Prince Estate Release Original ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ Recording [VIDEO]

The previously unreleased original version of Prince’s iconic song “Nothing Compares 2 U” was released for the first time ever on Thursday by the Prince estate, along with with Warner Bros. Records.

Prince initially wrote the song for a band he formed, The Family. But it did not become a hit until 1990, when it was performed by Sinead O’Connor. He would often perform his own take on the song in concert and had a live version of it on his three-disc The Hits/The B-Sides collection. But the original recording that was released on on Thursday has never been heard until now.

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His original recording was found by Michael Howe, a Prince expert and official vault archivist for the Prince estate. “I spotted the 2″ multitrack reel in the Vault some weeks back while doing a 1984-era inventory, After retrieving my jaw from the floor, we took the reel upstairs, analyzed it, put it up on the Studer 24 track machine, and digitized it to 24/192. Even our ‘faders up’ rough mix was compelling enough to indicate that this was something very special indeed,” he said in a press release. “No Prince-penned song performed by another artist has enjoyed more chart success and overall cultural impact than Sinead O’Connor’s 1990 recording, so hearing the song in its original context performed in its entirety by the author makes it particularly noteworthy.”

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Along with Prince’s version of the song, a video with never-before-seen rehearsal footage of Prince & the Revolution practicing their choreography in the Eden Prairie warehouse has also been released. Watch the song and video below.

The release of the song comes two days before his second death anniversary. He had died at 57 from an accidental opioid overdose on April 21, 2016. To further celebrate Prince’s life, Paisley Park announced that there will be a second annual gathering from April 19 – April 22 for fans.