The Very Best of Prince explained

The Very Best of Prince is a greatest hits album by American recording artist Prince. It was released on July 31, 2001, by Warner Bros. Records. The album contains most of his commercially successful singles from 1979 to 1991 including the US number 1s "When Doves Cry", "Let's Go Crazy", "Kiss" and "Cream".

The Very Best of Prince does not include the US number 1 hit "Batdance" most likely due to the licensing of the character Batman. Music critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine believed that the Batman album was unofficially being written out of Prince's discography. All the songs included in this compilation were all previously included in the 3-disc box set The Hits/The B-Sides (1993), with the exception of "Money Don't Matter 2 Night".

Commercial performance

On the chart dated August 18, 2001, The Very Best of Prince debuted at number 66 on the US Billboard 200.^[1] As of September 21, 2004, the album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for selling 1 million copies in the United States.

The Very Best of Prince sold 179,000 album-equivalent units (100,000 in pure album sales) in the week following Prince's death,^[2] thus allowing the album to re-enter the Billboard 200 at number one; this makes the album Prince's fifth number-one on the chart.^[3] The following week the album fell to number two on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 391,000 equivalent copies (216,000 in pure album sales) behind Beyoncé's Lemonade.^[4] In 2016, the album has sold 660,000 recognized copies in the United States in addition to the over 2 million copies sold prior to 2016.^[5]

Track listing

All songs are written by and credited to Prince, except where noted.

Personnel

• Prince – lead vocals and various instruments

The Revolution

• Lisa Coleman – keyboards, vocals
• Wendy Melvoin – guitar, vocals
• Bobby Z. – drums, percussion
• Brown Mark – bass guitar, vocals
• Matt (Dr.) Fink – keyboards, vocals

The New Power Generation

• Levi Seacer Jr. – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
• Tony M. – rapping, backing vocals
• Tommy Barbarella – "PurpleAxxe" sampling, keyboards
• Kirk Johnson – percussion, backing vocals
• Damon Dickson – percussion, backing vocals
• Sonny T. – bass, backing vocals
• Michael B. – drums
• Rosie Gaines – vocals, "PurpleAxxe" sampling, organ

Additional musicians

• Jill Jones – co-lead vocals (on "1999")
• Dez Dickerson – co-lead vocals (on "1999" & "Little Red Corvette"), lead guitar (on "Little Red Corvette")
• Mazarati – backing vocals (on "Kiss")
• Sheena Easton – vocals (on "U Got the Look")
• Sheila E. – drums, percussion (on "U Got the Look" & "Alphabet St."), vocals (on "Alphabet St.")
• Cat Glover – rap (on "Alphabet St.")
• Eric Leeds – brass, vocals (on "Alphabet St."), flute (on "Gett Off")

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2001)! scope="col"

Peak position
Spanish Albums (AFYVE)[6]	18

Monthly charts

Chart (2016)! scope="col"

Peak position
Argentine Monthly Albums (CAPIF)[7]	3

Year-end charts

Chart (2001)! scope="col"

Position
Canadian R&B Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)[8]	47
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[9]	32
UK Albums (OCC)[10]	75

Chart (2002)!scope="col"

Position
Canadian R&B Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)[11]	131

Chart (2016)! scope="col"

Position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[12]	19
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[13]	30
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[14]	77
UK Albums (OCC)[15]	42
US Billboard 200[16]	14

Notes and References

1. Web site: Prince's 'The Very Best Of' Album Headed for No. 1 on Billboard 200 Chart. Billboard. April 22, 2016. April 22, 2016.
2. Web site: Prince Dominates Album Sales After His Death. HipHopDX. April 25, 2016. April 25, 2016.
3. Web site: Prince Rules at No. 1 & 2 on Billboard 200 Albums Chart with 'The Very Best Of' & 'Purple Rain'. Billboard. April 24, 2016. April 24, 2016.
4. Beyonce Earns Sixth No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart With 'Lemonade' . Billboard . May 1, 2016 . May 1, 2016.
5. Web site: The Top-Selling Albums of 2016 . Yahoo Music! . Paul . Grein. December 20, 2016 .
6. Book: Salaverri, Fernando. Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002. 1st. September 2005. Fundación Autor-SGAE. Spain. 84-8048-639-2.
7. Web site: CAPIF Rankings Mensual. Select "Mayo 2016". CAPIF. July 18, 2016. Spanish. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20130511182935/http://www.capif.org.ar/. May 11, 2013. mdy-all.
8. Web site: https://web.archive.org/web/20021122000500/http://www.jamshowbiz.com/JamMusicCharts/2001_r&b.html. January 8, 2002. November 22, 2002. Canada's Top 200 R&B; albums of 2001. Jam!. January 22, 2023.
9. Web site: Jaaroverzichten – Album 2001. dutchcharts.nl. August 11, 2021.
10. Web site: End of Year Album Chart Top 100 – 2001. Official Charts Company. August 10, 2021.
11. Web site: https://web.archive.org/web/20040906184204/http://www.jamshowbiz.com/JamMusicCharts/2002_r&b2.html. September 6, 2004. Canada's Top 200 R&B; albums of 2001. Jam!. March 25, 2022.
12. Web site: ARIA Top 100 Albums 2016. Australian Recording Industry Association. January 6, 2017.
13. Web site: Top Selling Albums of 2016. Recorded Music NZ. December 25, 2016.
14. Web site: Schweizer Jahreshitparade Alben 2016 – hitparade.ch. Hung Medien. January 2, 2017.
15. Web site: End of Year Albums Chart Top 100 – 2016. Official Charts Company. December 31, 2016.
16. Top Billboard 200 Albums - Year-End 2016. Billboard. December 9, 2016.