Free [Acoustic Version] Prince single

NPG Records

single

The vault has been freed. #FREE

When Prince’s probate was settled on 29 July 2022 following six years of legal wrangling because he failed to leave a will, control of The Prince Estate was passed to his heirs. Its pre-2022 administration signed a deal with Netflix to produce a six-hour documentary chronicling the music icon’s life. Ava DuVernay, director of the film Selma, was hired in 2018 to produce the documentary but later quit the project, citing creative differences.

Netflix then passed the project over to documentary director Ezra Edelman, known for his 2016 miniseries O.J.: Made in America which won the Oscar for best documentary. Edelman spent over four years piecing together a definitive history of Prince. On submitting his nine-hour cut of the completed documentary in the summer of 2023, titled The Book of Prince, the Estate, now under new management, rejected it on the grounds that its extended runtime breached the original agreement. Their underlying objection was that portions of its content were factually inaccurate. The documentary dwelt more on the salacious aspects of Prince’s relationships than on his music and legacy as a world-class songwriter and performer. Having reviewed the footage, the Estate’s managing partner Londell McMillian posted on 9 November 2023 “I will not support any project, deal or documentary that does not portray Prince accurately and respectfully” and on 14 September 2024 vowed The Book of Prince would never be screened.

Anyone with hurt, bias and motive for vengeance is a tainted witness

The Prince Estate, 12 September 2024

Under the original contract, Edelman was granted unfettered access to the Paisley Park vault, including rare rehearsal tapes and concert footage previously unavailable to the public. While Netflix retain rights to the final cut, it could not release the documentary without licence by the Estate. Edelman conducted over seventy-five interviews with practically every living former bandmate and acquaintance of Prince and in his research labouriously mapped out nearly every day of the icon’s life in an attempt to create an exhaustive portrait. Some participants, however, later expressed concern over how their interviews – lasting several hours – were constructed, sensing the director’s vision to present Prince in an unflattering light. Among the most contentious inclusions in the finished documentary was police footage showing Prince’s lifeless body – one example from what amounted to seventeen pages of objections lodged by the Estate.

Complicating matters further, the contract with Netflix tied future Prince-related releases to the completion of the documentary, creating a bottleneck in his posthumous catalogue. The ensuing dispute led to a prolonged period without releases – proving particularly conspicuous during the much-hyped fortieth anniversary of Purple Rain in 2024 and causing considerable frustration among fans that this significant occasion had not been properly celebrated. It was arguably naïve of Netflix to presume the Estate – whose mission is to protect Prince’s legacy – would approve a documentary that was so confronting. Then equally naïve of the Estate to bind future releases to the documentary’s completion. Breakthrough finally came on 6 February 2025 when Netflix and The Prince Estate reached a settlement that included producing a replacement documentary earmarked for release in 2027. In their announcement of this settlement, the Estate proclaimed on social media that the vault was ‘#Free’.

On 5 June 2025, to mark the opening day of its annual Celebration event at Paisley Park, the Estate released Free [Acoustic Version], an acoustic version Prince made in 2008 featuring slightly amended lyrics. The track was published on popular streaming platforms as a digital single. According to The New York Times reporter who saw the documentary in September 2024, Prince’s original 1982 version of Free features in the closing stages of Edelman’s film.

The flow of vault material as promised in the Tweet of February 2025 were not immediately forthcoming, leading to the Estate eventually publishing the ten-track compilation Timeless in August 2026 as a holding release while more meaningful packages were being prepared.

Cover story

Although the artwork used an image of Prince dating from 1982 when the original version of Free was released on his breakthrough LP 1999, the acoustic version released in 2025 is a rerecording captured during 2008. The artwork titles the track FR33 with no discernable reason for the presence of thirty-three.

Performers

Guitar / vocals

Prince

Data

Producer

Prince

Label

NPG Records

Distribution

NPG Records

Cover/Design

Allen Beaulieu

Released

1 year ago on 6 June 2025

Running Time

4:09

US Chart Peak

Did not chart

UK Chart Peak

Did not chart

Orig. Format

Tracklist

1. Free [Acoustic Version] (4:09)

Free [Acoustic Version] single review

This is a significant release – a hopeful gateway to larger releases and reissues to come. Free [Acoustic Version] heralds Prince Estate’s first release of unvaulted material since 2024’s triple reissue of Musicology B-sides already owned by fans for some twenty years. Despite marking the fortieth anniversary of Purple Rain, 2024 passed with frustratingly little fanfare, sparking concerns for 2025 and beyond. Chosen, purely it seems, to highlight resolution of the Netflix dispute, out pops this reimagined acoustic version of Free, originally featured on Prince’s 1982 album 1999. This stripped-down version was recorded in 2008, rearranged and with slightly revised lyrics and offers a bold departure from the live version included in One Nite Alone Live in 2002. Whilst Free was not among the standout tracks of 1999, this version carries quiet intensity. Its symbolism to The Prince Estate opening the gates to new releases carries more relief than vision.

Free [Acoustic Version] is rated 3 out of 5 by Goldies Parade.

Related release

1999

Warner Bros. Records • 1982

About this release and review