21 Nights

Randee St. Nicholas & Prince

Official

An historic event that has never been attempted or achieved by anyone else.

21 Nights is a photo essay released issued to document Prince‘s historic twenty-one date run at London’s newly inaugurated O2 Arena, staged for Earth Tour otherwise billed as 21 Nights In London. The book features 124 colour photos filling 256 pages, shot by Randee St. Nicholas (director of the Gett Off video and photographer for two of Prince’s album covers) from every night of the tour.

21 Nights features photos of Prince both on and off stage. He is captured at the Dorchester Hotel where he was staying in the Sultan’s suite for the duration of the 21 date residency, and Prague during a whirlwind break in the tour on 3 September 2007 to shoot the video for Somewhere Here On Earth – the stills captured in the early hours while its streets were empty. There are also shots of Prince’s surprise performance at the London Fashion Show on 19 September. The pages are interspersed with poetry written by Prince and lyrics from the album Planet Earth – the CD given away to every attendee at the shows.

The book includes a companion CD Indigo Nights which is packaged as an insert into its inside front cover panel. The CD features recordings captured from two of the 13 aftershows performed at the venue’s adjoining IndigO2 night club. 21 Nights peaked at number 9 on the New York Times Best Sellers list for non-fiction, aided by the inclusion of the CD available only with this hardback book (ISBN 978-1-4165-5444-8). Published by Atria Books imprint of Simon and Schuster, the book had a retail price of $55 (£30).

Synopsis

Masterful composer, multi-faceted musician, international megastar and cultural icon Prince presents his first book, 21 Nights, a stunning multi-media volume offering a rare glimpse into the life, lyrics, and mystique of one of the most notable and prolific performers of our time. This beautifully designed photographic essay flows from Prince’s sensational, unprecedented, venue record-setting sold-out 21 concerts in 21 nights at London’s O2 Arena in 2007. Juxtaposing his duelling worlds of music and solitude, it will incorporate Prince’s evocative poetry and lyrics to new songs and other selections, and 124 full-colour, sumptuous, never-before-published images by celebrated photographer Randee St. Nicholas. As part of the dimensional experience, it will also feature Indigo Nights, a CD capturing Prince’s speak-easy, after-hours, raw, live after-show sessions of pure unadulterated jams. For the first time in 21 Nights, Prince is seen behind the scenes. Randee St. Nicholas, renowned for her rich visuals, deft touch, and distinctive style, was given access to Prince’s life and career, providing a nuanced and unparalleled view of the artist, accompanying him onstage, backstage, and into his sleeping quarters. Indigo Nights, which includes the live version of the song 3121, will not be available in any other format. The book jacket is printed with a black and silver duotone paper-over-board, elegantly sealed in a purple slip case with foil stamping shrink wrapped for protection.

Prince Opus

On 10 April 2015, 21 Nights was rereleased with a leatherbound, gold Prince Love Symbol embossed, cover and slipcase set called Prince Opus. The set contained an exclusive Prince Love Symbol branded iPod, preloaded with the digital version of the album Indigo Nights plus documentary footage of a specially shot behind the scenes view of The Earth Tour. Prince Opus was limited to 950 units and priced at $2,100.

Data

Authors

Randee St. Nicholas & Prince

Publisher

Simon & Schuster Ltd

Released

30 September 2008

Format

Hardback

ISBN

978-1416554448

Related Releases

Indigo Nights / Live Sessions

NPG Records

Released

30 September 2008

Format

CD (76:51)

Indigo Nights is the CD insert accompanying the photo book 21 Nights. Comprised of soundboard  recordings from two after shows during The Earth Tour performed at London’s IndigO2 club on 17 and 22 September 2007. See here for tracklist.

Prince Opus

Opus Media Group

Released

10 April 2015

Format

iPod

This is a purple leather bound copy of the book 21 Nights, but presented within a velvet and gold Prince symbol embossed slipcase. This high-end $2,100 and 17kg product contained also an exclusive and numbered limited edition (950 units) of the Prince Opus iPod. The iPod itself was preloaded with 40 minutes of video documentary filmed about and during The Earth Tour with concert and behind the scenes footage; all available only with this release. The iPod was also preloaded with the entire audio of the Indigo Nights album.