NEWS
Prince fans: Get ready to put on your “Diamonds and Pearls” once more.
Paisley Park Enterprises announced Thursday (Aug. 24) that it will release a super deluxe edition of Diamonds and Pearls, the 13th studio album by the High Priest of Pop. Diamonds and Pearls — which marked Prince’s first album with backing band The New Power Generation — will be reissued through a partnership with Sony Music and will be available through all physical, digital and streaming partners. The album will contain a total of 47 previously unreleased tracks, in addition to an unreleased two-hour concert from Prince’s vault.
The album will be released in three formats: The largest reissue, the super deluxe edition, will have seven CDs plus a Blu-ray or a 12 LP plus Blu-ray with audio-only download and streaming. The deluxe edition will contain a double CD or four LPs on 180 gram vinyl, and the remastered album will contain, depending on the buyer’s choice, a single CD, a double off white “pearl” colored 180 gram vinyl LP (US only), or a double clear “diamond” colored 180 gram vinyl LP with download and streaming.
Diamonds and Pearls first arrived in 1991 and peaked at No. 3 on the all-genre Billboard 200, spending a total of 46 weeks on the chart. Each of the set’s singles charted on the Billboard Hot 100: “Gett Off” (No. 21), “Cream” (No. 1), “Money Don’t Matter 2 Night” (No. 23), “Insatiable” (No. 77) and the title track, “Diamonds and Pearls” (No. 3).
The new edition of Diamonds and Pearls will arrive Oct. 27. The various versions of the album range from $12.98 to $394.98 and are available to pre-order here.
10cc drummer Paul Burgess has announced that he is leaving the band because the demands of touring have become too much for him.
The 75-year-old musician, who also spent time performing with Jethro Tull, Camel, Magna Carta, and The Icicle Works, has chosen to walk away from the legendary rock group after more than five decades.
He shared: “After so many wonderful years with 10cc, I must admit that the rigours of touring are no longer manageable for me as I get older, and I feel it’s time to let go of the long hours in airports and endless travel on buses.
“I’m not planning to stop playing altogether. I will still perform but at a pace that feels right, working alongside old friends and a new group of fellow musicians called The Guilty Men.”
Frontman Graham Gouldman confessed that it will feel unusual to perform without his “longest-running musical associate.”
He explained: “When Paul and I first joined forces in 10cc, we never could have imagined that we’d still be at it after 30 years, let alone 52.
“Paul has been my longest musical partner and it will feel different to turn around and see another drummer, but I completely understand why he no longer wants to sit on a plane for 14 hours or wake up in a new hotel every day for weeks at a time.”
Ben Stone, who has previously played with Mike and The Mechanics and Bonnie Tyler, will be taking over on drums.
Paul, who had several runs with 10cc after joining in 1973, performed his final show with the I’m Not In Love band in Alexandria, Virginia this past September.
The group is set to continue their And Another Bloody Greatest Hits Tour in the UK next year.
