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Apr 19, 2018 Prince By Christopher Roberts

Prince, who passed away in 2016, wrote “Nothing Compares 2 U” for his side band The Family, but it became a hit for Sinéad O’Connor in 1990. Now the Prince estate has shared his original version of the song, recorded in 1984 at the Flying Cloud Drive ‘Warehouse’ in Eden Prairie by Prince’s long-time engineer Susan Rogers. It was composed, arranged, and performed almost entirety by Prince. There are backing vocals by Susannah Melvoin and Paul “St. Paul” Peterson and saxophone work by Eric Leeds. The song has been shared via a video featuring rehearsal footage of Prince and the Revolution in 1984. Watch it below.

Prince’s “Nothing Compares 2 U” is out now digitally and will be released on 7-Inch on May 25 via Warner Bros.

Michael Howe, which a press release describes as a “long-time industry A&R executive, Prince expert, and the Prince Estate’s official Vault Archivist,” had this to say about the song in the press release: “I spotted the 2-inch 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, analyzed 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…. No Prince-penned song performed by another artist has enjoyed more chart success (#1 in 20+ countries) and overall cultural impact than Sinéad O’Connor’s 1990 recording, so hearing the song in its original context performed in its entirety by the author makes it particularly noteworthy.”

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