Prince’s original studio demo of ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ is here

The second anniversary of Prince’s death approaches this Saturday and the Prince Estate and Warner Bros. Records have shared the original studio recording of ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ to mark the occasion.

In a video for the track recorded in 1984, six years before Sinéad O’Connor’s version was popularised as a classic in 1990, you can watch rehearsal footage of Prince & The Revolution from that summer. it was also in that room at Flying Cloud Drive Warehouse in Eden Prairie by Prince’s long-time engineer Susan Rogers, and originally composed, arranged and performed in its entirety by Prince, aside from the backing vocals by Susannah Melvoin and Paul “St. Paul” Peterson. Also featured on the original track is saxophone work by Eric Leeds.

The new version is on streaming services, and will be on digital retailers and as two 7” vinyl singles (in picture disk and standard black vinyl formats via www.PrinceHitNRun.com for a limited time only and it gets an official release on Friday 25th May.

Prince Pop-up shop

There’s also the Prince HitNRun online pop-up store offering the vinyl, tees, denim jackets and more for a limited time from now until April 25th.

Prince annotated website and fan site

The Prince Estate has also launched

1) Prince Estate – An immersive annotated discography website highlighting the Prince’s recorded catalogue. Featuring audio previews, photos, videos, quotes and editorial commentary, the discography site provides a rich platform for fans old and new to immerse themselves in the creative genius of Prince.

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2 ) Prince2Me – an interactive fan experience for fans to showcase what Prince means to them. Fans who use Twitter to share their Prince2Me messages using #Prince2Me or #NothingCompares2U will be able to activate an exclusive Prince Love Symbol Twitter emoji.

How the song was found in the Vaults

As remembered by Michael Howe, long-time industry A&R executive, Prince expert, and the Prince Estate’s official Vault Archivist, “I spotted the 2″ multitrack reel in the Vault some weeks back while doing a 1984-era inventory. After retrieving my jaw from the floor, we took the reel upstairs, analysed it, put it up on the Studer 24 track machine, and digitized it to 24/192. Even our ‘faders up’ rough mix was compelling enough to indicate that this was something very special indeed.”

Howe continued, “No Prince-penned song performed by another artist has enjoyed more chart success (#1 in over a dozen countries) and overall cultural impact than Sinead O’Connor’s 1990 recording, so hearing the song in its original context performed in its entirety by the author makes it particularly noteworthy.”

Limited Edition 7” picture disk and black vinyl tracklisting and credits:

A. NOTHING COMPARES 2 U (EDIT VERSION) [4:12] B. NOTHING COMPARES 2 U (FULL LENGTH VERSION) [4:40]

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