Funk-pop virtuoso Prince, who died Thursday at 57, left behind an undeniable gold mine of dance-party hits — but woven through his long, legendary career are lesser-known Prince-penned songs made popular by other artists. Here are five songs you may not have known the Minneapolis native had been behind scenes on.
1. “I Feel for You” by Chaka Khan
Originally a lesser-known tune on Prince’s eponymous 1979 album, “I Feel for You” blew up after R&B legend Chaka Khan included a version on her 1984 record by the same name. Khan’s hit song — which added an opening rap from Grandmaster Melle Mel and a Stevie Wonder harmonica solo — won Prince a songwriting Grammy in 1985. “I LOVED him, the world LOVED him,” Khan tweeted Thursday in response to news of his passing. “Now he’s at peace with his Father. Rest in power, @prince, my brother.”
2. “Manic Monday” by The Bangles
This 1986 pop anthem about a lovestruck woman longing for her “I-don’t-have-to-run day” (Sunday) was written by Prince two years earlier for one of his own girl groups, Apollonia 6. The Bangles’ infectious hit eventually reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, second only to “Kiss” by Prince. “This is devastating. Such a loss for this world,” Bangles founding member Vicki Peterson tweeted Thursday.
3. “Nothing Compares 2 U” by Sinead O’Connor
The troubled Irish singer’s 1990 smash hit originated from — you guessed it — The Purple One. Composed and written for Prince’s Paisley Park band, The Family, the song found its way to O’Connor’s Grammy-nominated sophomore studio album, “I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got.” The morose lyrics are immortalized in her slow, ethereal music video, which centers on a close-up of her face.
4. “When You Were Mine” by Cyndi Lauper
Lauper in 1985 breathed new life into this synthy ballad, originally included on Prince’s 1980 album “Dirty Mind” and as a B-side for 1981’s “Controversy.” Prince continued to perform the song for years to come, even including a version on his 2002 box set “One Nite Alone ... Live!”
5. “Stand Back” by Stevie Nicks
The Fleetwood Mac singer, feverish with inspiration after listening to Prince’s “Little Red Corvette,” wrote this 1983 single on a drive during her honeymoon with then-husband Kim Anderson, she told MTV News in a 2009 interview. Prince later stopped by the recording studio to master the tune’s synthesizer parts, and a hit was born. Nicks shared a somber message in the wake of his death: “My friend is gone...This is what it sounds like, when doves cry. He was my dove...”
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