He never finished writing “The Beautiful Ones” but his editor and publisher have completed the work for him.
As millions celebrated the Easter holiday over the weekend, Prince fans also set aside a moment to remember the late music icon on the anniversary his death, April 21. It’s been three years since the music world was shaken with the news that Prince Rogers Nelson passed away from an accidental overdose Fentanyl, but the singer has a new release that will give fans an inside look at what his life was like before the spotlight and after the fame.
At the time his death, Prince was working on a memoir titled The Beautiful Ones named after a song on his Purple Rain album. According to Billboard, Prince’s publisher plans on including the artist’s unfinished manuscript, rare photos the musician, lyrics, and scrapbooks. New Yorker writer Dan Piepenbring will write the introduction, as Prince personally chose him for the job before passing. The memoir is scheduled to be released on October 29 and will be 288 pages.
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While Prince’s life and rise into stardom is a story that has been retold dozens times, this autobiographical account from the man himself is something that is unlike any other. The Beautiful Ones is described by publisher Random House as being ″the deeply personal account how Prince Rogers Nelson became the Prince we know: the real-time story a kid absorbing the world around him and creating a persona, an artistic vision, and a life, before the hits and the fame that would come to define him.”
The book’s editor, Chris Jackson, called The Beautiful Ones “a beautiful tribute to his life.” He continued, “It’s also much more than that: it’s a genuinely moving and energizing literary work, full Prince’s ideas and vision, his voice and image,” said Jackson, whose other authors have included comedian Trevor Noah and journalist Ta-Nehisi Coates. “It’s a treasure not just for Prince fans but for anyone who wants to see one our greatest creative artists and original minds at work on his greatest creation: himself.”