The Best of Prince’s Vault (So Far)

Forty years ago this week Prince released the album that took him from star to icon. Purple Rain yielded his first number one pop single (“When Doves Cry”) and then his second (“Let’s Go Crazy”), with the title track blocked from the top spot by Wham’s “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go.” The album itself held the number one position on the Billboard 200 for almost half a year and the movie (which arrived in July of 1984) earned ten times its $7 million budget.

In a just world, no one would have to think about posthumous Prince projects.