The Beautiful Ones

By: Prince

Narrated by: Esperanza Spalding, Adepero Oduye, Dan Piepenbring

The brilliant coming-of-age-and-into-superstardom story of one of the greatest artists of all time, in his own words—featuring the exquisite memoir he began writing before his tragic death

Prince was a musical genius, one of the most beloved, accomplished, and acclaimed musicians of our time. He was a startlingly original visionary with an imagination deep enough to whip up whole worlds, from the sexy, gritty funk paradise of “Uptown” to the mythical landscape of Purple Rain to the psychedelia of “Paisley Park.” But his most ambitious creative act was turning Prince Rogers Nelson, born in Minnesota, into Prince, one of the greatest pop stars of any era.

The Beautiful Ones is the story of how Prince became Prince—a first-person account of a kid absorbing the world around him and then creating a persona, an artistic vision, and a life, before the hits and fame that would come to define him. The audiobook is told in four parts. The first is the memoir Prince was writing before his tragic death, pages that bring us into his childhood world through his own lyrical prose. The second part takes us through Prince’s early years as a musician, before his first album was released, via an evocative scrapbook of writing. The third section shows us Prince’s evolution, going up to the cusp of his greatest achievement, which we see in the audiobook’s fourth section: his original treatment for Purple Rain—the final stage in Prince’s self-creation, where he retells the autobiography of the first three parts as a heroic journey.

The audiobook is framed by editor Dan Piepenbring’s riveting and moving introduction about his profound collaboration with Prince in his final months—a time when Prince was thinking deeply about how to reveal more of himself and his ideas to the world, while retaining the mystery and mystique he’d so carefully cultivated.

This work is not just a tribute to an icon, but an original and energizing literary work in its own right, full of Prince’s ideas and vision, his voice and image—his undying gift to the world.

Includes a bonus PDF featuring never-before-seen photos and original scrapbooks & lyric sheets

Prince in his own words........ mind blown!

As a super fan; you often wonder what it's like to experience an artist or entertainer in their own light. Who are you? What are you? Why are you? In the words of Prince Eye wonder U! I learned so much from the book, even though it was short. My eyes would close and I would just listen as my imagination takes shape. My thoughts became insatiable with each chapter. Hungry for more knowledge from the most prolific and influential musician in my lifetime. I loved each chapter as if I was sitting in a room with him right by my side. Although there were narrators; I could only hear Prince. Thank you for giving me a chance to enjoy just a glimpse into the mind of a genius.

An Awesome Listen

I am a life long fan of Prince. It is still not real to me that he is no longer among the living. I learned a few things, had other things confirmed. I truly enjoyed Esperanza Spaulding's narration! I equally enjoyed the other narrator, though I am not familiar with her. Forever Love and miss The Beautiful One #RIPMYPRINCE 💕

Beautiful

This was such a Beautiful insight and well written. And, I simply cried when it was over knowing that this was his last piece of work. Prince is so deeply missed here on Earth. But, his music will live one.

Heartbroken

Prince is a beautiful one gone too soon with so much misunderstanding and unfinished love. Grateful for these words and vignettes, wish there was more!

Purple let down

I'm a HUGE Prince fan, have been for 30+ years so I was super excited to listen to this book. Unfortunately, most of it is the c0-author talking about how he came to be the co-author. It doesn't do justice the life and legacy of one of the greatest artists to ever bless us with his talent.

The part where Prices handwritten notes and bits of previously published articles and thoughts are shared is cool but overall it was an opportunity that missed its shot to be something special and instead just ended up being something average.