Prince and Purple Rain 40 Years will be published on May 21st
Prince and Purple Rain will be profiled in a “love letter” on May 21st via Motorbooks, an imprint of The Quarto Group. Authoritatively written by Andrea Swensson and including rare photography and memorabilia, Prince and Purple Rain 40 Years is a beautiful slip-cased volume that is a stunning and in-depth celebration of Prince’s most iconic album and film.
“This book is a love letter to Prince and Purple Rain… the moment in his career when he went from buzzy to red-hot, and from an acclaimed yet still somewhat underground art-funk-rock star to a blazing supernova who had the world’s attention, and who set the tone for not just music but pop culture for the rest of the 1980s,” Swensson writes in the book’s introduction.
In 1984, Prince, along with his band, The Revolution, released what would become his best-selling album and a touchstone of 1980s pop culture. Worldwide, Purple Rain has gone on to sell 25 million copies and counting. In Prince and Purple Rain, Andrea Swensson, a Minneapolis-based journalist, and host/co-producer of the Official Prince Podcast, takes a deep dive into the legendary musician’s most famous album. The book arrives ahead of the 40th anniversary of the album, which was released on June 25, 1984, and the film, released on June 27, 1984.
The 176-page book covers Prince’s youth and early music career in Minneapolis, as well as each of the five studio albums that preceded Purple Rain; Prince’s backing band, The Revolution, and the backgrounds of each of its members, with an emphasis on the Purple Rain studio and touring members — drummer Bobby Z, bassist Brown Mark, guitarist Wendy Melvoin, keyboardist Lisa Coleman, and keyboardist Dr. Fink; Track-by-track analyses of each side; A look at the groundbreaking film of the same name and its multi-platinum soundtrack; Awards, accolades, and critical reception; and Prince’s legacy post–Purple Rain, up to his untimely death in 2016.
Featuring a foreword by Prince superfan Maya Rudolph and illustrated with more than 200 images featuring performance, off-stage photography, and memorabilia from top collectors, Prince and Purple Rain is a decisive and beautifully produced tribute to a legendary album from a legendary performer and artist.
