|
Chelsea Rodgers is a Prince video released for broadcast. It was first available on (former model and Prince’s muse at that time) Chelsea Rodgers’ official website on 27 October 2007. The song only received a promotional release in the USA in August 2007.
The shooting was organized at short notice and very quickly while Prince and The NPG were in England for the final dates of The Earth Tour. Wanting to go to London Fashion Week which was taking place at the same time, Chelsea Rodgers advised him to attend Matthew Williamson’s fashion show (one of her favorite designers). Prince asked if he could shoot a video on the catwalk, to which Williamson agreed. The video was shot on 19 September 2007 at Eaton Square, London.
The video for Chelsea Rodgers is a performance of the song with Prince first shown seated in the audience to watch the fashion show alongside his then-manager, Ruth Arzate, before erupting on to the catwalk and joining (the full lineup of) The NPG. The performance is interspersed with footage of the fashion show and backstage sequences and stills, the latter in black and white . The inspiration of the song, Chelsea Rodgers, also appears in the video in the audience (also seated alongside Prince) and on the catwalk (although the song describes her as a former model). In most shots she's wearing a custom pendant that fuses her initials CR with the lower half of the  symbol.
The exceptional shooting conditions generated a lot of press and interest but, with limited time to complete the work, and Prince and his band reportedly only doing one take and no rehearsals, the cinematography and editing were rushed to produce the resulting video.
Of note, Shelby J. makes her first and only appearance in a Prince video.
| 
