The Very Best of Prince
Greatest hits album by
Prince
ReleasedJuly 31, 2001 (2001-07-31)
Length73:18
LabelWarner Bros.
Producer
Prince chronology
Rave In2 the Joy Fantastic
(2001) 		The Very Best of Prince
(2001) 		The Rainbow Children
(2001)
Digital cover
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[2]
Q[3]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[4]

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.

The Very Best of Prince track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Original albumLength
1."I Wanna Be Your Lover" (single edit) Prince (1979)2:58
2."1999" (single edit; credited to Prince & the Revolution) 1999 (1982)3:37
3."Little Red Corvette" (credited to Prince & The Revolution) 19994:56
4."When Doves Cry" (single edit; credited to Prince & the Revolution) Purple Rain (1984)3:47
5."Let's Go Crazy" (credited to Prince & the Revolution) Purple Rain4:40
6."Purple Rain" (credited to Prince & the Revolution) Purple Rain8:40
7."I Would Die 4 U" (single version; credited to Prince & the Revolution) Purple Rain2:56
8."Raspberry Beret" (credited to Prince & the Revolution) Around the World in a Day (1985)3:32
9."Kiss" (single edit; credited to Prince & the Revolution)Prince, arr. by David ZParade (1986)3:46
10."Sign o' the Times" (single edit) Sign o' the Times (1987)3:42
11."U Got the Look" (featuring Sheena Easton) Sign o' the Times3:47
12."Alphabet St." Lovesexy (1988)5:38
13."Thieves in the Temple" Graffiti Bridge (1990)3:21
14."Gett Off" (credited to Prince and The New Power Generation) Diamonds and Pearls (1991)4:31
15."Cream" (credited to Prince and the New Power Generation) Diamonds and Pearls4:13
16."Diamonds and Pearls" (single edit; credited to Prince and the New Power Generation) Diamonds and Pearls4:19
17."Money Don't Matter 2 Night" (credited to Prince and the New Power Generation)Prince, Rosie GainesDiamonds and Pearls4:47

Personnel

Charts

Certifications

Certifications for The Very Best of Prince
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[49] 2× Platinum 140,000^
Belgium (BEA)[50] Platinum 50,000*
Canada (Music Canada)[51] Gold 50,000^
Germany (BVMI)[52] Gold 150,000‡
Netherlands (NVPI)[53] Platinum 80,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[54] Platinum 15,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[55] 3× Platinum 900,000‡
United States (RIAA)[6] Platinum 2,660,000[10]

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ a b Allmusic review
  2. ^ Larkin, Colin (2007). Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195313734.
  3. ^ "Very Best of Prince CD Album".
  4. ^ "Rolling Stone Album Guide". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on March 20, 2011. Retrieved September 16, 2017.
  5. ^ "Prince's 'The Very Best Of' Album Headed for No. 1 on Billboard 200 Chart". Billboard. April 22, 2016. Retrieved April 22, 2016.
  6. ^ a b "American album certifications – Prince – The Very Best of Prince". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved November 28, 2013.
  7. ^ "Prince Dominates Album Sales After His Death". HipHopDX. April 25, 2016. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
  8. ^ "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.
  9. ^ "Beyonce Earns Sixth No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart With 'Lemonade'". Billboard. May 1, 2016. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
  10. ^ a b Grein, Paul (December 20, 2016). "The Top-Selling Albums of 2016". Yahoo Music!.
  11. ^ "Australiancharts.com – Prince – The Very Best Of". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 28, 2013.
  12. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Prince – The Very Best Of" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved November 28, 2013.
  13. ^ "Ultratop.be – Prince – The Very Best Of" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved November 28, 2013.
  14. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Prince – The Very Best Of" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved November 28, 2013.
  15. ^ "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH. Retrieved November 28, 2013.
  16. ^ "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 33, 2001". Chart-Track. IRMA. Retrieved November 28, 2013.
  17. ^ Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
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  23. ^ "Australiancharts.com – Prince – The Very Best Of". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
  24. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Prince – The Very Best Of" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved May 5, 2016.
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  26. ^ "Danishcharts.dk – Prince – The Very Best Of". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
  27. ^ "Prince: The Very Best of Prince" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
  28. ^ "Lescharts.com – Prince – The Very Best Of". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
  29. ^ "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH. Retrieved May 6, 2016.
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  32. ^ "Italiancharts.com – Prince – The Very Best Of". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
  33. ^ "Charts.nz – Prince – The Very Best Of". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 29, 2016.
  34. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Prince – The Very Best Of". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
  35. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Prince – The Very Best Of". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
  36. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Prince – The Very Best Of". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 4, 2016.
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  39. ^ "CAPIF Rankings Mensual" (in Spanish). CAPIF. Archived from the original (Select "Mayo 2016") on May 11, 2013. Retrieved July 18, 2016.
  40. ^ "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.
  41. ^ "Jaaroverzichten – Album 2001". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved August 11, 2021.
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  43. ^ "Canada's Top 200 R&B; albums of 2001". Jam!. Archived from the original on September 6, 2004. Retrieved March 25, 2022.
  44. ^ "ARIA Top 100 Albums 2016". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved January 6, 2017.
  45. ^ "Top Selling Albums of 2016". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved December 25, 2016.
  46. ^ "Schweizer Jahreshitparade Alben 2016 – hitparade.ch". Hung Medien. Retrieved January 2, 2017.
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  48. ^ "Top Billboard 200 Albums - Year-End 2016". Billboard. Retrieved December 9, 2016.
  49. ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2008 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved November 28, 2013.
  50. ^ "Ultratop − Goud en Platina – albums 2010". Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved November 28, 2013.
  51. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Prince – The Very Best of Prince". Music Canada. Retrieved November 28, 2013.
  52. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Prince; 'The Very Best of Prince')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved September 8, 2018.
  53. ^ "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".
  54. ^ "New Zealand album certifications – Prince – The Very Best of Prince". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved May 20, 2016.
  55. ^ "British album certifications – Prince – The Very Best of Prince". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved May 13, 2023.
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