Prince

Prince

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Prince's Paisley Park Memories Go To London For 21-Day Exhibit

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London's O2 Arena will commemorate Prince's 21 days of sold-out concerts from 2007 with "My Name Is Prince" exhibit in October
Philip Merrill
GRAMMYs
Aug 21, 2017 - 3:48 pm

London's O2 Arena will commemorate Prince's 21 days of sold-out concerts in 2007 — a record that stands to this day — by hosting a unique exhibit of his personal belongings "Direct from Paisley Park" for 21 days this October.

My Name Is Prince: The Official Exhibition is designed to give visitors "a unique insight into the life, creativity and vision of one of the most naturally gifted recording artists of all time" and will include guitars, famous outfits, handwritten lyrics and other memorabilia from the iconic singer's career, such as Prince's third-eye sunglasses.

"The word 'icon' only scratches the surface of what Prince was and what he remains to me," wrote Beyoncé in the foreword to the forthcoming book Prince: A Private View. Like other master artists, his major works invite us to return again and again to experience greater depth, as we did a few months back revisiting his 1987 album, Sign 'O' The Times.

Tyka Nelson, Prince's sister, said, "This is the first time we've taken any items out of Paisley Park." With Prince, as with other musical legends, their private objects invite us to spirit ourselves into their artists' solitude, the place where mortals create the immortal. Tears of mourning and inspiration are expected, and VIP 90-minute guided tours are available.

Learn More About The GRAMMY Museum At L.A. Live's Exhibits

 

Prince

Prince

Photo: Kevin Mazur/WireImage

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Prince Estate Releases Video Rarities With More To Come Weekly

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Little-seen videos from 1995–2010 are scheduled for weekly release through Dec. 14, part of his Estate's ongoing effort to deepen awareness of Prince's body of work
Philip Merrill
GRAMMYs
Nov 5, 2018 - 1:20 pm

Last week three rarely seen Prince music videos received new wide release, delighting millions online. The videos represent the first taste of a weekly album-by-album schedule detailed by the Prince Estate on Nov. 5, so more excitement and inspiration is in store.

"The Prince Estate in partnership with Legacy Recordings, a division of Sony Music Entertainment continue efforts to reunite the artist's music on all digital services, turning attention to unavailable music videos from the 1995–2010 era," is how the estate announced their lineup.

The first three recently added videos are rarities from Prince's 1995 GRAMMY-nominated album The Gold Experience, appearing on Prince's official YouTube channel. In September 1994, preceding the album's release, "Dolphin" was the first-ever music video played when VH1 Europe made its debut. The video for "Endorphinmachine" had been released on a CD-ROM video game as a reward for completing its challenge. "Rock And Roll Is Alive! (And It Lives In Minneapolis)" was a 1997 B-side aired only on VH1 in 1997 — in response to the 1995 "Rock And Roll Is Dead" track released by Lenny Kravitz. Online for only a few days now, each has already garnered more than 16 million views.

The three new tracks join recent video releases from the 1996 Prince album Chaos And Disorder. Nov. 9 will see the addition of four rarities from his later 1996 three-CD set of 36 tracks Emancipation.

This reuniting and consolidation of these Prince treasures is a powerful testimony both to Prince's unique output and range as well as for American popular music history. Now that popular music figures are academic subjects in their own right, enriching the Prince online archive offers opportunities for greater appreciation whether listening, watching or writing an academic thesis on his creative work. Thanks are in order for these artistic gems unearthed from the vault, and their appreciation is only beginning.

Listen: Prince's 'Anthology: 1995-2010' & 22 Other Albums Released Digitally

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Earl Gibson III/FilmMagic

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Spike Lee Releases Music Video For Prince's "Mary Don't You Weep"

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A cultural legacy, The Purple One's treasures and classics stay fresh in 2018 with the help of the acclaimed director
Philip Merrill
GRAMMYs
Aug 22, 2018 - 5:24 pm

The incomparable Prince passed away more than two years ago but his music is demonstrating its vital power this month. On Aug. 21, Lee released an official music video for the discovered Prince rarity "Mary Don't You Weep," blending scenes and images from his BlacKkKlansman movie for a uniquely cinematic accompaniment to everything Prince still means to millions today.

This past New Music Friday on Aug. 17, the Prince 37-track compilation Anthology: 1995–2010 was released, along with a massive release of the master's past albums on streaming services. All this and Piano and a Microphone 1983 is due out on Sept. 21, of which "Mary Don't You Weep" was the first taste.

The actor who plays Klansman David Duke in Lee's film, Topher Grace expressed surprise on Twitter at appearing in a Prince music video in 2018. Many have commented that the historical events in the movie feel eerily fresh although they happened long ago. The new appreciation for Prince's body of artistic work is less mysterious, as musical classics and rarities have long proven their power to come back to life, but Prince sure feels fresh this summer. Some things change, some things are lost, but cultural treasures have a special way that they just keep growing stronger.

Catching Up On Music News Powered By The Recording Academy Just Got Easier. Have A Google Home Device? "Talk To GRAMMYs"

Prince

Prince

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Legacy Recordings To Distribute Prince's 1978–2015 Releases

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The bulk of Prince's massive catalog is set to be re-released under the new deal
Philip Merrill
GRAMMYs
Jun 28, 2018 - 7:10 am

On June 27 Sony Music Entertainment's Legacy Recordings and the Prince Estate announced a comprehensive distribution deal to re-release Prince's 1978–2015 album, in stages, beginning with the great artist's 1995–2010 work. The immense range and quality of Prince's creative output will take years to appreciate and SME Legacy was selected to steward memories that will become renewed listening experiences for millions.

Sony had already distributed Prince's 2004 Musicology and 2007 Planet Earth albums. The "Musicology" title track won Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance at the 47th GRAMMY Awards while the album's "Call My Name" won Best Male R&B Vocal Performance. At the 50th GRAMMY Awards, "Future Baby Mama" from Planet Earth won Best Male R&B Vocal Performance.

Additional albums expected sooner rather than later from Legacy include Prince's GRAMMY-nominated 3121 from 2006 and The Gold Experience from 1995. From 1996-2001, fans are about to re-receive Emancipation, Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic and The Rainbow Children.

Like modern appreciation of David Bowie, the imagination and reinterpretations surrounding Prince's body of work are joining burgeoning academic disciplines such as studies of Beyoncé and Solange. This is the year after all that Kendrick Lamar received rap's first Pulitzer Prize.

Prince: "Albums still matter"

"We're looking forward to working with the heirs and Sony on giving fans what they've been waiting for," said Prince Estate adviser Troy Carter, "more great music from Prince." Rolling Stone summarizes some of the material Legacy will begin distributing over the years ahead.

We're also awaiting the Warner Bros. Records release, Piano & A Microphone: 1983, coming in Sept. The material from Prince's vault is a whole different flow many hope will form a river of its own, streaming online.

With this new distribution deal, Prince's legacy continues to grow as he is a major part of our music and cultural history, and his creative works will long be shared and re-remembered.

Catching Up On Music News Powered By The Recording Academy Just Got Easier. Have A Google Home Device? "Talk To GRAMMYs"

Prince

Prince

Photo: Cindy Ord/Getty Images

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Listen To "Mary Don't You Weep" From Upcoming Prince Album

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The GRAMMY winner's take on a historic American spiritual provides the first listen of unheard recordings from the vault
Philip Merrill
GRAMMYs
Jun 7, 2018 - 3:54 pm

On June 7, the day Prince would have turned 60, Warner Bros. Records and the Prince Estate announced that nine rare tracks of him singing at the piano in his Minnesota home studio will be released on Sept. 21, titled Piano & A Microphone: 1983. Accompanying the day's special announcement, the track "Mary Don't You Weep" was released from the album, providing a movingly private and up-close listening experience of the artist who inspired so many.

The newly released version of the track was supposedly played live by Prince in the 1990s. We get to hear it in recorded form for the first time from the upcoming posthumous album. Prince's recording of the classic spiritual will also appear over the credits of the not-yet-released Spike Lee film BlacKkKlansman.

"Mary Don't You Weep" has its own track record of providing inspiration.. It was the first track on Aretha Franklin's 1972 album Amazing Grace, which was inducted into the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame in 1999. The spiritual's lyrics of freedom inspired the Paul Simon song "Bridge Over Troubled Water," which earned both Record and Song Of The Year at the 13th GRAMMY Awards.

The nine tracks on Piano & A Microphone: 1983 had been stored on a single cassette tape. The upcoming album's announced track list will also include early versions of "17 Days," "International Lover," "Purple Rain," "Strange Relationship," and a cover version of Joni Mitchell's "A Case Of You," among others.

Prince's career took off to major success soon after these musical ideas were recorded and put away. Prince Estate advisor Troy Carter said, "The Estate is excited to be able to give fans a glimpse of his evolution and show how his career ultimately came full circle with just him and his piano."

Further rarities are expected to be released next year through the Prince Estate's deal with music streaming service Tidal. For now, "Mary Don't You Weep," as the first ambassador of the works in Prince's vault, speaks to us with simple beauty but also with reverberating historic overtones.

Catching Up On Music News Powered By The Recording Academy Just Got Easier. Have A Google Home Device? "Talk To GRAMMYs"