From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
2001 greatest hits album by Prince
The Very Best of Prince is a
greatest hits album by American recording artist
Prince . It was released on July 31, 2001, by
Warner Bros. Records . The album contains most of his commercially successful singles from 1979 to 1991 including the US number 1s "
When Doves Cry ", "
Let's Go Crazy ", "
Kiss " and "
Cream ".
The Very Best of Prince does not include the US number 1 hit "
Batdance " most likely due to the licensing of the character
Batman . Music critic
Stephen Thomas Erlewine believed that the
Batman album was unofficially being written out of Prince's discography.
[1] All the songs included in this compilation were all previously included in the 3-disc box set
The Hits/The B-Sides (1993), with the exception of "
Money Don't Matter 2 Night ".
Commercial performance
On the chart dated August 18, 2001, The Very Best of Prince debuted at number 66 on the US
Billboard 200 .
[5] As of September 21, 2004, the album was certified platinum by the
Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for selling 1 million copies in the United States.
[6]
The Very Best of Prince sold 179,000
album-equivalent units (100,000 in pure album sales) in the week following Prince's death,
[7] thus allowing the album to re-enter the Billboard 200 at number one; this makes the album Prince's fifth number-one on the chart.
[8] The following week the album fell to number two on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 391,000 equivalent copies (216,000 in pure album sales) behind
Beyoncé 's
Lemonade .
[9] In 2016, the album has sold 660,000 recognized copies in the United States in addition to the over 2 million copies sold prior to 2016.
[10]
Track listing
All songs are written by and credited to
Prince , except where noted.
Personnel
Prince – lead vocals and various instruments
The Revolution
The New Power Generation
Additional musicians
Jill Jones – co-lead vocals (on "1999")
Dez Dickerson – co-lead vocals (on "1999" & "Little Red Corvette"), lead guitar (on "Little Red Corvette")
Mazarati – backing vocals (on "Kiss")
Sheena Easton – vocals (on "U Got the Look")
Sheila E. – drums, percussion (on "U Got the Look" & "Alphabet St."), vocals (on "Alphabet St.")
Cat Glover – rap (on "Alphabet St.")
Eric Leeds –
brass , vocals (on "Alphabet St."), flute (on "Gett Off")
Charts
Weekly charts
Monthly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
References
^
a
b
Allmusic review
^
Larkin, Colin (2007).
Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.).
Oxford University Press .
ISBN
978-0195313734 .
^
"Very Best of Prince CD Album" .
^
"Rolling Stone Album Guide" .
Rolling Stone . Archived from
the original on March 20, 2011. Retrieved September 16, 2017 .
^
"Prince's 'The Very Best Of' Album Headed for No. 1 on Billboard 200 Chart" . Billboard. April 22, 2016. Retrieved April 22, 2016 .
^
a
b
"American album certifications – Prince – The Very Best of Prince" .
Recording Industry Association of America . Retrieved November 28, 2013 .
^
"Prince Dominates Album Sales After His Death" . HipHopDX. April 25, 2016. Retrieved April 25, 2016 .
^
"Prince Rules at No. 1 & 2 on Billboard 200 Albums Chart with 'The Very Best Of' & 'Purple Rain' " . Billboard. April 24, 2016. Retrieved April 24, 2016 .
^
"Beyonce Earns Sixth No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart With 'Lemonade' " . Billboard . May 1, 2016. Retrieved May 1, 2016 .
^
a
b Grein, Paul (December 20, 2016).
"The Top-Selling Albums of 2016" . Yahoo Music! .
^
"Australiancharts.com – Prince – The Very Best Of" . Hung Medien. Retrieved November 28, 2013.
^
"Austriancharts.at – Prince – The Very Best Of" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved November 28, 2013.
^
"Ultratop.be – Prince – The Very Best Of" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved November 28, 2013.
^
"Dutchcharts.nl – Prince – The Very Best Of" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved November 28, 2013.
^
"Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de.
Phononet GmbH . Retrieved November 28, 2013.
^
"GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 33, 2001" .
Chart-Track .
IRMA . Retrieved November 28, 2013.
^ Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE.
ISBN
84-8048-639-2 .
^
"Swedishcharts.com – Prince – The Very Best Of" . Hung Medien. Retrieved November 28, 2013.
^
"Swisscharts.com – Prince – The Very Best Of" . Hung Medien. Retrieved November 28, 2013.
^
"Official Albums Chart Top 100" .
Official Charts Company . Retrieved November 28, 2013.
^
"Prince Chart History (Billboard 200)" .
Billboard .
^
"Norwegiancharts.com – Prince – The Very Best Of" . Hung Medien. Retrieved November 28, 2013.
^
"Australiancharts.com – Prince – The Very Best Of" . Hung Medien. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
^
"Austriancharts.at – Prince – The Very Best Of" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved May 5, 2016.
^
"Prince Chart History (Canadian Albums)" .
Billboard . Retrieved April 26, 2016.
^
"Danishcharts.dk – Prince – The Very Best Of" . Hung Medien. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
^ "
Prince: The Very Best of Prince" (in Finnish).
Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland . Retrieved May 1, 2016.
^
"Lescharts.com – Prince – The Very Best Of" . Hung Medien. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
^
"Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de.
Phononet GmbH . Retrieved May 6, 2016.
^
"Album Top 40 slágerlista – 2016. 18. hét" (in Hungarian).
MAHASZ . Retrieved May 2, 2016.
^
"GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 17, 2016" .
Chart-Track .
IRMA . Retrieved April 30, 2016.
^
"Italiancharts.com – Prince – The Very Best Of" . Hung Medien. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
^
"Charts.nz – Prince – The Very Best Of" . Hung Medien. Retrieved April 29, 2016.
^
"Norwegiancharts.com – Prince – The Very Best Of" . Hung Medien. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
^
"Swedishcharts.com – Prince – The Very Best Of" . Hung Medien. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
^
"Swisscharts.com – Prince – The Very Best Of" . Hung Medien. Retrieved May 4, 2016.
^
"Official Albums Chart Top 100" .
Official Charts Company . Retrieved November 28, 2013.
^
"Prince Chart History (Billboard 200)" .
Billboard . Retrieved April 25, 2016.
^
"CAPIF Rankings Mensual" (in Spanish).
CAPIF . Archived from
the original (Select "Mayo 2016") on May 11, 2013. Retrieved July 18, 2016 .
^
"Canada's Top 200 R&B; albums of 2001" .
Jam! . January 8, 2002. Archived from
the original on November 22, 2002. Retrieved January 22, 2023 .
^
"Jaaroverzichten – Album 2001" . dutchcharts.nl . Retrieved August 11, 2021 .
^
"End of Year Album Chart Top 100 – 2001" . Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 10, 2021 .
^
"Canada's Top 200 R&B; albums of 2001" .
Jam! . Archived from
the original on September 6, 2004. Retrieved March 25, 2022 .
^
"ARIA Top 100 Albums 2016" .
Australian Recording Industry Association . Retrieved January 6, 2017 .
^
"Top Selling Albums of 2016" .
Recorded Music NZ . Retrieved December 25, 2016 .
^
"Schweizer Jahreshitparade Alben 2016 – hitparade.ch" . Hung Medien. Retrieved January 2, 2017 .
^
"End of Year Albums Chart Top 100 – 2016" .
Official Charts Company . Retrieved December 31, 2016 .
^
"Top Billboard 200 Albums - Year-End 2016" . Billboard . Retrieved December 9, 2016 .
^
"ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2008 Albums" (PDF) .
Australian Recording Industry Association . Retrieved November 28, 2013 .
^
"Ultratop − Goud en Platina – albums 2010" .
Ultratop . Hung Medien. Retrieved November 28, 2013 .
^
"Canadian album certifications – Prince – The Very Best of Prince" .
Music Canada . Retrieved November 28, 2013 .
^
"Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Prince; ' The Very Best of Prince' )" (in German).
Bundesverband Musikindustrie . Retrieved September 8, 2018 .
^
"Dutch album certifications – Prince – The Very Best Of" (in Dutch).
Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers . Retrieved September 8, 2018 . Enter The Very Best Of in the "Artiest of titel" box. Select 2005 in the drop-down menu saying "Alle jaargangen" .
^
"New Zealand album certifications – Prince – The Very Best of Prince" .
Recorded Music NZ . Retrieved May 20, 2016 .
^
"British album certifications – Prince – The Very Best of Prince" .
British Phonographic Industry . Retrieved May 13, 2023 .
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