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Purple Rain Prince and The Revolution album
Warner Bros. Records
albumThirty years later, there’s nothing remotely close.
The debut album jointly credited to Prince and The Revolution, Purple Rain is the soundtrack to the accompanying movie and has since remained one of the most successful albums in music history, selling over 14 million copies in the US and 6 million elsewhere.
The bulk of the album’s recording took place throughout the summer of 1983. Computer Blue and Let’s Go Crazy were laid down at the warehouse studio rented by the band for conducting rehearsals for the upcoming tour. Darling Nikki was recorded at Prince’s Kiowa Trail home studio in Chanhassen. The LPs final three tracks I Would Die 4 U, Baby I’m A Star and the title track are soundboard recordings from the Revolution’s introductory show Prince and the band staged at First Avenue on 3 August 1983, captured using a mobile studio hired from Record Plant parked outside. This special $25 entry gig was organised as a fundraiser for the Minnesota Dance Theatre and that night Prince, backed by his band The Revolution, played five new songs that would later appear on Purple Rain. The strings in the title track Purple Rain were dubbed on shortly after the live recording, arranged by Lisa Coleman’s brother cellist David Coleman at Sunset Sound studios in California. It was here the album’s late additions Take Me With U, The Beautiful Ones and lastly When Doves Cry were tracked in early 1984 after filming of the accompanying movie transferred to the sun coast to escape the unrelenting Minnesota winter. Although Purple Rain is the first LP sharing production credit with The Revolution, Prince wrote and performed all instruments solo on Darling Nikki, The Beautiful Ones and When Doves Cry. August 3rd is an iconic date, not only capturing the live recordings immortalised on Purple Rain LP but as Prince’s first public performance with the newly named band. Indeed so unknown then were the songs when they were previewed that evening, the First Avenue audience was silent and so the cheering which features at the end of the album was added later.
Purple Rain was released on 25 June 1984 and amassed 1 million units in the US within its first month on sale. Achieving 2.5 million sales even before the movie’s opening on 26 July, the figure rose to 8 million by the close of 1984. Purple Rain debuted on the Billboard album chart on 14 July 1984 and three weeks later on 4 August it claimed the top spot from Bruce Springsteen’s Born In The USA and held this position for 24 weeks – becoming one of only eight albums ever to achieve this. Incredibly, Purple Rain remained in the chart’s top 10 for 32 weeks. The supporting Purple Rain Tour launched that November and played almost 100 performances to a combined audience of 1.7 million up to its closing show on 7 April 1985. The exposure and resulting momentum witnessed US sales of Purple Rain climb to Diamond status (13 times Platinum) on 16 May 1996 and making it the third highest RIAA certified movie soundtrack of all time.
Purple Rain also peaked within the top 10s of album charts throughout Europe and Australasia, as well as introduced him to the Japan market, underscoring Prince’s status as a global superstar. At its latest count worldwide sales of Purple Rain has racked up 25 million units thus making it one of the best selling albums in history. Held to considerable critical acclaim, Purple Rain appears in numerous all-time greatest albums lists. In 2008 Purple Rain ranked 2nd in Entertainment Weekly’s best albums ever, and placed 18th in VH1’s best albums of all time. It was named Pitchfork’s top album of the 1980s and is 2nd in Rolling Stone’s best albums of the 80s and 8th in their top 500 of all time, as well as listed best album of all time by Consequence. Following Prince’s death on 21 April 2016 Purple Rain stormed back into the Billboard 200 on 7 May to re-enter at number 2 and became the highest selling soundtrack in the US that year. Whereby in the UK the album’s original chart peak of 7 improved in 2016 on re-entering at number 4. During its 40th anniversary in 2024, Purple Rain was named 4th best album of all time by Apple Music and was ranked best movie soundtrack of all time by Rolling Stone magazine.
Released on 16 May 1984 one month ahead of the album, the lead single When Doves Cry stormed up the Billboard Hot 100 and landed number one on 7 July 1984 and held this position for five consecutive weeks. When Doves Cry certified Gold by the RIAA on 24 July 1984 and was swiftly upgraded to Platinum on 21 August at exceeding sales of one million. With its electronic sound and lack of a bassline When Doves Cry was so distinctive from the established music formula that it became one of the most influential songs in music. It not only heralded Prince’s first chart topping single, with 3.5 million units retailed worldwide, it remained the biggest hit of his entire career. Its B-side is the brilliant 17 Days, recorded at Prince’s Kiowa Trail home studio in August 1983, originally intended for Vanity 6’s Brenda Bennett. Purple Rain spawned five supporting singles in total. The second single Let’s Go Crazy came out on 18 July 1984 one week ahead of the movie’s premiere and was backed with Erotic City. Erotic City was inspired after Prince attended a Funkadelic concert and is held among his greatest B-sides. Such was the quality of Prince’s output of the era, even his B-sides are lauded as among his most popular work. Albeit a slow boil in the charts, Let’s Go Crazy finally banked the album its second number one in the Hot 100 on 29 September 1984, aided by its hugely popular B-side Erotic City. Let’s Go Crazy held the top position in the chart for two weeks and certified Gold on 7 December 1984, and retailed 2.5 million units globally.
The title track was the album’s third single. Released in September some months after the LP, Purple Rain climbed the Hot 100 all the way to number 2 on 17 November, being denied the top spot by Wham’s Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go. The single’s B-side was the slow-tempo instrumental God, which Prince created at Sunset Sound in February 1984 specially for the movie’s love scene. A vocal version of God was recorded that August at Prince’s Flying Cloud Drive warehouse studio acquired due to the success of the movie and album. Both versions shared the B-side of the 12″ UK issue of the single. In the US, Purple Rain received RIAA’s Gold certification on 5 December 1984. Worldwide sales of the Purple Rain single amounted almost 3 million units. I Would Die 4 U followed that November, issued at the launch of the supporting tour. An extended version of the song was released on the 12″ single as a live recording captured during tour rehearsals in October 1984 performed by Prince and The Revolution and support act Sheila E‘s band. I Would Die 4 U was backed with Another Lonely Christmas, a haunting track recorded in February 1984 at Sunset Sound. The single, which would become Prince’s only Christmas track, was released during Thanksgiving week and is received as one of Prince’s best B-sides – it helped I Would Die 4 U score yet another top 10 hit for the album and an impressive 1 million sales worldwide. The one and only occasion Prince performed Another Lonely Christmas in concert was on 26 December 1984 during Purple Rain Tour. The fifth and final single Take Me With U closed off the album’s promotion in January 1985 and likewise rode deep in the charts, reaching 25 in the US and number 7 in the UK. Purple Rain returned to the Hot 100 on 11 January 2026, marking Prince’s first re-entry into the US singles chart since the 1990s – re-entering at number 27 following the song’s inclusion in the Netflix season finale of Stranger Things.
Although not a single, the song Darling Nikki became music history in 1984 in that it was responsible to make Purple Rain the unwitting recipient of the first ever Parental Advisory warning. Following complaints by the Parents Music Resource Center, a campaign founded by Al Gore’s outraged wife Tipper Gore as the result of discovering her teenage daughter listening to Prince’s Darling Nikki, the track topped its list of ‘Filthy Fifteen’ for lyrical content. The notoriety inspired the unintended effect as a badge of honour that would further enhance the success of the album.
Purple Rain produced Prince’s most successful album and year of his career. Its accolades peaked with the Academy Award for Best Soundtrack. Indeed the 1984 awards season also scored double Grammy wins for best Motion Picture Soundtrack and best Rock Performance – the first occasion that a black artist had won that award – plus nominations for Album Of The Year (losing out to Lionel Richie’s Can’t Slow Down) and production. Out of an incredible ten nominations at the AMAs that year, Purple Rain won Pop Album, R&B Album and top single (When Doves Cry). To place all this success into context, after Elvis Presley and The Beatles, Purple Rain saw Prince become only the third artist in history to achieve the hat-trick of a number one album, top selling single, as well as top movie box office draw all within the same year. Purple Rain was inducted into the Grammy Hall Of Fame in 2011. Astonishingly, even despite all this success Purple Rain is not considered Prince’s best album.
Cover story
Purple Rain is doubtlessly the most iconic of Prince’s album covers. The main image is a shot by Ron Slenzak for the movie poster, under the art direction of Ed Thrasher. It captures costar Apollonia Kotero stood at the top of a short external fire escape stairway with Prince pulled up on the pavement below and sat astride his customised 1981 Hondamatic CM400A motorbike with his trademark love sex symbol emblazoned on its petrol tank. The staircase is actually part of the New York backlot of Warner Bros Studios in Burbank California, shot when the movie’s production transferred to Hollywood in January 1984. That staircase also features in the Spider Man movie of 2002, in the scene which Toby Maguire and Kirsten Dunst kiss – in the rain.
Because the same image had been taken for the movie poster, which was portrait, flowers were added by Laura LiPuma, graphic designer in Warner’s art department, to square the image for the LP. Having a penchant for fonts, Prince had the rear cover give each track an identity through their own typeface which he chose from a book. The single disc inner dust sleeve displays a still of Lake Minnetonka from the movie – overlaid by the lyric sheet in purple text it was near impossible to read. Its flip side displayed a stylised face drawn by Doug Henders who would illustrate his next album cover. LiPuma would ultimately lead the art direction for five of Prince’s album covers, the others being Around The World In A Day, Parade, Sign O’ The Times and Lovesexy.
Roadhouse Garden
To fans’ amazement, out of the blue on 30 September 1998 – a space of fourteen years since the release of Prince and The Revolution’s Purple Rain – Prince put out a surprise announcement that he was preparing to issue a collection of previously unreleased material created with the band straight after finishing Purple Rain. Titled Roadhouse Garden and intended for release sometime in 1999, this compilation essentially comprised of original material Prince and The Revolution recorded between May 1984 and September 1985 after their studio sessions for Purple Rain. The tracks Roadhouse Garden and Our Destiny premiered live at First Avenue during a show Prince staged for his birthday on 7 June 1984. As the months passed, believing Purple Rain had suffered overexposure, the material gathered for the project that included Roadhouse Garden, Our Destiny, Splash, All My Dreams, Empty Room and Wonderful Ass, were stashed away in the vault owing to sounding too similar to Purple Rain. Although there is only anecdotal evidence Roadhouse Garden was briefly considered as the title for either a possible musical featuring new music by The Revolution, the tracks remained unreleased as Prince took an entirely difference creative direction with Around The World In A Day that he wrote as well as recorded while on the road with the Purple Rain Tour.
Jumping forward to 1998, in posts on his website love4oneanother.com Prince revealed his intent to issue a compilation of unreleased material featuring The Revolution. While compilations of outtakes recorded post The Revolution’s disbanding in October 1986 was released in January 1998 as a collection of ‘bootlegs’ titled Crystal Ball, disappointingly but not unexpectedly The Revolution outtake collection Roadhouse Garden did not come to fruition. Ultimately only Splash would get released during Prince’s lifetime, via NPG Music Club in February 2001. The tracks were subsequently released on Purple Rain Deluxe on the album’s thirtieth anniversary, in 2017.
2017 Deluxe Edition
Following Prince’s re-signing with Warner Bros Records on 18 April 2014, part of that agreement involved the creation of an enhanced reissue of Purple Rain. In 2015 the album’s original recordings underwent remastering at Paisley Park Studios under Prince’s own supervision, to remaster the material using state-of-the-art sound in the intention to re-release the restored record on the thirty-fifth anniversary of the original issue. Prince later withdrew his cooperation from the project when Warner requested the package to include a companion disc containing era outtakes. Although work on the remaster was completed, this version was held in hiatus until 2016 when following Prince’s death Warner eventually released the package on 23 June 2017 titled Purple Rain Deluxe. The Deluxe Edition included the companion Vault disc of era outtakes including those tracks Prince envisioned for Roadhouse Garden. The album’s release returned Purple Rain into the US Billboard 200 top ten for a third occasion, entering the chart at number 4 on 15 July 2017.
40th Anniversary ATMOS audio remaster
To mark the fortieth anniversary of the original LP, Purple Rain was again remastered and mixed with Dolby ATMOS Blu-ray audio. Sourced from the original master tapes, this high-definition format features 24-bit/96kHz audio, mixed by Prince’s former sound engineer Chris James, in 2024. Purple Rain Blu-ray Audio presents the original album in a clarity not previously available, and was released under Warner Records, in partnership with NPG Records, on 25 April 2025. The release coincided with a theatrical release in which for a limited run screened a newly restored version of Purple Rain movie, also upgraded to ATMOS sound.
Performers
- Vocals/Guitar
- Prince
- Drums
- Bobby Z.
- Rhythm Guitar
- Wendy Melvoin
- Miko Weaver I Would Die 4 U [Remix]
- Bass Guitar
- Brownmark
- Keyboards
- Matt "Dr." Fink
- Lisa Coleman
- Susie Davis I Would Die 4 U [Remix]
- Percussion
- Sheila E God (Love Theme From Purple Rain) and I Would Die 4 U [Remix]
- Saxophone
- Eddie Mininfield I Would Die 4 U [Remix]
- Violin
- Novi Novog Take Me With U, Baby I’m A Star and Purple Rain
- Cello
- David Coleman Take Me With U, Baby I’m A Star and Purple Rain
- Suzie Katayama Take Me With U, Baby I’m A Star and Purple Rain
Data
- Producers
- Prince and The Revolution
- Label
- Warner Bros. Records
- Distribution
- Warner Bros. Records
- Cover/Design
- Ron Slenzak, Ed Thrasher and Laura LiPuma
- Released
- 42 years ago on 25 June 1984
- Reissued
- 23 June 2017 as Purple Rain Deluxe
- Running Time
- 43:51
- US Chart Peak
- 1
- US R&B Peak
- 1
- UK Chart Peak
- 4
- Prince Album
- #6
- Orig. Formats
-
Tracklist
- Let's Go Crazy (4:39)
- Take Me With U [feat. Apollonia and Lisa Coleman] (3:54)
- The Beautiful Ones (5:15)
- Computer Blue [feat. Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman] (3:59) 1
- Darling Nikki (4:15)
- When Doves Cry (5:52)
- I Would Die 4 U (2:57)
- Baby I'm A Star [feat. Jill Jones] (4:20)
- Purple Rain (8:45)
Released as a single
1 Co-written with John L. Nelson, Lisa Coleman and Wendy Melvoin.
Singles from Purple Rain
When Doves Cry
Warner Bros. Records
- Released
- 16 May 1984
- Distribution
- Warner Bros. Records / WEA Records
- US Chart Peak
- 1
- UK Chart Peak
- 4
- Cover/Art
- Albert Magnoli
- Format
-
- When Doves Cry [Edit] (3:47)
- 17 Days (The Rain Will Come Down, Then U Will Have 2 Choose. If U Believe Look 2 The Dawn And U Shall Never Lose.) [feat. Brenda Bennet and Jill Jones] (3:54)
When Doves Cry
Warner Bros. Records
12"/Maxi-Single
- Released
- 13 June 1984
- US Chart Peak
- 1
- UK Chart Peak
- 4
- Cover/Art
- Laura LiPuma
- Format
-
- When Doves Cry (5:54)
- 17 Days (The Rain Will Come Down, Then U Will Have 2 Choose. If U Believe Look 2 The Dawn And U Shall Never Lose.) [feat. Brenda Bennet and Jill Jones] (3:54)
When Doves Cry
Warner Bros. Records
12"/Maxi-Single
- Released
- 22 June 1984
- Distribution
- WEA Records
- US Chart Peak
- No Release
- UK Chart Peak
- 4
- Cover/Art
- Albert Magnoli & Laura LiPuma
- Formats
-
- When Doves Cry (5:52)
- 17 Days [feat. Brenda Bennet & Jill Jones] (3:54)
- 1999 [feat. Jill Jones, Lisa Coleman and Dez Dickerson] (6:22)
- D.M.S.R. (8:05)
Issued as 2 x 12" set: Disc 1 tracks 1 and 2; disc 2 tracks 3 and 4. Four track double sided cassette titled Twelve Inches On Tape.
Let's Go Crazy
Warner Bros. Records
- Released
- 18 July 1984
- US Chart Peak
- 1
- UK Chart Peak
- No Release
- Cover/Art
- Ron Slenzak & Laura LiPuma
- Format
-
- Let's Go Crazy [Edit] (3:46)
- Erotic City [Edit] [feat. Sheila E] (3:53)
Let's Go Crazy
Warner Bros. Records
12"/Maxi-Single
- Released
- 29 August 1984
- US Chart Peak
- 1
- UK Chart Peak
- No Release
- Cover/Art
- Ron Slenzak & Laura LiPuma
- Format
-
- Let’s Go Crazy [Special Dance Mix] (7:35)
- Erotic City (Make Love Not War Erotic City Come Alive) [feat. Sheila E] (7:24)
Purple Rain
Warner Bros. Records
12"/Maxi-Single
- Released
- 10 September 1984
- Distribution
- WEA Records
- US Chart Peak
- No Release
- UK Chart Peak
- 8
- Cover/Art
- Albert Magnoli & Laura LiPuma
- Format
-
- Purple Rain [Long Version] (7:05)
- God (Love Theme From Purple Rain) (7:54)
- God (3:59)
Purple Rain
Warner Bros. Records
- Released
- 10 September 1984
- Distribution
- Warner Bros. Records / WEA Records
- US Chart Peak
- 2
- UK Chart Peak
- 8
- Cover/Art
- Albert Magnoli & Laura LiPuma
- Format
-
- Purple Rain [Short Version] (4:02)
- God (3:59)
Also available as a 7" motorbike shaped picture disc and limited purple vinyl disc.
Purple Rain
Warner Bros. Records
12"/Maxi-Single
- Released
- 26 September 1984
- US Chart Peak
- 2
- UK Chart Peak
- No Release
- Cover/Art
- Albert Magnoli & Laura LiPuma
- Format
-
- Purple Rain (8:45)
- God (3:59)
I Would Die 4 U
Warner Bros. Records
12"/Maxi-Single
- Released
- 26 November 1984
- Distribution
- WEA Records
- US Chart Peak
- No Release
- UK Chart Peak
- 58
- Cover/Art
- Albert Magnoli & Laura LiPuma
- Format
-
- I Would Die 4 U (2:57)
- Another Lonely Christmas (4:51)
- Free (5:00)
![I Would Die 4 U [US Remix], single from Purple Rain, Warner Bros. Records (1984)](https://goldiesparade.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/I-would-die-4-u-Remix.jpg)
I Would Die 4 U [US Remix]
Warner Bros. Records
12"/Maxi-Single
- Released
- 26 November 1984
- Distribution
- WEA Records
- US Chart Peak
- No Release
- UK Chart Peak
- 58
- Cover/Art
- Albert Magnoli & Laura LiPuma
- Format
-
- I Would Die 4 U [US Remix] (10:15)
- Another Lonely Christmas [US Remix] (6:47)
US Remixes same as original extended versions.
I Would Die 4 U
Warner Bros. Records
- Released
- 28 November 1984
- US Chart Peak
- 8
- UK Chart Peak
- No Release
- Cover/Art
- Albert Magnoli & Laura LiPuma
- Format
-
- I Would Die 4 U (2:57)
- Another Lonely Christmas (4:51)
I Would Die 4 U
Warner Bros. Records
12"/Maxi-Single
- Released
- 19 December 1984
- US Chart Peak
- 8
- UK Chart Peak
- No Release
- Cover/Art
- Albert Magnoli & Laura LiPuma
- Format
-
- I Would Die 4 U [Extended Version] (10:15)
- Another Lonely Christmas [Extended Version] (6:47)
Take Me With U
Warner Bros. Records
- Released
- 25 January 1985
- Distribution
- Laura LiPuma
- US Chart Peak
- 25
- UK Chart Peak
- No Release
- Cover/Art
- Laura LiPuma
- Format
-
- Take Me With U [Edit] [feat. Apollonia and Lisa Coleman] (3:42)
- Baby I'm A Star [Edit] (2:56)
Let’s Go Crazy / Take Me With U
Warner Bros. Records
- Released
- 15 February 1985
- Distribution
- WEA Records
- US Chart Peak
- No Release
- UK Chart Peak
- 7
- Cover/Art
- Albert Magnoli & Laura LiPuma
- Format
-
- Let's Go Crazy [Edit] (3:46)
- Take Me With U [feat. Apollonia and Lisa Coleman] (3:51)
Double A-side.
Let’s Go Crazy / Take Me With U
Warner Bros. Records
12"/Maxi-Single
- Released
- 15 February 1985
- Distribution
- WEA Records
- US Chart Peak
- No Release
- UK Chart Peak
- 7
- Cover/Art
- Albert Magnoli & Laura LiPuma
- Format
-
- Let’s Go Crazy [Special Dance Mix] (7:35)
- Take Me With U [feat. Apollonia and Lisa Coleman] (3:51)
- Erotic City (Make Love Not War Erotic City Come Alive) [feat. Sheila E] (7:24)
Double A-side.
Supporting tour
Purple Rain review
Where to begin? Purple Rain could well be Prince’s greatest hits package because in reality it’s exactly what it is. Needing no introduction, Purple Rain, to put it bluntly, is the template album to musical perfection. Thirteen times Platinum, admire it or not, Purple Rain compiles the greatest and best known work of the 80’s and is the album which Prince will always be remembered for and measured by. Prince tried to emulate this level, coming close to it with Sign O’ The Times, he never escaped its shadow.
Purple Rain houses some of the greatest music of all time and hails from an era when the media talked of the music rather than a tired obsession with name changes. With songs like Let’s Go Crazy, Take Me With U, Computer Blue, Darling Nikki (the very song we owe the Parental Advisory warning), When Doves Cry… well actually every track on the record, it’s impossible not to call it the definitive LP of the decade. Purple Rain is and always will be the essence of Prince. Essential in every music lover’s collection, ‘iconic’ does not even cover it.
Purple Rain is rated 5 out of 5 by Goldies Parade.
Related releases
![Purple Rain [movie]](https://goldiesparade.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/purplerain-movie.jpg)
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