‘Purple Rain’ Turns 40

Prince’s iconic album, Purple Rain, was released 40 years ago today!

It’s the soundtrack album to the film of the same name, which came out two days later on July 27, 1984.

Purple Rain was Prince’s first album to reach No. 1 on the Billboard chart. It spent 24 consecutive weeks at No. 1, and a total of 167 weeks on the chart.

Two songs, “When Doves Cry” and “Let’s Go Crazy,” went No. 1. “Purple Rain” hit No. 2 and “I Would Die 4 U” peaked at No. 8.

It’s widely considered one of the best albums of all time. Rolling Stone put it at No. 8 on its 2020 list of the “500 Greatest Albums of All Time.”

Prince wrote nearly all the songs on Purple Rain himself.

In celebration of 40 years of Purple Rain, here’s a throwback to the music videos of the best songs from the album!