First Avenue officially turns 50 on Friday. Joe Cocker was the first musician to perform at the former bus depot on April 3, 1970.

The downtown Minneapolis nightclub had booked a full weekend of shows to celebrate, with Golden Smog, the Hold Steady and Neko Case among them. But now that COVID-19 has shut down all large public gatherings, First Avenue figured out a way to mark the momentous day.

At 5 p.m. Friday, at least a dozen Twin Cities radio stations will play Prince’s signature song “Purple Rain” in unison. Participating stations include 89.3 The Current, Radio K (100.7, 104.5), 101.3 KDWB, 89.9 KMOJ, MyTalk 107.1, Go 95.3 and 96.3, Kool 108, Cities 97, 92 KQRS, KFAN 100.3 and 93X.

Prince recorded “Purple Rain” live at First Avenue during a benefit concert for Minnesota Dance Theatre on Aug. 3, 1983. At the end of that year, Warner Bros. paid $100,000 to the then-struggling venue to rent the space for 25 days. Director Albert Magnoli shot much of Prince’s 1984 breakthrough film “Purple Rain” on site.

First Avenue has rescheduled most of this weekend’s anniversary concerts. For details, see first-avenue.com. April 21 marks the fourth anniversary of Prince’s death from an accidental overdose of fentanyl.