"Purple Rain" is a song by the American musician

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

and his backing band the Revolution. It is the title track from the 1984 album of the same name, which in turn is the soundtrack album for the 1984 film ''Purple Rain'' starring Prince, and was released as the third single from the album. "Purple Rain" reached number two on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for two weeks, being kept off number one by " Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" by

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It hit number one on the US ''Cash Box'' Top 100, where it stayed for two weeks. It is certified

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by the

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(RIAA) and is considered to be one of Prince's

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s. Following Prince's death in 2016, "Purple Rain" re-entered the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, where it reached number four. It also re-entered the UK Singles Chart at number six, placing two spaces higher than its original peak. In France, where it originally peaked at number twelve, "Purple Rain" reached number one a week after Prince's death. "Purple Rain" was ranked number 18 on ''

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'' 2021 list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and is included in the

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's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. During Prince's performance at the Super Bowl XLI halftime show in 2007, "Purple Rain" was the last song of his set; the event became especially notable when actual rain fell during the performance while the stage and stadium were lit up with purple lights. The Super Bowl XLI halftime show featuring Prince has topped lists of the best Super Bowl halftime shows of all time. Prince performed the song as the opening of a medley of his hits with

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at the 2004

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s. It was also the final song he performed at his last concert, which took place on April 14, 2016, a week before his death.

Composition

Origins

"Purple Rain" was originally written as a

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song and intended to be a collaboration with

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. According to Nicks, she received a ten-minute instrumental version of the song from Prince with a request to write the lyrics, but felt overwhelmed. She said: "I listened to it and I just got scared. I called him back and said, 'I can't do it. I wish I could. It's too much for me. At a rehearsal, Prince then asked his backing band to try the song: "I want to try something before we go home. It's mellow." According to Lisa Coleman, Prince then changed the song after Wendy Melvoin started playing guitar chords to accompany the song: "He was excited to hear it voiced differently. It took it out of that country feeling. Then we all started playing it a bit harder and taking it more seriously. We played it for six hours straight and by the end of that day we had it mostly written and arranged."

Prince's explanation of meaning

Prince explained the meaning of the song as follows: "When there's blood in the sky... red and blue = purple. Purple rain pertains to the end of the world and being with the one you love and letting your faith/God guide you through the purple rain." The

title track A title track is a song that has the same name as the album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-t ...

of Prince's preceding album, ''

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'', included similar references to a doomed ending under a purple sky ("...could have sworn it was

Judgment Day The Last Judgment is a concept found across the Abrahamic religions and the '' Frashokereti'' of Zoroastrianism. Christianity considers the Second Coming of Jesus Christ to entail the final judgment by God of all people who have ever lived, res ...

, the sky was all purple..."). The name for the song originated from the lyrics to the 1972 song " Ventura Highway" by the band

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Song structure

"Purple Rain" is written in the key of

B-flat major B-flat major is a major scale based on B, with pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A. Its key signature has two flats. Its relative minor is G minor and its parallel minor is B-flat minor. The B-flat major scale is: Changes needed for ...

. In the context of the film, each verse ties into a different strained relationship Prince's character has and his desire to reconcile. The song is dedicated to his father in the movie, not ex-girlfriend Denise Matthews better known as

Vanity Vanity is the excessive belief in one's own abilities or attractiveness compared to others. Prior to the 14th century, it did not have such narcissistic undertones, and merely meant ''futility''. The related term vainglory is now often seen as ...

. Prince's vocal range spans from the low note of B₂ to the high note of C₆.

Background and recording

The song was recorded during a benefit concert for the Minnesota Dance Theatre at the First Avenue nightclub in

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

on August 3, 1983. The performance was guitarist Wendy Melvoin's live debut with the Revolution, at the age of 19. ''

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'' described the 70-minute performance as Prince's "sweatiest and most soulful hometown concert yet", and drummer Bobby Z stated, "it certainly was one of the best concerts we ever did". The concert was recorded by David Rivkin (also known as David Z, brother of Bobby Z) using a mobile recording unit brought in from the

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in New York City, staffed by engineers Dave Hewitt and Koster McAllister. David's older brother Cliff Rifkin was the regional promotion executive for Warners in Minneapolis, who also expedited Prince's label signing. David Z's younger brother, Bobby Z, would then become Prince's drummer in the Revolution. David Z was not surprised when he was requested to set up the live recording on August 3, 1983, "With Prince, you never knew," he declared. "I thought we were recording a concert, but I wasn't sure if it was going to be a record, too. I knew they were working on the movie as, as well. You just had to go in prepared to record whatever it was going to be as well as you could." The basic tracks for three songs were used on the ''Purple Rain'' soundtrack: "Purple Rain", "

I Would Die 4 U "I Would Die 4 U" is a song by Prince and the Revolution, the fourth single in the US from their 1984 album, '' Purple Rain''. The up-tempo dance song was a top 10 hit—the final one from the album—in the US, reaching number 8 on the Billbo ...

", and " Baby I'm a Star". Prince performed

overdub Overdubbing (also known as layering) is a technique used in audio recording in which audio tracks that have been pre-recorded are then played back and monitored, while simultaneously recording new, doubled, or augmented tracks onto one or more a ...

s while working at Sunset Sound in

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from August to September 1983. A solo and a verse from the original recording were edited out, changing the length from eleven to eight minutes.Nilsen, Per (2003). ''Dance Music Sex Romance: Prince: The First Decade''. SAF Publishing, pp. 153–155. The extra verse was about money but was removed because it diluted the emotional impact of the song. After recording the song, Prince phoned Jonathan Cain from Journey to ask him to listen to it, as he was worried that it might be too similar to " Faithfully", a Journey single composed by Cain which had recently been in the charts. Cain reassured Prince by telling him that the songs only shared the same four chords. Lisa Coleman created the string arrangement, played by her brother and friends, that was overdubbed into the song in a studio in Los Angeles.

Release

For release as a single, the song was edited down from 8:41 to 4:05. The

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

, "God", is a much more overtly religious number (Prince's most religious), recalling the

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. The song also features extensive vocal experimentation. Towards the end, Prince mentions "The Dance Electric", which was a song given to former band member André Cymone. In the UK, the 12-inch single also included an

instrumental An instrumental or instrumental song is music without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through Semantic change, semantic widening, a broader sense of the word s ...

of "God", also known as "Love Theme from "Purple Rain", an edited portion of which appears in the film.

Performances

The song was a staple of Prince's live performances. He played it on nearly every tour after 1984, except for a period after his

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when he avoided his older hits for a few years. At the Super Bowl XLI halftime show, in which he was the featured performer, "Purple Rain" was featured as the last song of Prince's set and was, appropriately, played during a downpour at the stadium; when combined with the purple stage lighting, this created the song's signature image. Prince performed the song as the opening of a medley of his hits with

at the 2004

s, and also at the 2006 Brit Awards. "Purple Rain" ended up being the final song Prince performed live during his final concert in

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on April 14, 2016.

Reception and legacy

In a contemporary review of the single release, ''

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'' called it "pretty majestic," stating, "captured in four minutes, the song and the emotion that make the pivotal moment of a remarkable film." The song ranked number 18 in ''

''‘s 2021 list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. '' Q'' magazine placed it at number 40 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks, and ''

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'' named it the best song of the 1980s. '' Paste'' and ''

American Songwriter ''American Songwriter'' is a bimonthly magazine covering songwriting. Established in 1984, it features interviews, songwriting tips, news, reviews and lyric contest. The magazine is based in Nashville, Tennessee. History The ''American Songwri ...

'' both ranked it as Prince's greatest song. The song is also included in

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), also simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and the ...

Track listing

* 7-inch single :A. "Purple Rain" (edit) – 4:02 :B. "God" – 3:59 * 12-inch single :A. "Purple Rain" – 8:45 :B. "God" – 3:59 * 12-inch (UK) :A. "Purple Rain" (long version) – 7:05 :B1. "God (Love Theme from "Purple Rain")" (instrumental) – 7:54 :B2. "God" (vocal) – 3:59 * Shaped picture disc (UK) :A. "Purple Rain" (edit) – 4:02 :B. "God" – 3:59 * 7-inch promo (US) :A. "Purple Rain" (edit) – 4:02 :B. "Purple Rain" (edit) – 4:02 * 7-inch promo (UK) :A. "Purple Rain" (radio edit) – 4:19 :B. "Purple Rain" (long radio edit) – 5:37 * 12-inch promo (US) :A. "Purple Rain" (edit) – 4:02 :B. "Purple Rain" (LP version) – 8:45

Personnel

Credits sourced from Duane Tudahl, Benoît Clerc, and Guitarcloud *

– lead and backing vocals, electric lead guitar, synthesizers, string arrangement * Wendy Melvoin – electric rhythm guitar, backing vocals, string conductor * Lisa Coleman – synthesizers, backing vocals, string arrangement, string conductor * Matt Fink – Yamaha CP-70 electric grand piano, backing vocals * Brown Mark – bass guitar, backing vocals * Bobby Z. –

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Linn LM-1 The Linn LM-1 Drum Computer is a drum machine manufactured by Linn Electronics and released in 1980. It was the first drum machine to use samples of acoustic drums, and one of the first programmable drum machines. Its designer, the American en ...

, cymbals * Novi Novog – violin, viola * David Coleman – cello * Suzie Katayama – cello

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Purple Rain (Song) 1984 songs 1984 singles Prince (musician) songs Songs written by Prince (musician) 1980s ballads Pop ballads Rock ballads Cashbox number-one singles Dutch Top 40 number-one singles SNEP Top Singles number-one singles Number-one singles in Finland Number-one singles in Scotland Warner Records singles Song recordings produced by Prince (musician) Film theme songs Songs about weather Soul ballads Apocalyptic music Breakup songs Last Judgment