Prince Launches Surprise New Website And New Song

by Claire Hennekam on January 22, 2013

Prince keeps the surprises coming this month, with the sudden reveal this afternoon of a new website, containing a lyric video for his new song, ‘Screwdriver’, all in the lead-up to a new album.

The news came suddenly this afternoon via celebrity blogger Dr. Funkenberry, who initially simply posted “Shhh…” with a link to a previously unknown website.

Funkenberry had posted earlier today to announce that Prince was going to be on the cover of Billboard Magazine this week, following their recent announcement that he would be honoured with the Billboard Icon Award in 2013. A couple of weeks ago, the Doc held a webcast with fans to discuss a number of things, including the ongoing mystery of the ’3rd Eye Girl’ and also to discuss the possibility of a new Prince website, potentially with fan involvement.

So with fans thinking that the idea of a new website was still in its infancy, and busy lapping up the various photos, video and audio snippets that 3rd Eye Girl has been posting recently via Facebook and Twitter, the announcement was a surprise to everyone. Social media sites and fan sites dedicated to the purple one are buzzing with excitement tonight, with the new site making it very obvious in its design that there is more to come.

At the moment, there are three videos on the site and nothing else. The first is a lyric video for ‘Screwdriver’, a new song that had not been released in full until now. The second is a teaser video for a “Montreux” film, suggesting a video release (or similar) of the two shows Prince performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 2009. This would be a huge release, given how fans have pleaded with the star to share this highly-coveted footage for over three years now.

The third video on the site is another promotional one, this time for Andy Allo’s new album, Superconductor, which was produced by Prince. The video plays the single ‘People Pleaser’, while listing excerpts from various reviews, kicking things off with a quote from Noise11′s very own review of the album.

Amongst the videos leaked by 3rd Eye Girl was ‘Chapter and Verse’, a soundboard recording of a funky jam from one of Prince’s six shows at the Dakota Jazz Club in Minneapolis last week.

Earlier this month, she posted a live recording of ‘I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man’ from one of Prince’s 2012 Chicago concerts. The 1987 song from his Sign O’ The Times album has been slowed right down and contains a stunning guitar solo – a new way of playing the song that he pioneered during his “Welcome 2 Australia” concerts in May last year.

Nothing that she has posted is currently on the new website, suggesting a desire to keep the two roles separate, with 3rd Eye Girl appearing to remain somewhat of a maverick within the purple camp.

The very latest from Dr. Funkenberry (as this is being typed) is that there is currently a listening party going on in Los Angeles for Prince’s new album.

July 2010: The 52-year-old music icon has pronounced the internet dead, refusing to use any digital platforms to distribute his music

Holy crap...how many years has it been since he's rocked a 'fro like that?

Celebrated journalist, TV personality, and award-winning author Touré investigates one of the most enigmatic and fascinating figures in contemporary American culture:


Drawing on new research and enlivened by Touré’s unique pop-cultural fluency, I Would Die 4 U relies on surprising and in-depth interviews with Prince’s band members, former girlfriends, musicologists, and even Bible scholars to deconstruct the artist’s life and work.

Prince has signed a new deal with Kobalt Music Group to market and distribute his future work without giving up control over his rights, the company said on Monday.

The singer-songwriter, who is famed for changing his name to an unpronounceable symbol in a wrangle over musical rights, will release his own work as well as a slate of new music by other artists that he produces, Kobalt said.

The announcement came just hours after the 54-year-old Prince was given a Billboard Icon Award (lifetime achievement) and rocked the Billboard Music Awards ceremony with a version of his "Let's Go Crazy" dressed in electric green trousers and sporting an Afro hair style.

Kobalt, which is also a global independent music publishing company, launched an artist and label services division in 2012, allowing artists to maintain ownership of their work and control over when, how and where they will release their music.

"This new venture gives Prince the flexibility and freedom he's always sought in a label partner," Kobalt President Richard Sanders said in a statement.

Rock legend Prince and his all-female band, 3RDEYEGIRL, will release two new albums on the same day next month.


Prince will release a solo album titled, “Art Official Age,” on Sept. 30. It will be the artist’s first studio album since “20Ten” in 2010. “Plectrumelectrum,” another album featuring Prince and 3RDEYEGIRL, will be released on the same day.


The members of 3RDEYEGIRL -- guitarist Donna Grantis, drummer Hannah Ford Welton and bassist Ida Nielsen -- made the announcement Monday during a special appearance on “Good Morning America.”

“Clouds,” a song off of “Art Official Age,” had its world premiere on “GMA” on Monday. 3RDEYEGIRL also released the official cover art for both albums on “GMA.”