New Prince album released - 'Welcome 2 America'

The Prince Estate have released a new 12-track studio album recorded in 2010

Author: Alastair SteelPublished 30th Jul 2021
Last updated 30th Jul 2021

The Prince Estate and Legacy Recordings, a division of Sony Music Entertainment, have released an enigmatic 2010 Prince album Welcome 2 America.

Welcome to America is a powerful creative statement that documents Prince’s concerns, hopes, and visions for a shifting society, presciently foreshadowing an era of political division, disinformation, and a renewed fight for racial justice.

Shortly after completing the Welcome 2 America album, Prince embarked on a unique tour of the same name that included multiple performances in several U.S. cities, capped off by the historic '21 Nite Stand' at The Forum in Inglewood, California.

The Deluxe Edition of Welcome 2 America includes the complete studio vault album on both CD and black vinyl plus a never-before-released full concert video of Prince’s April 28, 2011 show at The Forum, presented as a luxe gold-foil package designed by GRAMMY-nominated artist Mathieu Bitton and GRAMMY-nominated creative director and Prince associate Trevor Guy.

As a companion collector single, fans have the opportunity to pre-order a numbered limited-edition gold-coloured 7” vinyl.

Welcome 2 America features some of Prince’s only studio collaborations with bassist Tal Wilkenfeld, drummer Chris Coleman, and GRAMMY-nominated engineer Jason Agel, with additional contributions from New Power Generation singers Shelby J., Liv Warfield, and Elisa Fiorillo and keyboardist Morris Hayes, who Prince also recruited to co-produce several tracks on the album.

The release of Welcome 2 America builds upon the partnership between The Prince Estate and Sony Music Entertainment that started in August of 2018. At that time, Sony began globally distributing the works of Prince released from 1995-2010, broadening its scope in January 2021 when the deal was expanded to include U.S. distribution on twelve non-soundtrack catalog albums featuring iconic music recorded by the Artist between 1978-1996.