When Prince Rogers Nelson passed away April 21, 2016, he left a long legacy of musical and artistic genius, made the color purple cooler than it perhaps had even been (with apologies to that Harold and the Purple Crayon book), and pioneered the "Minneapolis sound" that ran roughshod over the music charts in the 1980s. He released and performed so many hits from his 39 albums (his first was "For You" in 1978, the last during his lifetime being "HITnRUN Phase Two" in 2015) that you wouldn't just believe just how many more he wrote that others actually made hits.
It's wild to know a hit song - like "Manic Monday" by The Bangles or "Nothing Compares 2 U" by Sinead O'Connor or even "You're My Love" by Kenny Rogers - but to NOT know it was originally written by Prince. Now, some we've known and maybe even heard already; "I Feel For You" was a huge hit for Chaka Khan and written by Prince, and he released his version on his "The Hits" compilation in the 90's, for example. But have you heard his version of "Nothing Compares 2 U"? It's below for your enjoyment.
A bunch of other song performances - 15, as a matter of fact - will be released soon from the vaults that have held Prince's original tapes and demos. These are all songs he gave to others, but we haven't heard his own demos of them before. Soon, we will.
Originals will include his version of "Manic Monday," "You're My Love" (the one Kenny Rogers had a hit with), "Jungle Love" (which Morris Day & The Time made famous in Prince's own movie "Purple Rain"), "Love... Thy Will Be Done" by Martika, and eleven others. The album will be available for streaming on Tidal, the streaming service started by Jay-Z, as part of a court agreement settled in 2016. Tidal will have the album available June 7th, and have it exclusively for 14 days before it hits other services and gets released to the general public.
We'll share more as it gets released!