‘Purple Rain’ was written as a country song to collaborate with Fleetwood Mac singer Stevie Nicks. She turned down the opportunity, feeling overwhelmed by the task.
“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.” ~ Prince
Prince then asked his backing band to try the song. Prince changed the song dramatically after band member Wendy Melvoin started playing the guitar to accompany the song. After a six-hour straight studio session, the song dwarfed into a harder and less country song.
The title track of Prince’s previous album, 1999, also included similar references to an ominous purple sky (“… could have sworn it was Judgment Day, the sky was all purple…”).
Before the release of the song, Prince phoned Journey member Jonathan Cain, to ask him to listen to it. His concern was ‘Purple Rain’ was too similar to Journey’s ‘Faithfully’. Cain reassured Prince that the song only shared the same four chords.
The album Purple Rain was the soundtrack to the first movie Prince made, winning Prince an Oscar for Best Original Song Score.
‘Purple Rain’ was a staple of Prince’s live performances. At the Super Bowl XLI’s halftime show, ‘Purple Rain’ was the last song of Prince’s set and appropriately started during a downpour at the stadium. When fused with the purple stage lighting, it established the song’s trademark image. It was also the last song Prince performed live during his last concert in Atlanta, Georgia on April 14, 2016. He died a week later.
The song peaked at number two in the US, behind ‘Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go’ by Wham! In the UK, it peaked at number 8. Following Prince’s death in 2016, it bettered that position by rising to number 6.
Image Credit By Yves Lorson
