said.

The concerts were then followed by an after-party at a downtown club. Audrey Tobolka was among the fans who waited into the wee hours to see whether Prince would make an appearance.

"I didn't think he was going to show up, so I was just happy to see him," she said.

The singer eventually did step up to a microphone to address his patient fans.

"He said, 'How about next time we come I hit up the Rogers Centre?'" Tobolka recalls.

"He was, I guess, implying he was hoping to do another bigger tour later on."

Tobolka left the party shortly afterwards. Later, a tireless Prince jumped on stage for an impromptu performance of eight songs.

One of Prince's earlier Canadian connections was work with the Niagara Falls, Ont.-native Vanity, who fronted the '80s girl group Vanity 6. He wrote the band's hit "Nasty Girl." The former model, whose legal name was Denise Matthews, was also originally cast as Prince's love interest in the film "Purple Rain," before it was taken over by Apollonia Kotero.

Matthews died in February at 57 while Prince was touring Australia. He dedicated several songs to her during a show, according to the Herald Sun newspaper.

One of his guitarists also hailed from Toronto: Donna Grantis of his backing band 3rdEyeGirl, who also played with New Power Generation.

During the time he resided in Toronto, Prince was occasionally spotted at local clubs and a Toronto Raptors game.

DJ Amalia Leandro recalled Prince showing up to a Toronto bar where she was spinning.

"He was just chilling in the parlour with his wife, Manuela, and he was very cool and chill."

— With files from Victoria Ahearn and David Friend

News from © The Canadian Press, 2016