Prince and Purple Rain: 40 Years

Authoritatively written and including rare photography and memorabilia, this beautiful slipcased hardcover is the only illustrated gift book to examine Prince’s most iconic album and film, Purple Rain.

In 1984, Prince, along with his band, The Revolution, released what would become his best-selling album and a touchstone of 1980s pop culture. 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 Prince Official Podcast, takes a deep dive into the legendary musician’s most famous album on its 40th anniversary. Chapters cover:

• 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 individual 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 Matt Fink
• Track-by-track analyses of each side
• A look at the groundbreaking film of the same name and its multiplatinum soundtrack
• Awards, accolades, and critical reception
• Prince’s legacy post-Purple Rain, up to his untimely death in 2016

Featuring a foreword by Prince superfan Maya Rudolph and iIlustrated with performance and off-stage photography as well as memorabilia from top collectors, Prince and Purple Rain is a definitive and beautifully produced tribute to a legendary album from a legendary performer and artist.

Andrea Swensson was music editor at the Twin Cities’ premier alt-weekly City Pages from 2008 to 2012. In January 2012, she moved to Minnesota Public Radio, where she created the Local Current Blog and was named host and producer of The Local Show, exploring Minnesota’s local music scene. Her first book, Got to Be Something Here: The Rise of the Minneapolis Sound, chronicling the Twin Cities funk and soul scene from the 1950s to the 1970s was released in October 2017 and was honored with a Minnesota Book Award. Andrea has contributed freelance writing to Paisley Park, NPR, Mpls/St. Paul Magazine, Minnesota Monthly, and the Minneapolis Star Tribune. She is currently the host and co-producer of The Official Prince Podcast, produced in collaboration with the Prince Estate, The Current, Warner Records, and Sony Legacy.