Prince fans got a long-awaited surprise Saturday at Target Center following a screening of “Purple Rain.” The man born Prince Rogers Nelson finally was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Prince’s sister Sharon Nelson accepted the honor at the special event to celebrate the 40th anniversary, to the day, of the release of “Purple Rain,” the semi-autobiographical film that helped Prince achieve worldwide fame. It grossed $70.3 million in 1984 against its $7.2 million budget and won an Academy Award for best original song score. The soundtrack spent 24 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, spawned five hit singles and won two Grammys. A musical based on the film is set to have its world premiere in April at Minneapolis’ State Theatre.

The Songwriters Hall of Fame (SHOF) was founded in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer, music publisher/songwriter Abe Olman and publisher/executive Howie Richmond to celebrate the most-loved English language songwriters. According to SHOF’s website, “a songwriter with a notable catalog of songs qualifies for induction 20 years after the first commercial release of a song.”

Given that Prince released his debut album “For You” in 1978, he was first eligible in 1998. He was nominated in 2005 along with Neil Young and the Who’s Pete Townsend, but none of three were ever actually inducted until now.

Fellow Minnesotan Bob Dylan was inducted in 1982, his first year of eligibility. In 2017, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis — founding members of the Prince-affiliated band the Time who went on to write and produce with Janet Jackson — made the cut.

Prince’s absence from SHOF has been discussed for decades, with fans launching petitions via Change.org and MoveOn. Last year, American Songwriter magazine published a piece with five reasons a Prince induction was overdue, noting his creation of the Minneapolis Sound, his ability to cross musical genres and the many hits he wrote, both for himself and for other artists.

The “Purple Rain” screening also included performances from Jamecia Bennett and Shapeshift Dance Company. Prince’s studio/home-turned-museum Paisley Park also showed the film to a sold-out audience Saturday night.

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