The Beautiful Ones

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The brilliant coming-of-age-and-into-superstardom story of one of the greatest artists of all time, in his own words—featuring never-before-seen photos, original scrapbooks and lyric sheets, and the exquisite memoir he began writing before his tragic death. Named one of the best music books of the year by The New York Times Book Review and one of the best books of the year by The Washington Post and The Guardian. Nominated for the NAACP Image Award.

Prince was a musical genius, one of the most beloved, accomplished, and acclaimed musicians of our time. The Beautiful Ones is the story of how Prince became Prince—a first-person account of a kid absorbing the world around him and then creating a persona and an artistic vision before the hits and fame that would come to define him.

The book is told in four parts: - The first is the memoir Prince was writing before his tragic death. - The second part takes us through Prince’s early years as a musician, via an evocative scrapbook of writing and photos. - The third section shows us Prince’s evolution through candid images leading up to the cusp of his greatest achievement: his original handwritten treatment for *Purple Rain*. - The final section presents this story as a heroic journey.

Framed by editor Dan Piepenbring’s introduction about his profound collaboration with Prince, this work is not just a tribute to an icon but an original and energizing literary work in its own right, full of Prince’s ideas, voice, and image—his undying gift to the world.