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Archieved Prince news - 2007

Careful now the next one might be you! Prince upset with fansites - again

Prince, the champion of pushing the boundaries of the internet by finding ever inventive methods to reach out to his fans, has decided to sue some of his most hardcore fansites for breaching his copyright. Several sites run by his dedicated hardcore fan base have been hit with cease and desist orders almost exactly a decade since his last head on with his fans back in 1998. The fansites affected have launched a website www.princefansunited.com to fight Prince's attempts to 'bully' them off the internet. In a surprising move, Prince has replied to their website with his own www.princefamsunited.com where he is currently posting a song written in response to the fan run websites.

Prince Redefines Distribution with Planet Earth

Prince's plans to release the album free of charge in the UK have been met with disdain from the recording industry. Prince has signed a £500,000 deal with the Mail on Sunday, a leading British newspaper, to give away 2.8 million copies of his new album Planet Earth for free on the 15th of July ahead of its commercial release date, 24th July. Leading record stores, including HMV were furious with Prince's decision which comes at a time when record stores need all the help they can in the age of MP3, leading to Sony canceling their contract to distribute the album in the UK. The newspaper was more at ease with Prince's decision saying it will be certainly the most innovative move in recent music history. On the day of release HMV caved in and sold the Mail on Sunday in most of their stores. Other artists are planning to follow Prince's lead and release their music in this method. This also caused a give-away frenzy with other British Sunday newspapers too with the News of the World giving away copies of the Purple Rain album that same day, also a few weeks later the Observer newspaper attaching a free copy of the Sign O The Times tour DVD to their front covers on the 30th of September hoping to repeat the Mail on Sunday's Planet Earth tamped.

Prince gives Columbia Planet Earth

The success of Musicology has restored Prince's faith with the recording industry, especially with Sony Columbia who Prince is rewarding their support for Musicology with a second deal, Planet Earth. Featuring performances from Wendy and Lisa, the album is to be released in Europe on the 16th of July and in the US on the 24th. Released as a digipak, its 10 tracks, just clearing 45 minutes, will be accompanied by its first single, Guitar, offered as an advance download from Verizon, will be hitting stores on the 25th of July. Click album cover for FULL track listing:

Prince leaves a new smell in Macy's

on or around the 7th of July, the same day his perfume "3121" gets its unveiling at Macy's in Minneapolis. Prince will be in the shop to launch the perfume and giving maybe giving out make-up tips, will be performing that evening at the Target Centre. The first single from Planet Earth, currently available as a download with mobile phone company Verizon, will be a re-worked version of Guitar originally released back in February on 3121.com.

Calling Planet Earth - The Earth Tour!

The Earth Tour has landed! The Earth Tour, which begins in London will be its only dates in Europe in 2007. The dates in London sold out in just 20 minutes leaving the organisers frantically adding 7 extra dates. At the shows Prince will be giving away copies of his new album, "Planet Earth" to everyone who comes to the show.

He came to London to announce The Earth Tour at a press conference. Knowing that his hardcore fans will visit more than one show on the tour, Prince said he had learned 150 songs to perform at the stint so that he could perform a different set list every night. However, also targeting casual fans, he priced tickets at moderate £31.21, with the stage 'in the round' guaranteeing everyone a great view.

The reason for his long stay in London? Prince told the press conference that he had performed some of his best shows there, confirming that his favourite venue was Earls Court - itself too small to cater for this tout which is being used by phone network O2 to promote their new 23,000 capacity venue, The O2, formally known as the Millennium Dome, now London's first purpose-built concert venue since the Royal Albert Hall opened in the 1870's! He admitted though he would not plan to visit London again for some time, prompting many fans buy tickets for several dates.

Following the day of the press conference he gave a performance Koko, a club in London's trendy Camden Town, playing tracks such as Girls And Boys, Lolita, Black Sweat, Kiss, Gotta Broken Heart Again, U Got The Look, Nothing Compares 2 U, Lets Go Crazy and his favourite cover at the moment, Gnarls Barkley's - Crazy. The tickets for his 15-date run at The O2 sold out in minutes when they went on sale the following morning. For all the details and dates of The Earth Tour visit our tour page. News of the tour has almost overshadowed the news of his new album, which is expected to hit the streets on 7 July (7/7/07)!

Super Bowl hit by Purple Rain!

Prince made his appearance at the Super Bowl half time slot on the 4th of February in Miami. Playing a medley of five songs he only performed three of his own hits, all of which were the Purple Rain album. He started with Let's Go Crazy, part of Baby I'm A Star, then into the covers of Rolling On A River, and The Foo Fighters' The Best Of You, before calling time on the 15-minute show with Purple Rain, which was rather ironic as it was actually raining at the time. In typical Super Bowl fashion, a little bit of sex sneaked into the halftime show. Weather intended or not, Janet Jackson can vouch for that one, when Prince appear behind a huge curtain with a huge silhouette of him playing the guitar beamed on it hit guitar was positioned, somewhat rather suggestively. After all "he loves his Guitar!"

Prince touches down for Super Bowl XLI

For the last two years a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame-er will perform during the Super Bowl halftime and 2007 will carry on that tradition with none other than Prince. The game, Super Bowl XLI, will take place in Miami on the 4th of February and will be televised by CBS. Last year's Super Bowl between Pittsburgh and Seattle was watched by 141 million people watched and is the channels highest rated broadcast with it being broadcast in over 230 countries.

Prince has rollercoaster of award season

Prince make yet another appearance at the Grammy's, this time he was up for 5 awards, Black Sweat in the Best Male R&B Vocal Performance and Best R&B Song categories. 3121, the track, is nominated in the Best Urban/Alternative Performance category, with the album up for Best R&B Album, with, Beautiful Loved and Blessed in the line up for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group. The ceremony was televised live by CBS on the 11th of February. Sadly for Prince, his journey was not worth sitting more more car traffic for, he did not win any awards.

Song Of The Heart won Best Original Song for the movie Happy Feet at the 64th Golden Globe awards 15th of January - WELL DONE PRINCE! He arrived late to the ceremony as he was held up in traffic however he managed to collect the award.

Prince ended the award season snapping up another NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Male Artist, he was also nominated for best Music Video (Black Sweat), however that was won by Mary J.Bilige for "Be Without You". The awards, held at the Shrine Auditorium in Hollywood, was aired on Fox on the 2nd of March. He gave an impassioned speech challenging "the phone companies and the new digital providers to allow us to be the gatekeepers to steward the new jazz renaissance, hip hop, and soul music in the 21st Century rather then the accountants and lawyers who ruined the music industry this first time around." Check out his ever-growing award cabinet here.

Archieved Prince news - 2006

Prince inducted into the British Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Unlike getting in on the first go in the US, its second time lucky for Prince who finally got his induction into the UK's Roll and Roll Hall of Fame, the ceremony took place on the 14th of November 2006 at London's Alexandra Palace and Prince was there in person to acknowledge the accolade.

The Versace Experience - Mk II

Prince provides the music in person for Donatella Versace's fashion collection showing in Milan on 29th September. He complied a soundtrack, featuring Kiss, specially for the show which was played for the star-studded show in which Prince was granted place of honour by the catwalk.

New Prince track to appear in Happy Feet movie

Prince has written a song, entitled, Song of the Heart, which will be part of the soundtrack for the animated film Happy Feet. The film, about dancing penguins, is produced by Warner Brothers and will appear in cinemas this Christmas. The $85m film contains the voices of Hugo Weaving, Nichole Kidman, Elijah Wood and Robin Williams. Details on the soundtrack will be announced right here.

Prince and wife Manuela to separate?

Reports in the media have announced that Prince and Manuela had filed for divorce on the 24th of May. Manuela Testolini and Prince married secretly on New Year's Eve in 2001. Manuela, Prince's second wife, plans to launch a perfume line called Altru, the proceeds of which will go to Gamillah, the children's charity which she founded.

Legal row closes NPG Music Club

After pushing the boundaries of his online music club, it seems like winning the Webby Award for the best online music site was too much for Prince and has put the club "in hiatus” because, he says, it has gone as far as it can possibly go in its current form. So the dust sheets go up and the club is to get a somewhat un-needed overhaul once Prince has decided what form and direction the new club would take. The question here is, if you build something and win awards for it, why tear it down? Cost, maintenance, time? Legal action! British nature magazine house, the Nature Publishing Group, has issued the trademark notice, forcing Prince to shut down his NPG Music Club site until the dispute has been resolved.

Place your BET’s, Prince returns to winning form

The Black Entertainment (BET) Awards honoured the purple hero with Best R&B Male at this year’s ceremony, he said “This was unexpected, I appreciate it nonetheless”. Not just there to collect an award tough, Prince performed a medley of hits with Stevie Wonder, Yolanda Adams, India Arie, and Chaka Khan in tribute to Chaka’s career in music for which she was being awarded a lifetime’s achievement award, it included a performance of I Feel For You. Finally, to cap off the night, Prince also went on to close the show performing the song 3121. Now in its 6th year, the BET ceremony was held at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood on the 27th of June.

New York goes Paisley Park

Prince gave his own special wake up call on Good Morning America to a packed Bryant Park, New York. The free show surprised the capacity crowd with Let's Go Crazy, Get On The Boat and Tamar's Redhead Stepchild. Making a full day of it, Prince went on to play the small night club Butter, 415 Lafayette Street, the show literally sold out in minutes. Prince also received an accolade during his trip to New York, a Webby award for his achievements on the internet. The Webby's are considered the internets equivalent to the Oscars.

Prince's permanent Vegas vacation

It happens to them all, Frank Sinatra, Elvis, even Siegfried and Roy, they all made Vegas home to their twilight career. Prince has now made a big step to follow in their footsteps by apparently looking into taking over the Empire Ballroom club on the south Strip which is really at 3676 Las Vegas Blvd will be renamed Club 3121. Prince will be charging Vegas prices too, his first dates at this show sold at $312.01 per general admission ticket for the "intimate" 1,300 capacity venue for dates across the summer, which will include special guest performers. His current plans incuding holding regular performances at the Rio Hotel/Casino.

3121 sells 1.1 million

With minimal promotion from Universal, 3121 has now sold over 1 million copies worldwide. Thinking its now time to take 3121 on the road, Prince will be taking Tamar to Las Vegas to put on 2 club shows for an entry ticket for a whopping $312.01 on the 27th and 28th of May to start what is expected to become a fully fledged tour. Despite the sales promotion Universal's promotion has been weak the decision to put on a tour will be a tough one for Prince has he did not agree a concert deal with them and will fund the tour out of his own pocket, this could mean theatres as on the One Nite Alone tour in 2002. On 6 May Prince gave a concert to those who won a 'Purple Ticket' through internet and radio competitions, it was also announced on that 3121 will indeed hit the road. Promotion is hotting up for a possible tour as the release of Fury, the third single from 3121 goes on sale on the 22nd of May, with Tamar's debut album, Milk & Honey, streeting on June 13th.

3-1-2-ONE

Its not 31 or 21, but number 1. Yes, 3121 has become Prince's first album since Batman (1989) to reach the top slot in the US. It sold 184,450 in its first week, 14% more than the second highest selling album. The success confirms Prince's return to the mainstream. It peaked at number 9 in the UK. However it seems that despite its success Prince is not happy with Universal's marketing, so much so, Prince is threatening to go digital for his future releases.

3121 awash with critical acclaim

Its been hailed his best album since Sign O' The Times. 3121 has received critical approval from across the spectrum of press around the globe. Many are surprised that Prince, 47, can still produce work to this standard. Even The Sun newspaper, usually critical of Prince, said "a king among musicians has reclaimed his crown. 3121 deserves to be No1", the Mirror says the same. In the US the Philadelphia Inquirer said "Prince will now show you insolent hip-hop whippersnappers how real music is made." The album comes out on the 20th of March for the UK, 21st for US. Prince celebrated the launch of the album with an impromptu gig at Tower Records on Sunset Blvd, Hollywood, a stones throw from 3121, the house.

'Ultimate Prince' set postponed

Prince has ordered a postponement of the 'Ultimate Prince' double disk set of re-mastered songs and remixes. The set was due to be released by Rhino on the same day as 3121, 21st of March, in order to maximise sales of the set. However Prince's camp fears that the Ultimate set will could harm sales of 3121 and have called for Ultimate Prince to be postponed until the 5th of June.

Prince Plays The Brits

As the second act of the awards show with a 12 minute four song set: newbie's Te Amo Corazon and Fury, followed by the old faithful's Purple Rain (one verse) then Lets Go Crazy. 'Crazy' summing up the reception he received at London's Earls Court after he was announced as Coldplay in order to preserve the surprise for the crowd even though it was unofficially announced that Prince was indeed going to perform 48 hours prior. Shelia E, Wendy and Lisa, joined Prince in the band. Prince had spent the previous evening with Paris Hilton as a guest at her party at the Kaberet Prophecy club in Soho. Prince slips out of the UK on the morning following his Brits appearance bringing his 48 hour stay in London to an end, playing no after show gig. Thanks for dropping by Mr Nelson. The show was televised in full on the 16th of February on ITV1.

Track Listing for 3121

Its final: 12 tracks on 3121 totalling 54 minutes. The release of the album, a digipak, plus booklet, is on 21st of March. Black Sweat, the second single, hits the shelves on the 7th. Click album cover for FULL track listing:

Prince, Shelia E, plus Wendy & Lisa to play Brit Awards

Although Prince is not up for an award, he is scheduled to play the show which takes place in London's Earl's Court on Wednesday the 15th of February. Prince's last appearance at the Brits was in 1997 performing Emancipation. Rumours slate Prince will open the show performing as many as three songs with old Revolution sidekicks, Wendy and Lisa. For Prince, headlining a major awards show to kick off a tour worked extremely well when opening the Grammy's with Beyonce in 2004, the ensuing Musicology tour went on to be the years most attended show in the US. The 3121 tour is due to start in May, the Brit awards appearance highlighting that this tour is possibly to start in the UK. Prince, staying at the Dorchester Hotel, is also using his trip to the UK to do some recording in a north London studio.

3121 promotion 'workin up a Black Sweat'

Black Sweat, the second single from 3121 will hit the airwaves on the 7th of February, it will then go to vinyl for club release, the song itself is a funky radio-friendly Kiss-sounding track and will yield promising chart success, and is already getting good radio rotation. The video of the song is on MTV and VH1, Universal also has plans for a TV special to go out at the release of the album. 3121 promises to have the same standards of production as Musicology and streets on the 21st of March. Prince appeared on NBC's Saturday Night Live on February 4th to perform yet another new song, Fury, a strong rock track showing the diversity of 3121.

Archieved Prince news - 2005

Prince gearing up for a new album

The number 3121 may not only be the number of his house in LA's Bel Air, it is also the day that the video for the first single of Prince's new album '3121' receives its premier on VH1 - 13th December - 12/13 in reverse. The video in question is for the song, a ballad, entitled Te Amo Corazon (Spanish for 'I love you, sweetheart'), which he filmed recently in Marrakech, directed by Salma Hayek. This is the first single from the album '3121' which will is scheduled for release through Universal Records in early 2006. A press conference was given in Los Angeles also on the 13th of December. His agreement with Universal is also a one album deal as like those with Arista, BMG, EMI and Columbia, a distribution deal, not a recording contract. It is still not clear why Prince will not permit a record label to distribute more than one album, but harking back to his past fallout with Warner Brothers which led Prince to write 'slave' on his face, he said "I don't consider Universal a slave ship. I did my own agreement, I got exactly what I wanted." Universals CEO, Doug Morris said he was "thrilled to have the opportunity to work with such a visionary and charismatic talent as Prince". Prince wrapped up the conference saying that the sultry Latino ballad of Te Amo Corazon is not indicative of what the album sounds like.

Prince nominated for 2006 Songwriters Hall of Fame

Prince has been officially nominated to enter into the prestigious Songwriters Hall of Fame. Officially known as the National Academy of Popular Music, set up in 1969 has nominated Prince along with Neil Young and Pete Townsend to enter into their Hall of Fame for 2006. Previous inductees include, Bob Dylan, Elton John, James Brown and Paul Simon. The 37th annual induction ceremony will be held in New York, however no date has been set though it is likely to take place sometime in June, the results will be announced in the preceding weeks.

Prince fights to protect copyright

Punk band Fenix TX has got in to hot water with their latest album, entitled "Purple Reign In Blood - LIVE" (a recording taken from their reunion tour), it features cover art depicting Prince's all too famous symbol (). The album is due for release on 8 November. Prince's lawyers filed a cease-and-desist letter to the Texas-based band over their use of the symbol that Prince used as a name from 1993 to 2000. This is not the first time Fenix TX has used someone's name. In 1995 the band originally intended to call themselves Riverfenix, however this was stopped at the request of River Phoenix's estate. Fenix TX said they were upset with Prince's objection to the cover art as he was "a musician we grew up with." However, the limited run of 30,000 copies of the album that have already been pressed will surely become a collectors item as the legal action was too late to stop the initial batch being shipped to stores before the album features its new cover art.

Prince releases song for Hurricane Katrina tragedy

After watching the news Prince was horrified of the tragedy that Hurricane Katrina had caused in his father's hometown, New Orleans. The news he saw played Sade's Sweetest Taboo over the footage of the homeless and dying people in the city which inspired Prince to write a song the next day. Entitled 'SST' (Sade's Sweetest Taboo) the internet only single is a beautiful melody to the "poorest of our nation's sons...endless war, poverty and hurricanes" which is followed up by a fantastic funk instrumental of which a 6-minute extended version - called Brand New Orleans - has been aired on his official site. Prince will be donating all the proceeds from the single to the Hurricane Relief Fund. Initially only available as an internet download, Prince released both tracks to stores as a CD single on the 25th of October under the labels of NPG Records and Sony, however this CD will not be a precursor to a new album.

Power Fantastic

Forbes Magazine has ranked Prince as the 8th most powerful musician for 2004. The list is based on concert ticket sales, earnings, web hits and media coverage. Although after taking home $56.5m from the double platinum selling Musicology album and from the 1.47m tickets sold on his sell out 96-show Mu$icology Tour makes him the second highest earning performer in 2004 behind Madonna's $50. Prince actually took more than Madonna during the calendar year, but The Forbes list runs from mid 2004 to mid 2005 therefore they only include $49.7m of his earnings, factually Prince was the highest earning entertainer of 2004. With his media coverage, Forbes list him in 8th position. The top ten most powerful musicians, according to Forbes, are: 1, Madonna; 2, Elton John; 3, P.Diddy; 4, Metalica; 5, Shaina Twain; 6, Rod Stewart; 7, Bette Midler; 8, Prince; 9, The Eagles and; 10, Van Halen.

June has been a good month for Prince as news of the Forbes announcement comes on the back of Spin Magazine's listing of the greatest albums of the last 20 years; Sign O' The Times is given 8th position.

"Prince, Pop it"

Stevie Wonder's new single So What The Fuss, on which Prince plays the guitar has made Billboard history as the most aired new song in their R&B chart history. The single is in stores on 16 May, and will be on Stevie Wonders new album A Time 2 Love which will be hitting the shops on the 23rd of May.

Official Site Update

Probably after getting a lot more hits in recent months, NPGMC has received a face lift for 2005. Prince's year seems to start at Easter so here right on schedule is his new even slicker site. So, Goldies Parade has undergone a slight site re-vamp of its own to keep the NPGMC on heir toes, most notably there is the new page detailing the best selling books published about Prince. Any books published about Prince in the future will be listed on the New Releases page to give you the heads-up on all film, audio and print releases regarding Prince.

New single "Satisfied" hitting radio stations

Hot on the heals of Prince performing his latest single, Satisfied, during the NAACP Image Awards on the 19th of March, a studio version of the song has now been released to various radio stations, raising speculation that this song could be the first single from a new album. At the award ceremony held at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, Prince received the Vanguard Award, plus the award for Outstanding Album (for Musicology). There is no news as yet on Prince's new album, having set the bar high with 2004's hugely successful Musicology, expectations are naturally sky high for his next project, of which a distributor will need to be found as the deal with Columbia for Musicology was only for that release. In the UK, Warner's re-release of Prince's triple CD greatest hits set, 1993's the Hits/The B-Sides, has peaked at a respectable number 20 in the official album charts.

Double Grammy accolade for worthy Prince

After being the opening act for the 2004 Grammy Award ceremony and a unsuccessful nomination for best pop instrumental category for NEWS, well in 2005 he finally scored his fifth Grammy, he won the category for Best Traditional R&B Performance for the song 'Musicology', and Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for 'Call My Name'. It concluded a whirlwind year for Prince which also saw him be announced the highest paid musical entertainer of 2004 by pocketing a personal fortune of $56.5 million (more than even Madonna and Elton John) because of the success of his North American tour (grossing $90.3 million) and the multi-platinum selling album Musicology. He was not present to collect the awards at the Grammies, but he did present the award for Best Original Song at the Oscars. This has has now racked up Prince's collection of Grammies to 6.

Archieved Prince news - 2004

Prince ends 2004 year with five Grammy nominations

After leaving Warner Bros behind in 1993 no one dear think Prince would not only top the album charts but also achieve the highest tour earnings and receive nominations for the Music Halls of Fame on both sides of the Atlantic ever again let alone all in the same year. His album, Musicology, became the 25th highest selling CD on Billboards charts in 2004. In 2004 Prince opened up the Grammies with his most important performance of his post Warner's life, but the awards ceremony of 2005 will see Prince up in five categories: Best R&B Album (for Musicology), Best R&B Song (Call My Name), Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance (Musicology), Best R&B Vocal Performance Male (Call My Name) and Best Pop Male Performance (for Cinnamon Girl). The award ceremony will be held in Los Angles on 13 February and televised by CBS.

The home of Purple Rain faces uncertain future

First Avenue, the legendary Minneapolis club, that was the venue around which Purple Rain was featured, was closed on the 2nd of November due to its owners declaring bankruptcy due to debts amounting to $200,000. The building of 701st, First Avenue, was converted from a bus station into a music venue in 1970 and has played host to many small and big-name acts such as Nirvana and U2 and in 1981 - Prince. Prince last performed at the club in 1987. But is was in 1983 when the club became internationally famous as the setting for Purple Rain in 1983. There were contingency plans to reopen the club at a new location in the city. The federal bankruptcy court has since ruled that the club will be allowed to reopen even as early as the 20th of November, however its long term future remains questionable.

Prince nominated for the UK Music Hall of Fame

Prince has been nominated to be inducted into the UK's version of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He has been short-listed with 10 other artists/bands to represent the 1980's. Each decade from the 1950's to the 1990's will be represented. The other nominees in his category are Michael Jackson, The Smiths, Guns N' Roses, REM, George Michael, Public Enemy, The Beastie Boys, Joy Division and Bruce Springsteen. The voting is open to the public by way of a telephone poll with closes at 6pm GMT on 30 October. Whoever wins the accolade, the organisers - Channel 4 - hope to make the presentation to the winners in person. Anyone wishing to lodge their support for Prince can do so my calling 09011 331 133 to register their vote. Prince stands an excellent chance of winning in his category due to his success at being inducted to the US Hall of Fame this year on their first opportunity to do so, also there is the fact that no other artist or band represents the look and sound of the 80's more so than Prince. UPDATE: The results were announced on 14 November, Michael Jackson was declared the winner of the public vote to represent the 1980's.

Musicology 2004ever Tour wraps, what next?

Prince and the band are to take a break after finishing the North American leg of the tour on 11 September in what has become the most successful tour of 2004 by grossing an incredible 1.47 million ticket sales amounting to $90.3m from the 96 shows. Predominantly saxophonist Candy Dulfer will be returning to Europe, drummer John Blackwell with will spending much needed time with his family, but as yet, no word has been received on what is to follow. It is likely, though not officially confirmed, that the Musicology Tour will move on to Europe, rumours are circulating dates in February and Mary 2005. It is unlikely now that there will be any more shows in 2004. Details of new dates either within the US or elsewhere could be announced at any time as in the past dates for the tour have been announced around 2-3 months before the actual show to give as much lead time as possible to sell out large venues. Any dates that are announced will be placed here as soon as they are known.

Musicology Tour dates rescheduled

Due to a strained throat, Prince was forced to postpone the concert planned in Chicago for 26 June, this will take place in August. The remaining dates in June have also been moved to new dates because to give John Blackwell's (drummer) a respite from the tour following the tragic death of his young daughter, Jia, on 27 June from an accident at a swimming pool. This is devastating news and I express my deepest condolences to John and family. Visit the Tour page for details of the amended dates and all other tour news. But again, our deepest sympathies to John.Shelia E, will be taking his place on the tour to give John time at home with his family. It is likely that the band shows will take a break before the tour moves to Europe either late 2004 or early 2005 though it would be a wise commercial decision to tie the UK portion of the tour with the October 18 DVD releases of Purple Rain, Graffiti Bridge and Under The Cherry Moon. Musicology has been confirmed by Pollstar as the highest grossing tour of the year, by making more money per show through ticket sales than the likes of Madonna, Aerosmith, and Celine Dion.

Musicology goes platinum

For the first time since Diamond & Pearls in 1991, a Prince album - Musicology - has gone platinum. A quarter of the sales for Musicology has been through "giving" it away at the concerts, though ticket prices were increased $9 each to compensate for this. Prince's industry acumen by including the cost of this CD in the price of the concert ticket has got many other bands excited. But Prince's pioneering strategy has caused the industry to change the system that CD's "sold" in this way, all future cases of this now will not be eligible as a chartable CD sale.

Prince in Warner's DVD bonanza

Columbia Records are not the only ones happy with Prince's recent reinvention, Warner's are celebrating too with the DVD release of Purple Rain, Under The Cherry Moon and Graffiti Bridge, which are also to be released on the same day, 24 July. Purple Rain will be released as a 21st anniversary 2-dick special edition.

Musicology receives global critical acclaim

Musicology is being hailed at Prince's return to form, you can read Goldies review of it here. On the whole, the media has been comparing Musicology which his other post 1993 output calling it the standout album of that period and the headlines rather cliched "Prince's return to the Purple Reign". To mark the retail release of the album Prince attended and performed at its release party held at Webster Hall on New York on 20 April. The commercial impact of the album excellent, mainly assisted by positive reviews of it and the tour. In the UK, Musicology is at number 3 in the official album charts and 3 in the US Billboard top 200. With five stations (MTV, MTV2, VH1, VH1 Classic and BET) giving a simultaneous 30-minute broadcast of his concert at 9am on 28 April, leaves it wide open to speculation that the music industry missed Prince far more than Prince even needed them. The Musicology Tour is one of the highest grossing tours of the year so far, beating the likes of Rod Stewart and Britney Spears. So far the tour has sold out in all venues, sometimes many times over.

Sony to distribute Musicology CD

The publishing and distribution rights for Prince's new album, Musicology, have been signed to Columbia, a wing of Sony Entertainment and will go on general release on 20 April. Click album cover for FULL track listing:

Prince Inducted into US Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

Its official; Prince is musical royalty, he was inducted into the Cleveland-based Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for his (outstanding) contribution to the music industry. On first hearing of his nomination he said the honour was not the award itself but joining the ranks of the other great musicians already inducted. Artists are eligible only 25 years after their first commercial release. Prince came on to the scene in 1978 with the album For You, making 2003 his first year of eligibility, so it was a no-brainier for the panel to induct one of the greatest solo performers of the 20th Century, on the first opportunity.

Prince opened the ceremony held in the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York on March 15 with a performance of Lets go Crazy, Sign O The Times and Kiss to a very appreciative audience. When invited to take the stage by Alicia Keys, Prince said that he had "embarked on a journey more fascinating than I could ever imagine" but warned "a real friend and mentor is not on your payroll". Other inductees at the 19th annual ceremony were today were George Harrison and ZZ Top. Enjoy your year Prince, you've deserved it.

First Date of Musicology Tour to be Broadcast to Theatres

The Musicology Tour opens at the Stales Center in LA on March 29th but if you cant make if there head on down to your local Regal Theatre chain and catch it at it happens. As this particular performance is being filmed, the prospect of this turning up on DVD later in the year is very high.

Prince attends the Oscars

Prince and his wife, Mani, attended the ceremony of the 2004 Academy Awards at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood on 29 February. They then went on to attend Elton John's coveted after party. Prince has been spending a lot of time in LA recently, putting the finishing touches to his new album, visiting numerous record company's, recording interviews and performances with several TV networks all ahead of first date of his Musicology Tour which starts in LA on 29 March.

New Album to be released by...everybody?

At a press conference on 24 February at the El Rey Theatre Prince confirmed that he has been meeting with all the major record labels to strike up a deal for them all to distribute the album - Musicology - together and release it on the same day. As yet it is unsure what the feedback from the industry is, probably bemusement, but Prince will try any way. As a gift to his fan club members he plans to give them a copy of the album when they buy their concert tickets. It is unlikely that the album will be out before the first date of the tour (March 29) but will follow later in the year. The dates for the tour were also announced, see the Tour page for for info, but it will mainly feature his from his Warner Brothers years. All dates for the tour will feature the stage in the round and will concentrate in the US prior to going worldwide.

Prince and Wendy reunited on TV

Prince and Wendy performed together for the first time since the Revolution were practically fired by Prince in the late 1980's. During the Travis Smiley Tonight Show, aired on PBS on 19 February, the two played an acoustic version of Prince's new song Reflection. The song, one of his most personal to date containing lyrics about his deceased mother is from his new album - Musicology. During the show the video of the albums title track - Musicology - was aired. Both songs received warm reviews from fans, however, their commerciality remains to be tested. Prince is using the new album to return to the mainstream is pushing it to the full with a press conference, TV appearances, and a full scale tour. He is likly going to distribute the album through a major record label. With a tour and the high profile appearances of opening the Grammies and being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by Alicia Keys and Outkast the 21st anniversary of Purple Rain, Prince is aware more than most that this year is his best, and really his final chance, for a mainstream comeback before he hangs up his purple raincoat once and for all. Prince has called a press conference to be held in El Rey Theater in Los Angeles on 24 February.

New tour announced

2004 was always going to be Prince's year. It started with him opening the Grammy's, then he makes a multitude of TV appearances, in March he is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and now Prince and the NPG have released the first dates of the Musicology Tour which will start in the US this April. The tour will be used to retire off his Purple Rain era hits to cash in on the 21st anniversary of Purple Rain, more so he is reportedly on the verge to be signing with a major record label, J.Records and BMG have been mentioned as well as his old nemesis - Warner Brothers (how times have changed). For full details on the tour visit the Tour page for all confirmed dates as announced at the pre-tour press conference at the El Rey Theater on 24 February. He also confirmed that the tour will be going worldwide.

Prince performs at the Grammies

His album N.E.W.S was up for a Grammy in the best pop instrumental category, but it did not get the award. If Prince won the Grammy, it would be had been his fourth. The 46th ceremony of the prestigious awards took place in Los Angeles on 8 February started off proceedings with a performance of the man himself doing a 6 minute montage with Beyonce providing the vocals, the songs they performed were, Purple Rain, Baby I'm A Star and Lets Go Crazy. Also check out the related story on the Tour page, Prince will be performing two shows in Las Vegas from 31 January. Self publicity in overdrive from a private man, can only mean something big is coming, a new recording contract, tour, album, a new line of t-shirts for the website maybe, one can only guess, but isn't it wonderful to be proud being a Prince fan again.

Prince Hints at More To Come At Golden Globes After-party

At the surprise of the guests at the after-party hosted hosted by the Hilton sisters for InStyle magazine, Prince turned up and played the instrumental to Brick House and Kiss, afterwards he was asked by a member of the press if he had been working on any projects recently, to which Prince replied that he will be issuing a press release very soon. See Goldie Speaks for more details.

All 3 Prince movies to get DVD release

This August will indeed see the release of Under the Cherry Moon, Graffiti Bridge and the 20th anniversary Special Edition of Purple Rain on DVD. At this stage the releases are confirmed as encoded only in Region 2 (Europe and Asia) format.

Archieved Prince news - 2003

Prince and NPG expands 'tour' to Hawaii

Prince is chasing the sun this winter, and when you live in Minneapolis "the land of snow" you can't blame him. Because of the success with October's Hong Kong Festival and his tour in Australia just performing his old hits, a full-scale tour which Prince will air his old hits one final time before they go into retirement is slated to begin sometime in the New Year.

The artists formally known as Prince's

Shelia E is reuniting Princes former band-mates-come-hangers-on and spring off bands for a special concert to be held in Los Angeles' Great Western Forum on 13 December. The concert is in aid of a care centre for abandoned children. Artists appearing at the event are; The Time, Chaka Khan, Apollonia, The Family, Jill Jones, Patti LaBelle, The Revolution, Shelia E, Carmen Electra plus others. The man himself, however, will not be attending.