紫雨 (1983)

"Purple Rain" is a song by the American musician Prince and his backing band the Revolution. It is the title track from the 1984 album Purple Rain, which in turn is the soundtrack album for the 1984 film Purple Rain starring Prince, and was released as the third single from the album.

"Purple Rain" reached number two on the US Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks in November 1984. It reached number one on the US Cash Box Top 100, where it stayed for two weeks. It is certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and is considered to be one of Prince's signature songs. Following Prince's death in 2016, "Purple Rain" re-entered the Billboard Hot 100, where it reached number four in May 2016. It also re-entered the UK Singles Chart at number six, placing two spaces higher than its original peak. In France, where it originally peaked at number twelve, "Purple Rain" reached number one a week after Prince's death.

"Purple Rain" was ranked number 18 on Rolling Stone's 2021 list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" and is included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's "500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll". During Prince's performance at the Super Bowl XLI halftime show in 2007, "Purple Rain" was the last song of his set; the event became especially notable when rain fell during the performance while the stage and stadium were lit up with purple lights. The performance has topped lists of the best Super Bowl halftime shows of all time. Prince performed the song as the opening of a medley of his hits with Beyoncé at the 2004 Grammy Awards. It was also the final song he performed at his last concert, which took place on April 14, 2016, a week before his death.

Background and recording

"Purple Rain" was recorded during a benefit concert for the Minnesota Dance Theatre at the First Avenue nightclub in Minneapolis on August 3, 1983. The performance was guitarist Wendy Melvoin's live debut with the Revolution. Drummer Bobby Z. stated, "it certainly was one of the best concerts we ever did".

The concert was recorded by producer David Z. using a mobile recording unit brought in from the Record Plant in New York City, staffed by engineers Dave Hewitt and Koster McAllister. David's older brother Cliff Rifkin was the regional promotion executive for Warners in Minneapolis, who also expedited Prince's label signing. David Z.'s younger brother, Bobby Z., would then become Prince's drummer in the Revolution. David Z. was requested to set up the live recording on August 3, 1983. A solo and a verse from the original recording were edited out, changing the length from 11 minutes to eight minutes and 41 seconds. The extra verse was about money but was removed because it diluted the emotional impact of the song.

After recording the song, Prince asked Jonathan Cain from Journey to listen to it, as he was worried that it might be too similar to "Faithfully", a Journey single composed by Cain which had recently been in the charts. Cain reassured Prince by telling him that the songs only shared a few chords. Lisa Coleman created the string arrangement that was overdubbed into the song in a studio in Los Angeles.