Accolades that were denied Prince during his lifetime flowed thick and fast in 2024. From inductions to the Songwriters Hall of Fame, to a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The year that marked the fortieth anniversary of Purple Rain closed out with an announcement from The Recording Academy, better known as the organisation behind the Grammys, as the latest to recognise Prince. That he is among the honourees receiving its Special Merit Award in 2025.

The 2025 Special Award lists Prince among “an eclectic group of music icons” including Roxanne Shantem, Frankie Vali, and The Clash being recognised for Lifetime Achievement. The gala takes place at the Wilshire Ebell Theater in Los Angeles on 1 February 2025 on the eve of the main ceremony for the Grammy Awards. The citation acknowledges Prince as paving the way for artists rights and that he is widely considered the greatest of all time. The main event on 2 February sees The Prince Estate’s Diamonds And Pearls Super Deluxe in the running for Historical Album.

The free press coverage was a gift in this significant anniversary year and all was waiting on the estate to coordinate and capitalise on it. Despite 2024 marking forty years since the release of Prince’s most successful album, The Prince Estate has faced an avalanche of criticism from fans over not issuing a single release during this momentous year. Nothing. That is excepting the vinyl “splatter” daubed edition of Purple Rain – a half arsed acknowledgement of the occasion and no sign of the promised Super Deluxe Edition. Same also for the Deluxe Edition of Love Symbol that, already printed, gathers dust in a warehouse.

When run by a bank the estate outputted releases of quality as well as passionately curated, several times a year. Now run by Prince’s representatives the release calendar has emptied, and communication is rare and at times agitated. The reissue of Chaka Khan’s Come 2 My House became one of many releases quietly abandoned during the year. Leaks of Love Symbol outtakes popped up from bootleggers filling the release void. This has been a bleak year to say the least recording the deaths of Cat Glover and Prince’s sister Tyka. Fans look for a ray of hope.

The anniversary that never happened
Purple Rain – A Celebration ?
© Michael Ochs

The estate explains the silence on a contract its previous administration signed with Netflix to produce a six-hour biopic documentary on the music icon. They argue that the nine hours delivered in 2023 by its director Ezra Edelman breached the terms of that agreement but more so that it includes content the estate deems factually inaccurate and too controversial for broadcast. Edelman, Oscar winner in 2017 for his documentary OJ Simpson – Made In America, reportedly rejected its 17-page response to pare back the series to the agreed six hours and nix the contentious content.

The saga has highlighted astonishing naivety from all parties, be that from Netflix that The Prince Estate would somehow sign it off, and Prince Estate for tying up future releases in making them dependent on the completion of the documentary. The impasse led to a year of silence and the unfortunate coincidence it was the fortieth anniversary of Purple Rain. The estate’s set piece hinged on Celebration. The anticipated big reveal didn’t happen, and staged mostly outside the compound of Paisley Park the event sparked complaints of bad organisation and epitomised what would evolve into a disappointing year. Its moment in the spotlight was thrown to the wind.

After four years recording as many as seventy interviews for the documentary, which Edelman set out to make warts-and-all biopic capturing Prince’s complex personality right from childhood – even plotting out on his wall almost every day of Prince’s life, several participants since voiced concern how their interviews were shaped. The documentary also includes such scenes as police footage of Prince’s lifeless body, one of the many objections lodged by the estate.

Under the Netflix deal organised by the estate’s bank appointed previous incarnation prior to the legal settlement in 2022 that handed its control to Prince’s representatives and heirs, Edelman was afforded unfettered access to the mountain of rehearsal and concert footage never previously allowed beyond the walls of Paisley Park’s vault. And whilst Netflix owns the final cut of the documentary it is unable to air it without the blessing of the estate, whose new incumbents dismiss the whole thing as a “hit job” on Prince’s character. The estate, which refuses to sanction the documentary seemingly unless it is turned into a celebratory portrait of Prince’s musical brilliance, remain at loggerheads while they attempt to exit the deal. They promise “Positive news soon.”

The Grammys is being held at the Crypto Arena on Sunday 2 February and broadcast live on CBS. Prince fans are versed to projects being canned, but if the loss of the Netflix documentary is the price to pay the vast majority just want to move on and hope there will be something big to look forward to in 2025.

Goldies Parade

Goldies Parade is a lifelong Prince fan who founded this website in 1998 to serve the fan community with a resource for Prince news, releases and tour info, and to curate the extensive discography of this much copied but unequalled music icon.

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