Tag: Prince (21-28 of 28)

Jun 25 2009 12:00 PM ET

Prince's 'Purple Rain': 25th anniversary today

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Prince_rain_l It's been pouring in New York City all week, Music Mixers, which must be the weather gods' way of honoring a most remarkable day in music history: Today is the 25th anniversary of Prince's ultimate achievement — the album we dubbed the best of the last 25 years, no less — Purple Rain. He never meant 2 cause u any sorrow. He never meant 2 cause u any pain. He only wanted 1 time to see u laughing. He only wanted 2 see u laughing in that violet precipitation, dammit!

But you tell us, readers. What are your best memories of Purple Rain? The first time you saw the movie, heard the Doves Cry, realized He Would Die 4 U? Did you ever know a more Darling Nikki? Tell it all, below. Cuz honey, I know I know times are changing, that it's time we reach out for something new, but the Purple One is forever, and respect must be paid.

More on Prince:
Purplish Rain: Twilight Singers, Apollonia, Of Montreal, more pay tribute to Prince
Why Purple Rain was our No. 1 New Classic Album
Elixer/LOtUSFLOW3R/MPLSoUND: The EW review
Prince, Prince, Prince: On the scene for his three-show night in L.A.
Prince's Oscar night house party: Funkin' 'til dawn

More from EW's Music Mix:
Apples in Stereo prep #1 Hits Explosion compilation for September release
Mika shines at intimate NYC show, despite having a cold
Beyonce fights hunger with Hamburger Helper

Jun 12 2009 03:42 PM ET

'Purplish Rain': Twilight Singers, Apollonia, Of Montreal, more pay tribute to Prince

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APOLLONIA-purple-rain_l Twenty-five years ago this month, a classic album touched down on Earth in Minneapolis. Perhaps the most classic of new classics, even. I'm talking, of course, about Prince's untouchably awesome Purple Rain. Spin magazine is celebrating this momentous anniversary by putting together a tribute set titled Purplish Rain (ha), featuring track-by-track covers of the entire original album by hip folks like the Twilight Singers, Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, Of Montreal, Fol Chen, and more. Spin readers will be able to download the whole thing for free on June 23; in the meantime, the mag is currently streaming a cover of "When Doves Cry" by Greg Dulli's band the Twilight Singers online. That cover happens to feature additional vocals by actual Purple Rain co-star Apollonia, which is pretty much too cool for words. Head over to Spin's site to hear how "When Doves Cry" turned out and read the rest of the tracklist — then let us know how you think Purplish Rain measures up to your favorite Prince covers.

More from EW's Music Mix:
Aqua goes 'Back to the 80s': Who's coming with?
Uncle Kracker's 'Smile': Hear it exclusively here
Adam Lambert is gay! Surprised?

Apr 24 2009 05:26 PM ET

New videos from Green Day, Kanye, Ne-Yo and Prince: Pick your favorite

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It’s been a busy week in music videos, culminating in MTV’s much-hyped premiere of Green Day’s "Know Your Enemy" video. Our thoughts? The song is alright (if as familiar as every other Green Day song), but the performance-based video doesn’t really light our fire. (Pun intended! Watch and you’ll see.) As 21st Century Breakdown’s May 15 release inches closer, expect the media blitz to only increase from here.

Elsewhere, check out an onslaught of new videos from Kanye West ("Amazing"), Ne-Yo ("Part of the List") and Prince (his "Crimson & Clover" remake) after the jump. My favorite? Kanye’s. Sure, most of the travelogue-esque clip looks straight out of Google Earth, but hey, it’s purdy. Just don’t expect anything, well, amazing. (Bad pun #2!)

READ FULL STORY »

Apr 8 2009 03:19 PM ET

Keith Urban and Prince battle it out on the albums chart

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Urbanprince_lPrince has been grinding hard to promote his new triple release, Elixer/LOtUSFLOW3R/MPLSoUND — live shows, Leno appearances, the works. All that effort paid off to the tune of 168,000 shoppers picking up the set at exclusive U.S. retailer Target, according to Nielsen SoundScan. That’s a fairly strong opening number, but it was still only enough to get Prince to No. 2 on this week’s Billboard 200. Who can Prince blame for this indignity? Keith Urban, whose Defying Gravity bowed at No. 1 with just a few more customers for a total of 172,000. Coming in behind both of them at No. 3 was Diana Krall, whose Quiet Nights appealed to a healthy 104,000 jazz fans and/or homebodies.

Other debuts this week came from Texan rappers UGK, whose UGK 4 Life, billed as their final release after member Pimp C’s untimely death, debuted at No. 6 with 76,000 copies sold; Flo Rida, whose massive single "Right Round" produced a middling 55,000 units moved of his album R.O.O.T.S., at No. 8; jazz trumpeter Chris Botti’s live set Chris Botti in Boston at No. 13 with 36,000; country singer Rodney Atkins’ It’s America at No. 15 with 34,000; Bow Wow’s New Jack City II at No. 16 with 31,000; and Gavin DeGraw’s Free at No. 19 with 26,000.

That’s nine debuts in the Top 20 — not nearly as many as last week‘s whopping 12, but still more than usual. One new entry that didn’t make it anywhere near the Top 20 was the Fast & Furious soundtrack, which sold a paltry 5,000. So much for the movie’s success rubbing off on the soundtrack. Weigh in below: Were you surprised by any of this week’s sales results?

Mar 29 2009 09:53 PM ET

Prince, Prince, Prince: On the scene for his three-show night in L.A.

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On Saturday, Prince made some sort of history by playing three shows at three venues in one night, stopping by each of the spots inside the L.A. Live complex in downtown Los Angeles to deliver a set inspired by one of his new albums: rock (Lotus Flow3r, Nokia Live, 7 p.m.); funk (MPLsound, Conga Room, 9:30); and loungey jazz (Bria Valente’s Elixer, Club Nokia, midnight). [Read EW's snap judgment of all three!] The Music Mix was there for (almost) all of it, and is proud to now bring you the minutes of this massive town meeting, sponsored by Target, LotusFlow3r.com, and the gods of perseverance.

6:48 p.m. Your correspondent and L.A. Times music critic Ann Powers are outside the Nokia, in long line to get past the metal detectors. Many of the women outside are dressed like strippers, or very enthusiastic Vegas vacationers. Or maybe that’s just how they dress. Your correspondent is wearing cowboy boots and feels they demonstrate she made an effort.

7:02 Finally inside Nokia. Venue resembles a movie theater designed by people who also design cell phones, complete with ushers hawking popcorn. It’s not quite full. But how late can Prince start without running the whole night behind schedule?

7:11 Prince’s Target ad runs on the jumbotrons, without sound. Instead, the DJ is pumping "Ladies’ Night."

7:16 DJ plays "Glamorous Life." People cheer. Target ad plays again.

7:19 Pre-show mix sounds disturbingly familiar to the pre-show mix played at the Prince Oscar party, which started three hours late. Your correspondent begins to get nervous. Jumbotron ad keeps touting tonight’s "3 full shows!"

7:22 Target ad runs again. Am now pondering deeper themes of ad. Prince is on a rock in a pool… There is a woman… His guitar fretboard whizzes past her face and buries itself in the Target logo…

7:33 Magic Johnson enters venue, receives applause

7:36 House lights go out, jumbotron begins playing the Blade Runner/Matrix-inspired video for "Chocolate Box." Everything is very hi-def in Prince world nowadays, it seems.

7:41 Video ends with a "to be continued." The "Purple Rain" chords tease as the curtain opens to reveal the band in front of a giant Lotusflow3r billboard. Prince enters, wearing a zebra-striped tunic, as the band plays the first of many funky jams. There are jellyfish hanging from the ceiling that look a bit like 99-cent store piñatas. "Everything you think is true," says Prince. "Instead of hate, celebrate," says Prince. He asks everyone to clap.

7:44 "What’s my name?" asks Prince. Then he whips off his sunglasses. The ladies go wild.

READ FULL STORY »

Mar 29 2009 04:56 PM ET

Prince's new 'Lotusflow3r' three-disc set: A one-listen review

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51d055vupl_aa260_Just got back from a Sunday trip to Target for some toilet paper, a tube of Colgate, and the new Prince album, which went on sale today exclusively at the big-box retailer. Here’s a quick report (on Prince, that is; the other two are performing more or less as expected).

First, the good news. On the surface, at least, this is a fantastic deal. Three CDs — Prince’s new Lotusflow3r and Mplsound albums, plus another disc he wrote and produced for new protege Bria Valente — for $11.98. That’s well over two hours of music for the price of most single-disc albums. Also, there’s…well, that’s pretty much the only good news. Because after dragging myself through the whole thing, this is Prince’s most disappointing set in years. Only a handful of the Prince-sung tracks make much of an impression (if you must, check out "4Ever," which builds to a nice climax, and "U’re Gonna C Me," a decent-enough falsetto ballad), while the rest sound dreary and tossed off (the lowpoint: a half-hearted cover of "Crimson and Clover" that mixes in a bit of "Wild Thing" for no discernible reason). It’s tempting to say Prince just didn’t have the material to fill out two full albums, but a single disc of highlights would still represent a baffling comedown from his often-excellent previous three albums. And by the time he got around to poor Valente’s disc, Prince had obviously completely run out of tunes. Her Elixer is a total waste, a 45-minute slog through sleepy, tuneless, listlessly sung lite-R&B tracks that wouldn’t have made the cut on a third-rate Vanity record. As a massive Prince fan for 25 years now (Purple Rain is still probably my favorite album) it pains me to say this, but Lotusflow3r just isn’t isn’t worth your cash — even at a mere $3.99 a disc.

Has anyone else heard this new set? Weigh in below — or if you’re as disappointed as I am, reminisce about your favorite Prince album of years past.

More from EW’s Music Mix:
Justin Timberlake exclusive: The singer on his new album (or lack thereof) and current iPod favorites
Rihanna’s Mentor Speaks
Beyonce vs. Ciara: Video déjà vu?
Keri Hilson’s ‘Knock You Down’ video: Will it make her a star?
Erykah Badu’s SXSW performance delayed by alleged stalker incident

Mar 25 2009 10:46 PM ET

What (music) to watch: Wednesday's late-night musical guests

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Princejayleno_lPrince‘s three-night stint on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno kicks off this evening, and while we love Ra Ra Riot, the Purple One has to be our pick of the night. He’s promoting his new three-disc set, which goes on sale at Target this Sunday, and the launch of his website, LOTUSFLW3R. These multinight stop-overs are a growing trend (U2 spent an entire week with Letterman, and Chris Cornell will appear on Carson Daly tonight for the second night in a row), and while we’re not sure we’ll be tuning in should Nickelback announce a month-long residency on Larry King Live, for now we approve. More Prince!

Also scheduled for tonight:

All-American Rejects on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
Blue October on Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Jesse Harris with Norah Jones on the Late Show with David Letterman
Chris Cornell on Last Call with Carson Daly
Ra Ra Riot on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson

More Music Mix headlines:
New music reviews: Keith Urban defies gravity
Justin Timberlake exclusive: The singer on his new album (or lack thereof)
Beyonce vs. Ciara: Video déjà vu?
Green Day’s new album: ‘Know Your Enemy’
No Doubt on ‘Gossip Girl’ spin-off, album, and tour: An exclusive Q&A
Fergie’s underwear: How much would you pay?

Mar 20 2009 10:05 PM ET

Prince is the busiest man in showbiz (next week)

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Prince_lNext week Prince will not only perform three nights in a row (March 25-27) on Jay Leno, he’ll also play three back-to-back concerts (at different venues, no less) on March 28th in Los Angeles, according to billboard.com. It’s all leading up to the March 29th release of his two new albums "MPLSoUND" and "LOtUSFLOW3R" and the launch of his website lotusflow3r.com.

Are all you Prince fans out there completely psyched? Will you watch all three nights on Leno? Or simply booking your flights to L.A. right now?

 

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