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Prince in 1986
Prince performing at the Forest National in Brussels, Belgium 1986
Third Man Records, the record label co-founded by Jack White of The White Stripes and Ben Blackwell, announced it acquired the rights to release a rare Prince album recorded under a different name.
Camille contains eight tracks that were recorded under the titular pseudonym—Prince's androgynous alter-ego known for employing pitch-shifted vocals as a trademark. "We're finally going to put it out," Blackwell said in an interview with Mojo. "Prince's people agreed—almost too easy." White commented, "We had to show we had some skin in the game." Third Man Records previously put out a limited edition 7" vinyl box set of the singles from Sign O' the Times with the Prince estate in 2020.
While the album itself was never officially released, the songs on it have existed in some form over the years: "Housequake," "Strange Relationship," and "If I Was Your Girlfriend" all appeared on Sign O' the Times in 1987. "Feel U Up" was released as a B-side to "Partyman" from the Batman soundtrack, and "Shockadelica" as a B-side to the single "If I Was Your Girlfriend."
"Good Love" was put on the soundtrack to the 1988 Michael J. Fox movie Bright Lights, Big City. "Rockhard in a Funky Place" appeared on The Black Album, which was given a limited release in 1994. "Rebirth of the Flesh" was added to the expanded reissue of Sign O' the Times in 2020.
Camille did get vinyl test pressings, but a finished album was never widely manufactured. White bid almost $50,000 in an auction for one of the 25 copies of Camille known to exist after Prince's decision to scrap the album. Questlove reportedly outbid White for another copy back in 2016.
Last year, another rare Prince album, Welcome 2 America, was given a proper release over a decade after it was finished.
No release date for Camille has been revealed yet.
