With This Tear Prince single

Sony Legacy

single

With This Tear was a gift from Prince that I will always treasure.

Issued on 20 April 2026 to coincide with the tenth anniversary of Prince’s death on 21 April 2016, the track With This Tear was released in its original form after more than three decades in the vault. Prince recorded the piano-led ballad at Paisley Park in November 1991 during the studio sessions for the Love Symbol album.

This fully produced song, which is no demo, also includes orchestration by Clare Fischer that was subsequently added in January 1992. Prince wrote With This Tear specifically for Celine Dion. On 16 January 1992 she re‑recorded it, replacing Prince’s instrumentation with her own musicians, and was included in her self‑titled second English‑language album, released on 31 March 1992. While Dion’s version became the one known to the public and scored her much critical acclaim for her vocal performance, Prince’s own vocal recording remained unreleased for decades, circulating amongst collectors as a rumoured vault gem until its official release in 2026. Remarking about the release, Dion said the track “was a gift from Prince that I will always treasure. I have carried this song with me for so many years.”

Prince’s original version was planned for inclusion in a 2022 Diamonds & Love Super Deluxe Edition, a proposed set that would have combined vault material from both the Diamonds and Pearls and Love Symbol albums of 1991 and 1992. The Prince Estate ultimately scaled the project back, choosing to focus solely on Diamonds and Pearls. That revised edition, released as the Diamonds And Pearls Super Deluxe in 2023, left several Love Symbol‑era tracks, including With This Tear, unreleased. Prince rerecorded the track in 2001 and that version too remains unreleased.

With This Tear, remastered by Chris James – Prince’s sound engineer for Art Official Age and Plentrumelectrum – was released to all digital platforms as a stand-alone single under NPG Records in partnership with Sony Legacy Recordings.

Performers

Vocals / piano

Prince

Drums

Michael Bland

Orchestration

Clare Fischer

Data

Producer

Prince

Label

NPG Records

Distribution

Sony Legacy

Released

3 months ago on 20 April 2026

Running Time

3:51

US Chart Peak

Did not chart

UK Chart Peak

Did not chart

Orig. Format

Tracklist

1. With This Tear (3:51)

With This Tear review

Released on the eve of the tenth anniversary of Prince’s death, With This Tear arrived alongside a moving career‑spanning video that underscored the song’s emotional weight. The track had originally been earmarked for the long‑rumoured Diamonds & Love project, an expansive 2022 Super Deluxe Edition intended to unite vault material from both Diamonds And Pearls and Love Symbol. Like many plans floated during this period, the project stalled as The Prince Estate struggled to define a long‑term strategy.

Tasked with expanding Prince’s legacy and reaching a new generation, The Estate pursued several high‑profile ventures. The first was a Broadway musical based on Purple Rain, conceived as a modern reinterpretation. In attempting to strip away any perceived misogynistic elements, the production veered so far from the original’s tone that it required a substantial rewrite. Next came a six‑hour documentary, which eventually ballooned to nine hours before being shelved entirely when The Estate rejected the director’s creative direction. Meanwhile, the vault, inarguably the most valuable and anticipated part of Prince’s legacy, remained untouched, with promised releases delayed or abandoned time and again.

Not every initiative faltered. Securing Purple Rain for the Stranger Things Season 5 finale triggered a surge of renewed interest, sending the album back into the charts and introducing Prince to younger audiences. But even with these successes, one criticism persisted: The Estate overlooked Prince’s existing fanbase, whose knowledge and loyalty form the backbone of his legacy. Their concerns have included the Estate’s uneven understanding of Prince’s catalogue. Notably, Sometimes It Snows in April, the iconic track Prince recorded on 21 April 1985, the very same date he would later pass away, would have been a more symbolically resonant choice to mark the tenth anniversary, especially with 2026 also marking the 40th anniversary of Parade. In defence of The Estate, they are under pressured to put out something from the vault.

Still, the release of Prince’s own version of With This Tear is very much welcome. The tone of the song is a great choice for the occasion and its newly uplifted audio quality is vastly improved from the leaked 2025 version, suggesting that a more substantial vault project may finally be in motion. Its deployment on social media is already introducing new listeners to Prince. For long-time fans and newcomers alike, an arrival from the vault feels long‑overdue in an era of uncertain stewardship of Prince’s legacy.

With This Tear is rated 4.5 out of 5 by Goldies Parade.