By Jem Aswad
The Prince Estate, in partnership with YouTube, will host a three-day streaming event of “Prince and the Revolution: Live,” the legendary concert filmed toward the end of the “Purple Rain” tour in Syracuse, NY on March 30, 1985.
The show will be available on Prince’s official YouTube Channel for three days only, beginning on Friday, May 14 and continuing through 11:59pm on Sunday, May 17. In collaboration with YouTube and Google, the streaming event will run in support of the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund for the World Health Organization (powered by UN Foundation and Swiss Philanthropy Foundation). Any viewer donations will include a matching component from Google (Google.org will match $2 for every $1 up to $5M). Full details here.
The concert, which was originally released as a VHS video and was long out of print before being reissued as part of the “Purple Rain” deluxe edition in 2017, is loaded with hits like “Let’s Go Crazy,” “When Doves Cry,” “I Would Die 4 U,” “Purple Rain,” “1999” and “Little Red Corvette” as well as rarities like “Possessed” and “How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore.” (Full tracklist below.)
To celebrate the streaming release of Prince and the Revolution: Live, The Prince Estate and YouTube will host a watch party on Thursday, May 14, at 8 p.m. ET. An hour before the watch party, at 7 p.m. ET, fans will have the opportunity to participate in a special pre-stream Q&A with Revolution drummer Bobby Z., moderated by Andrea Swensson of Minnesota Public Radio’s 89.3 The Current.
WATCH THE PRE-SHOW HERE from 7 p.m. ET, May 14, 2020
WATCH THE CONCERT HERE from 8 p.m. ET, May 14, 2020
An audio album from the concert will also be released to streaming services Friday, May 15.
Full Tracklist
1. Let’s Go Crazy (6:03)
2. Delirious (2:51)
3. 1999 (5:51)
4. Little Red Corvette (3:39)
5. Take Me With U (4:57)
6. Yankee Doodle Dandy (3:53)
7. Do Me Baby (4:51)
8. Irresistible Bitch (1:56)
9. Possessed (4:25)
10. How Come You Don’t Call Me Anymore (7:19)
11. Let’s Pretend We’re Married (2:11)
12. International Lover (2:01)
13. God (7:46)
14. Computer Blue (4:15)
15. Darling Nikki (3:30)
16. The Beautiful Ones (6:50)
17. When Doves Cry (9:29)
18. I Would Die 4 U (3:27)
19. Baby I’m A Star (10:57)
20. Purple Rain (19:26)