Arnellia’s Bar and Restaurant, a nightclub on University Avenue in St. Paul that hosted a legion of legendary musicians including Prince, will close after a quarter of a century in business.

Longtime owner Arnellia Allen is no longer able to maintain the business “due to major health issues,” according to a Facebook post on Sunday.

Kendra Glenn, a Chicago native who now lives in Minneapolis, calls Arnellia’s her home.

“Ms. Arnellia is one of the most giving, kindest and most gentle souls I’ve ever met in my life. She loved the people who came to her bar. She’s like a mother figure to me.”

Allen gave Glenn the opportunity to sing on the club’s stage and develop her talent over the past 17 years, including the night she shared that stage with Prince. “I was singing, and Prince came in with his whole entourage,” Glenn said. “We stood face to face with each other, but he never said a word. He just nodded.”

De’Monica Flye, Allen’s goddaughter, was emceeing that show and said that while Prince usually stuck to the VIP section, that night he walked on stage, took the guitarist’s instrument and started jamming. “He was playing it so hard, when he put it down, the neck broke,” Flye said with a laugh. “But Prince bought him a new one, I think the very next day.”

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Business owners and community groups refine state aid requests for properties damaged in riots But it wasn’t just Prince who frequented Arnellia’s. In a 2000 feature story, former Pioneer Press music critic Jim Walsh called the club St. Paul’s version of the legendary Apollo Theater in Harlem. At the time, Walsh wrote, it was “the only place in St. Paul where you can hear live R&B, blues and jazz six nights a week. … It’s where R&B legend Millie Jackson visits when she’s in town, where many Vikings and Gophers basketball players go after games and where various regulars, newcomers and the occasional member of Prince’s band come to hang.”

Bobby “Blue” Bland, Shirley Murdock, the Blue Notes, Jr. Walker and the All Stars, Sounds of Blackness, Zapp and Alexander O’Neal are among the hundreds of acts that played Arnellia’s over the years.

The stage was also open to newcomers. “Ms. Arnellia gave anybody and everybody a chance to show their talent,” Glenn said. “That’s the kind of woman she is. I was pretty green when I started singing, but she allowed me do what I love to do.”

That generosity extended far beyond the club’s walls, Flye said. Allen donated a baby grand piano to the nearby High School for Recording Arts and worked with the VFW, American Legion and Elks Club.

“She would give her last, and she was supportive of everyone,” Flye said. “A homeless person came in once with nothing. She fed him, gave him some money and a place to sleep. She helped a lot of musicians when they were in situations. She helped people get apartments, cars and houses. She helped me make it through my own cousin’s funeral.”

Beyond the music, Arnellia’s is also known for its soul food. Former Pioneer Press food critic Kathie Jenkins called it a “nothing-looking bar/R&B club on University” that just so happens to serve “the best fried chicken wings in the Twin Cities. The chicken is fresh, not frozen, and whoever does the cooking knows how to use a deep fryer. You could sit on the wings and not get grease on your pants.”

In a review last year, Twin Cities food blog Heavy Table raved: “Despite the restaurant-within-a-club’s location in a glorified coatroom, there seemed to be an awful lot of equipment and flair packed into that tiny space.”

The club did have run-ins with St. Paul authorities over the years. In March, it agreed to give up its liquor license for 10 days. The penalty, negotiated with city officials, stemmed from a November altercation between two contestants that took place in the bar’s parking lot after the all-female face-slapping contest known as Smack Fest. A woman reported that she was violently assaulted by a competitor and the competitor’s friends.

In years past, other violence has been reported in and outside the bar. Shortly after Arnellia’s opened in 1992, a man was shot dead outside. In 1999, a man died of a skull fracture after he was run down by a vehicle during a fight outside the bar.

In 2004, after a man opened fire inside Arnellia’s and killed a bystander, city staff proposed shutting the bar for 60 days. But a strong show of customer support persuaded the St. Paul City Council in 2006 that it was a changed bar with a more mature crowd, and the penalty was drastically reduced.

Glenn acknowledged the bar’s problems, but said she never experienced them herself. “I would drive to Arnellia’s at any time, day or night, and not feel threatened. I would go sit next to her in the bar and break bread together. She always embraced everybody.”

On March 19, Flye and Glenn helped organize a birthday celebration for Allen at the club.

The event started at 2 p.m. and ran all the way until closing, with live musicians, DJs and peace activist KG Wilson among those on the stage. The following day, Allen shared the news about her health issues, which Allen and her family are keeping private. “To tell you the truth,” Flye said, “I haven’t been able to sleep since. It was shocking and abrupt.”

The club will close April 30 after a four-day celebration featuring bands, spoken-word artists and DJs.

Flye holds out hope someone will be interested in taking over the business. “Believe me, if I had the money, I would buy it myself,” she said. “She’s a landmark, and I would love to see her legacy of black entertainment — and musical history — continue.”