New York, June 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Columbia Records is proud to work once again with Prince in the release of "Planet Earth" -- the latest full-length studio collection from the multi-platinum Grammy-winning artist -- available in North America on Tuesday, July 24, the culmination of a worldwide launch beginning July 16.

"Guitar," the first single from "Planet Earth," will be serviced to all radio formats on June 11.

Prince's long-term musical proteges, Wendy & Lisa, are among the musicians appearing on "Planet Earth."

Prince has recently announced the first dates of his upcoming World Tour, beginning August 1 at the O2 Arena in London, where the first of 15 concert dates sold-out in record time. Six additional dates have been added and will go on-sale next week.

"'Planet Earth' is a fantastic album and promises to be a musical milestone for Prince," said Rob Stringer. "The Columbia label is thrilled to be working with an iconic artist like Prince in this exciting stage of his amazing career."

"Guitar," the first single from Prince's upcoming new album, "Planet Earth," will be available free, for a limited promotional period, exclusively from Verizon Wireless.

John Stratton, executive vice president and chief marketing officer of Verizon, noted, "When Prince, who has consistently been on the cutting edge of music, harnesses innovative technology to deliver his fresh new music, that's a tremendous opportunity for music lovers across the country. At Verizon, we are committed to delivering hot multimedia services to the public in a way that's powerful, direct and relevant."

Contact: Yvette Noel-Schure, Columbia Records, Media, +1-212-833-4483,
Yvette.Noel-Schure@sonybmg.com

Web site: http://www.columbiarecords.com/

Track listing (to be confirmed)

1. Planet Earth - Album Version
2. Guitar - Album Version
3. Somewhere Here On Earth - Album Version
4. The One U Wanna C - Album Version
5. Future Baby Mama - Album Version
6. Mr. Goodnight - Album Version
7. All The Midnights In The World - Album Version
8. Chelsea Rodgers - Album Version
9. Lion Of Judah - Album Version
10. Revelation - Album Version

always good news when a new prince album is on the horizon.

the single is called "guitar", maybe we'll finally get that rock and roll guitar album we've all always hoped for.

renny

Wendy & Lisa working with Prince again! YAY!

I've heard/seen the commercial for Verizon phone with GUITAR. Pretty cool song. Does he ever age?

I second that yay!

yes it is, and the guitar work is outstanding.

renny

I can see it now..."Purple Rain 2 - We're Puttin' The Band Back Together" (or was that the Blues Brothers? )

I'm listening to the single right now.....I love it!


If the rest of the cd is guitar based like this, we may be in for a treat.

A new Prince album that is guitar-based - and with Wendy and Lisa.

YES! It's a nice change-of-pace to be blindsided with GOOD news for a change.

let's hope!

renny

I've got my fingers crossed for this.....

The last Prince cd I truly loved was Chaos & Disorder, & that was a rock album.

http://www.nme.com/news/prince/29079

>> Prince announces rare LA residency

20.Jun.07 1:46am

Prince has announced the details of a rare Los Angeles residency.

Beginning this Saturday (June 23), the purple one will perform seven shows he has dubbed the '3121 Sessions' at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel's 200-seat Blossom Room.

Prince is expected to preview new material from his forthcoming album, 'Planet Earth', and invite special guests on stage to perform with him. Previous guests have included Elton John, Maroon 5 and William.

The evening will also include dinner in the hotel's Dakota restaurant prepared by Prince's personal chef. It will continue with Prince's two-hour performance, and conclude with a late-night jazz set featuring Prince and a jazz band.

A limited number of tickets will be sold at $3,121 per couple for VIP packages, and $312.10 for standing-room only tickets.

Prince will perform at the Hollywood Roosevelt on the following dates:

June 23-24, 28-30

Two additional dates are expected to be announced shortly.

For ticket requests, email: 3121HRH@ThompsonHotels.com <<

Would absolutley love to hear the jazz set.

Maybe he'll release it online or something cause there's no way I'm paying that kind of money to see anything.

Shouldn't they mention that the meal will be vegan?

He wasn't vegan when I cooked for him...vegetarian yes, vegan...nope. Perhaps he has gone completely vegan now? Anyway this album sounds like it could be a good one indeed and Wendy and Lisa is enough to get me excited! I thought 3121 was pretty solid, better than Musicology and everything else since Emancipation and The Truth. At least there is a marketing push behind this album it seems, so let's hope the final product is a great cd.....

you cooked for him?

tell us more......

1995-1996 I was his chef in MPLS. Big fan of his music, and I have been lucky enough to work for 2 of my idols growing up, Prince and now George Lucas. Let me know if you have any specific questions rjp?

Pre-order listing is up, with the cover art and finalised tracklist:



1. Planet Earth
2. Guitar
3. Somewhere Here On Earth
4. The One U Wanna C
5. Future Baby Mama
6. Mr. Goodnight
7. All The Midnights In The World
8. Chelsea Rodgers
9. Lion Of Judah
10. Resolution

(The last track appears to actually be entitled "Resolution" rather than "Revelation", but we'll see.)

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000RMC7H0/?tag=imwan-20

This is gonna be a biggie, y'all. It's still nearly a month away from release but is already at #98 in Amazon's sales chart.

how about this one:

Music industry attacks Sunday newspaper's free Prince CD

Katie Allen, media business correspondent
Friday June 29, 2007
The Guardian

The eagerly awaited new album by Prince is being launched as a free CD with a national Sunday newspaper in a move that has drawn widespread criticism from music retailers.

The Mail on Sunday revealed yesterday that the 10-track Planet Earth CD will be available with an "imminent" edition, making it the first place in the world to get the album. Planet Earth will go on sale on July 24.

"It's all about giving music for the masses and he believes in spreading the music he produces to as many people as possible," said Mail on Sunday managing director Stephen Miron. "This is the biggest innovation in newspaper promotions in recent times."

The paper, which sells more than 2m copies a week, will be ramping up its print run in anticipation of a huge spike in circulation but would not reveal how much the deal with Prince would cost.

One music store executive described the plan as "madness" while others said it was a huge insult to an industry battling fierce competition from supermarkets and online stores. Prince's label has cut its ties with the album in the UK to try to appease music stores.

The Entertainment Retailers Association said the giveaway "beggars belief". "It would be an insult to all those record stores who have supported Prince throughout his career," ERA co-chairman Paul Quirk told a music conference. "It would be yet another example of the damaging covermount culture which is destroying any perception of value around recorded music.

"The Artist Formerly Known as Prince should know that with behaviour like this he will soon be the Artist Formerly Available in Record Stores. And I say that to all the other artists who may be tempted to dally with the Mail on Sunday."

High street music giant HMV was similarly scathing about the plans. Speaking before rumours of a giveaway were confirmed, HMV chief executive Simon Fox said: "I think it would be absolutely nuts. I can't believe the music industry would do it to itself. I simply can't believe it would happen; it would be absolute madness."

Prince, whose Purple Rain sold more than 11m copies, also plans to give away a free copy of his latest album with tickets for his forthcoming concerts in London. The singer had signed a global deal for the promotion and distribution of Planet Earth in partnership with Columbia Records, a division of music company Sony BMG. A spokesman for the group said last night that the UK arm of Sony BMG had withdrawn from Prince's global deal and would not distribute the album to UK stores.

Interesting. Even though I'm a retailer, I like it.

Hi. I can see why Prince did this..but I wish he did it here in the USA instead of in England. I know he's promoting his shows there.
I'm pretty angry about the dissolution of the CD business in the USA...having a hard time accepting this wind of change. I was in London during the winter...and happily there were several HMV and Virgin Megastores...in the city and around maybe a 25 mi. radius...stores wells stocked with catalogue depth that amazed me. I bought a lot of hard to get stuff I wanted. The British music scene remains vibrant and not all toy-pop like the US scene. I can only guess the disease of downloading and jonesing for files has not yet ravaged the Brit music industry completely. Virgin Mega and HMVs were mobbed every time I went. Here in NYC there is only Virgin and J&R or else the big box shops. To me, a sad evolution. Gary/NYC.

Not sure why after the early free UK release, but there is a completely fake mp3 version of the album turning up all over the internet.