Prince albums discography

Prince albums discography
Studio albums42
Live albums5
Compilation albums9
Video albums17
EPs13
Special editions6
Posthumous albums3
Internet albums13
Madhouse albums2
New Power Generation albums3
NPG Orchestra albums1

Prince's albums discography consists of forty studio albums (including four soundtrack albums and one posthumous album), five live albums, and numerous compilations. Two albums of demo material have been released posthumously. Prince also released several albums under various group names. See Prince singles discography for his singles and extended plays, and Prince videography for his music videos and video albums.

Prince has sold over 100 million records worldwide, including 36.5 million certified units in the United States, and over 10 million records in the United Kingdom. Rolling Stone ranked him at No. 27 on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.

In the weeks following his death in April 2016, 19 different Prince albums charted on the Billboard 200 all at the same time, and he became the first and only artist ever to have 5 albums in the Billboard top 10 simultaneously.

Overview

Prince signed a record deal with Warner Bros. Records at the age of 19, soon releasing the albums For You (1978) and Prince (1979). He went on to achieve critical success with the influential albums Dirty Mind (1980), Controversy (1981), and 1999 (1982). His sixth album, Purple Rain (1984), was recorded with his new backing band the Revolution, and was also the soundtrack to the film of the same name in which he starred. Purple Rain garnered continued success for Prince and was a major commercial achievement, spending six consecutive months atop the Billboard 200 chart. The soundtrack also won Prince the Academy Award for Best Original Song Score. After disbanding the Revolution, Prince released the album Sign o' the Times (1987), widely hailed by critics as the greatest work of his career.

Prince was a prolific musician who released 39 albums during his life, with a vast array of unreleased material left in a custom-built bank vault underneath his home after his death, including fully completed albums and over 50 finished music videos. Released posthumously, his demo albums Piano and a Microphone 1983 (2018) and Originals (2019) both received critical acclaim.

Studio albums

Year Album Peak chart positions Certifications
(sales thresholds)
US
AUS
AUT
CAN
GER
NLD
NOR
NZ
SWE
SWI
UK
1978 For You 138 156
1979 Prince
  • Released: October 19, 1979
  • Label: Warner Bros.
22 92
1980 Dirty Mind
  • Released: October 8, 1980
  • Label: Warner Bros.
45 79 61
  • RIAA: Gold
1981 Controversy
  • Released: October 14, 1981
  • Label: Warner Bros.
21 55 50
  • RIAA: Platinum
  • BPI: Gold
1982 1999
  • Released: October 27, 1982
  • Label: Warner Bros.
7 35 23
37 45 6 26 28
  • RIAA: 4× Platinum
  • BPI: Platinum
  • MC: Platinum
1984 Purple Rain
  • Released: June 25, 1984
  • Label: Warner Bros.
1 1 8 1
5 1 4 2 3 7 4
  • RIAA: 13× Platinum
  • ARIA: 3× Platinum
  • BPI: 2× Platinum
  • MC: 6× Platinum
1985 Around the World in a Day 1 12 7 16
10 1 10 16 1 8 5
  • RIAA: 2× Platinum
  • BPI: Gold
1986 Parade
  • Released: March 31, 1986
  • Label: Paisley Park, Warner Bros.
3 8 7 11
6 1 10 7 5 2 4
  • RIAA: Platinum
  • BPI: Platinum
1987 Sign o' the Times
  • Released: March 30, 1987
  • Label: Paisley Park, Warner Bros.
6 20 2 27
3 2 3 6 6 1 4
  • RIAA: Platinum
  • ARIA: Gold
  • BPI: Platinum
  • MC: 4× Platinum
1988 Lovesexy
  • Released: May 10, 1988
  • Label: Paisley Park, Warner Bros.
11 8 3 7
4 1 2 1 1 1 1
  • RIAA: Gold
  • BPI: Platinum
1989 Batman
  • Released: June 20, 1989
  • Label: Warner Bros.
1 4 3 1 3 1 2 4 2 1 1
  • RIAA: 2× Platinum
  • BPI: Platinum
1990 Graffiti Bridge
  • Released: August 20, 1990
  • Label: Paisley Park, Warner Bros.
6 10 8 22
4 4 2 3 7 2 1
  • RIAA: Gold
  • BPI: Gold
  • MC: Gold
1991 Diamonds and Pearls
  • Released: October 1, 1991
  • Label: Paisley Park, Warner Bros.
3 1 4 8
8 6 5 5 8 3 2
  • RIAA: 2× Platinum
  • ARIA: 4× Platinum
  • BPI: 3× Platinum
  • MC: 2× Platinum
1992 Love Symbol
  • Released: October 13, 1992
  • Label: Paisley Park, Warner Bros.
5 1 1 16
5 6 10 4 10 4 1
  • RIAA: Platinum
  • ARIA: Platinum
  • BPI: Platinum
1994 Come
  • Released: August 16, 1994
  • Label: Warner Bros.
15 2 4 34
9 4 7 16 7 4 1
  • RIAA: Gold
  • BPI: Gold
The Black Album
  • Released: November 22, 1994
  • Label: Warner Bros.
47 15 7 48
49 35 8 36
1995 The Gold Experience
  • Released: September 26, 1995
  • Label: NPG, Warner Bros.
6 13 28 35
24 3 12 11 7 4
  • RIAA: Gold
  • BPI: Gold
1996 Chaos and Disorder
  • Released: July 9, 1996
  • Label: Warner Bros.
26 54 17 43
42 8 15 32 21 14
Emancipation
  • Released: November 19, 1996
  • Label: NPG, EMI
11 8 13 24
21 13 27 22 22 1 18
  • RIAA: 2× Platinum
  • MC: Platinum
1998 Crystal Ball
  • Released: January 29, 1998
  • Label: NPG
  • Initially released as a limited edition 5-CD box set together with The Truth and Kamasutra by the NPG Orchestra and a 4-CD box set together with The Truth.
62
The Truth
  • Released: January 29, 1998
  • Label: NPG
  • Initially released as a limited edition 5-CD box set together with Crystal Ball and Kamasutra by the NPG Orchestra and a 4-CD box set together with Crystal ball.
64 31
1999 The Vault: Old Friends 4 Sale
  • Released: August 24, 1999
  • Label: Warner Bros.
85 40 44 15 21 47
Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic
  • Released: November 2, 1999
  • Label: NPG, Arista
18 82 44 5
39 17 37 51 19 145
  • RIAA: Gold
2001 The Rainbow Children
  • Released: November 20, 2001
  • Label: NPG, Redline Entertainment
109 60 29 28 30
2002 One Nite Alone...
  • Released: May 14, 2002
  • Label: NPG
2003 Xpectation
  • Released: January 1, 2003
  • Label: NPG
N·E·W·S
  • Released: May 26, 2003
  • Label: NPG, MP Media
93 83
2004 Musicology
  • Released: March 27, 2004
  • Label: NPG, Columbia
3 19 4 11 4 3 2 25 6 2 3
  • RIAA: 2× Platinum
  • BPI: Gold
  • MC: Gold
The Chocolate Invasion
  • Released: March 29, 2004
  • Label: NPG
The Slaughterhouse
  • Released: March 29, 2004
  • Label: NPG
2006 3121
  • Released: March 21, 2006
  • Label: NPG, Universal
1 18 15 9 4 3 5 18 1 9
  • RIAA: Gold
  • BPI: Silver
2007 Planet Earth
  • Released: July 24, 2007
  • Label: NPG, Columbia
3 38 11 17 7 3 9 35 1
2009 Lotusflow3r / MPLSound
  • Released: March 29, 2009
  • Label: NPG
  • Released as a 3-CD set together with Elixer by Bria Valente
2 23
2010 20Ten
  • Released: July 10, 2010
  • Label: NPG
2014 Plectrumelectrum
  • Released: September 26, 2014
  • Label: NPG, Warner Bros.
8 33 10 31 9 8 31 50 8 11
Art Official Age
  • Released: September 26, 2014
  • Label: NPG, Warner Bros.
5 15 8 21 18 4 2 17 9 4 8
2015 Hit n Run Phase One
  • Released: September 7, 2015
  • Label: NPG
48 25 53 53 11 27 50
Hit n Run Phase Two
  • Released: December 12, 2015
  • Label: NPG
40 117 20 47 21 38 50 9 21
A^ With The Revolution
B^ With The New Power Generation
C^ With 3rdeyegirl

Posthumous albums

Studio

Year Album details Peak chart positions
US
AUS
AUT
CAN
GER
NLD
NOR
SWE
SWI
UK
2021 Welcome 2 America
  • Released: July 30, 2021
  • Label: NPG / Legacy
  • Note: Studio album
4 5 3 26 3 2 39
53
2 5

Demo

Year Album details Peak chart positions
US
AUS
AUT
CAN
GER
NLD
NOR
SWE
SWI
UK
2018 Piano and a Microphone 1983
  • Released: September 21, 2018
  • Label: NPG / Warner Bros.
  • Note: Compilation album
11 33 10 87 12 5 18 22 6 12
2019 Originals
  • Released: June 7, 2019
  • Label: NPG / Warner Bros.
  • Note: Compilation album
15 18 34 66 26 11 54 9 21

Live albums

Year Album details Peak chart positions
US
US
R&B/
HH

GER
NLD
SWI
2002 One Nite Alone... Live!
  • Released: December 17, 2002
  • Label: NPG Records
58 36
2004 C-Note
  • Released: March 29, 2004
  • Label: NPG Records
2008 Indigo Nights
  • Released: September 30, 2008
  • Label: NPG Records
2020 Up All Nite with Prince: The One Nite Alone Collection
  • Released: May 29, 2020
  • Label: NPG Records / Legacy
30 38 61
2022 Prince and the Revolution: Live
  • Released: June 4, 2022
  • Label: Warner Bros.
22
11 8 7
2023 Live At Glam Slam
  • Released: October 11, 2023
  • Label: NPG Records / Warner Bros.
A^ One Nite Alone... Live! did not enter the US Billboard 200, put peaked at number 95 on the Top Album Sales component chart.
B^ Up All Nite with Prince: The One Nite Alone Collection did not enter the US Billboard 200, put peaked at number 19 on the Top Album Sales component chart.

Special editions

This section contains remix albums, mixtapes and premium/special (expanded) editions from previously released albums.

Year Album details Peak chart positions
US
US
R&B

AUT
NLD
SWI
UK
1995 The Versace Experience: Prelude 2 Gold
  • Released: July 8, 1995 (limited edition cassette)
  • Re-released: April 13, 2019 (limited edition cassette)
  • Re-released: September 13, 2019 (all other formats)
  • Label: NPG / Legacy
170 17 50 29 30 83
2001 Rave In2 the Joy Fantastic
  • Released: April 29, 2001
  • Label: NPG
2017 Purple Rain: Deluxe / Deluxe Expanded
  • Released: June 23, 2017
  • Label: Warner Bros.
4 9 3 12 7
2019 Ultimate Rave
  • Released: April 26, 2019
  • Label: Legacy
85
1999: Remastered / Deluxe / Super Deluxe
  • Released: November 27, 2019
  • Label: Warner Bros.
45 72 15 26 46
2020 Sign o' the Times: Remastered / Deluxe / Super Deluxe
  • Released: September 25, 2020
  • Label: Warner Bros.
20 2 3 7
2023 Diamonds And Pearls Super Deluxe Edition
  • Released: October 27, 2023
  • Label: NPG Records / Legacy Recordings / Warner Records.
85 10 9 5 11 50
A^ Rave In2 the Joy Fantastic did not enter the US Billboard 200, put peaked at number 14 on the Vinyl Albums chart.
B^ Ultimate Rave did not enter the US Billboard 200, put peaked at number 69 on the Top Album Sales component chart.

Compilation albums

Year Album details Peak chart positions Certifications
(sales thresholds)
US
AUS
AUT
CAN
GER
NLD
NOR
NZ
SWE
SWI
UK
1985 His Majesty's Pop Life
  • Released: Late 1985 (Japan only promotional copy)
  • Re-released: April 13, 2019
  • Label: Paisley Park / Warner Bros.
184
1993 The Hits 1
  • Released: September 14, 1993
  • Label: Warner Bros.
46 19 7 34 20 14 15 12 10 22 5
  • RIAA: Platinum
  • ARIA: Platinum
  • BPI: Platinum
The Hits 2
  • Released: September 14, 1993
  • Label: Warner Bros.
54 20 9 36 19 15 14 8 6 10 5
  • RIAA: Platinum
  • ARIA: Gold
  • BPI: Platinum
The Hits/The B-Sides
  • Released: September 14, 1993
  • Label: Warner Bros.
4 4 19
58 10 11 1
19 9 4
  • RIAA: Platinum
  • ARIA: 2× Platinum
  • BPI: Gold
  • RMNZ: Platinum
1996 Girl 6
  • Released: March 19, 1996
  • Label: Warner Bros.
75 83
2001 The Very Best of Prince
  • Released: July 31, 2001
  • Label: Warner Bros.
1 2 5 1 5 3 2 1 4 1 2
  • RIAA: Platinum
  • ARIA: 2× Platinum
  • BPI: 3× Platinum
  • MC: Gold
  • RMNZ: Platinum
2006 Ultimate Prince
  • Released: August 22, 2006
  • Label: Warner Bros.
6 6 22 12 19 39 10 3 7 9 3
  • BPI: Platinum
  • RMNZ: Platinum
2016 4Ever
  • Released: November 22, 2016
  • Label: NPG / Warner Bros.
33 36 64 40 87 10 21 21
  • BPI: Gold
2018 Anthology: 1995–2010
  • Released: August 17, 2018
  • Label: NPG / Legacy
197 100
A^ Anthology: 1995–2010 did not enter the US Billboard 200, put peaked at number 85 on the Current Album Sales component chart.

Internet albums

This section lists albums that have only been made available for download on the internet.

Year Album details
2001 NPG Music Club Volume 1
  • Released: February 18, 2001
  • Label: NPG
NPG Music Club Volume 2
  • Released: March 22, 2001
  • Label: NPG
NPG Music Club Volume 3
  • Released: April 22, 2001
  • Label: NPG
NPG Music Club Volume 4
  • Released: May 15, 2001
  • Label: NPG
NPG Music Club Volume 5
  • Released: June 11, 2001
  • Label: NPG
NPG Music Club Volume 6
  • Released: July 7, 2001
  • Label: NPG
NPG Music Club Volume 7
  • Released: August 28, 2001
  • Label: NPG
NPG Music Club Volume 8
  • Released: September 18, 2001
  • Label: NPG
NPG Music Club Volume 9
  • Released: October 16, 2001
  • Label: NPG
NPG Music Club Volume 10
  • Released: November 15, 2001
  • Label: NPG
NPG Music Club Volume 11
  • Released: December 15, 2001
  • Label: NPG
2002 NPG Music Club Volume 12
  • Released: January 17, 2002
  • Label: NPG
2009 Lotusflow3r
(download version including "The Morning After" replacing "Crimson and Clover")
  • Released: March 24, 2009
  • Label: NPG

Albums credited to Madhouse

Year Album details Peak chart positions
US
1987 8
  • Released: January 21, 1987
  • Label: Paisley Park
107
16
  • Released: November 18, 1987
  • Label: Paisley Park

Albums credited to The New Power Generation

Year Album details Peak chart positions
US
US
R&B/
HH

AUS
AUT
GER
NLD
NOR
SWE
SWI
UK
1993 Goldnigga
  • Released: August 31, 1993
  • Label: NPG
1995 Exodus
  • Released: March 27, 1995
  • Label: NPG
31 34 11
1998 Newpower Soul 22 9 47 24 34 23 40 57 22 38

Albums credited to The NPG Orchestra

Year Album details
1997 Kamasutra
  • Released: February 14, 1997 (limited edition cassette)
  • Released: January 29, 1998 (limited edition CD as part of the 5-CD box set Crystal Ball / The Truth / Kamasutra)
  • Label: NPG

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