Listicle: Prince's Greatest Songs

According to last.fm, the nine albums pictured above are the Prince discs I've listened to the most over the past twenty-one years, with Ultimate Prince coming in at number 10. If I were to make a list of my favorite Prince songs, nearly all of them would be from these ten discs. (I'm vanilla, baby.) While I've never attempted any sort of list of my favorite Prince songs or albums, I could easily reel off half a dozen such lists: Favorite B-Sides, Favorite Remixes/Extended Mixes, Favorite Non-Single Album Tracks, Favorite Prince Songs Recorded By Other Artists, Favorite Prince Songs before 1999, Favorite Prince Songs after Diamonds & Pearls... Since 1982, when I first heard "Little Red Corvette" and ran out to buy 1999, Prince's music has always been there for me. He may have outgrown my tastes as he progressed as an artist – after 1995's The Gold Experience, but I kept buying them until the abrupt end (and now, beyond) – but I like what I like, and that's just one of the reasons every April 21st will continue to hit me hard.

Prince's music has always been there for Questlove, at least since 1982, when his ten-year-old self brought home 1999. In April 2016, just a few days after Prince's passing, Questlove posted a heartfelt tribute to the artist's profound impression on his life on rollingstone.com. I was still processing Prince's untimely demise when my beloved father-in-law lost his third fight with an aggressive brain tumor a little more than twenty-four hours later. Lost in nearly overwhelming grief, I found Questlove's piece calming and soothing, like spotting a lighthouse while on a dark, rough sea.

On the tenth anniversary of Prince's passing, his estate released an unheard single from his storied vault. "With This Tear" is included on Celine Dion's self-titled 1992 album. Prince's 1991 demo of the track was remixed by Chris James for release in 2026. The single's artwork is by Tora Bliss, aka Tora Borealis, a UK-based artist who has done several projects for Prince's estate over the past few years.

Another one of Bliss's Prince-related projects is 500 Prince Songs, "a review list of the 500 greatest songs written by Prince". The website debuted on Prince's birthday in 2016 (#500 "Venus de Milo"), but hasn't been updated since 2024 (#13 "It") or so. We'll keep checking back for the Top 12. As someone who has curated many, many lists, I know it is hard work. Hope it doesn't turn out to be another ultimately incomplete list like Hello Loser's Top 100 Yacht Rock Songs of All Time, which left us hanging after eighty tracks.

There have been other ranked lists of Prince's songs, including:

• On my 50th birthday in 2016, Rolling Stone published the results of a poll it had conducted among its online readership. The 10 Best Prince Songs ranked from "The Beautiful Ones" at number 10 up through "Purple Rain" at number one. My favorite Prince song came in at number 6, which is also my favorite number.
• The Guardian's music critic Alexis Petridis (whose name reads like a Harry Potter spell) published his ranked list of Prince's Greatest Singles on the occasion of the 2019 release of the Super Deluxe  Edition of 1999, still my favorite of the surprisingly few Super Deluxe Editions that have trickled out of The Vault. Petridis slotted my favorite Prince song at number 12, which the mathematicians amongst you may recognize as 2x6, with 6 still my favorite number.
• Billboard delved into its archives to rank Prince's 40 Biggest Billboard Hot 100 Hit Songs from his forty-seven singles that landed on the Hot 100. You'll have to figure out what seven singles didn't make the cut. (Hint: One of them was "Controversy".) My favorite Prince song ranked number 11 on Billboard's list, but the single peaked at number 6 on the Hot 100 chart dated May 21, 1983. Just a reminder that 6 is my favorite number.
• Jacqueline Schneider worked up a list of The 25 Best Prince Songs for Fortune.com in 2024. My favorite Prince song landed at number 4 on her wide-ranging list, though I must state for the record, I am in complete disagreement with Schneider's choice of Number One Song, but to each their own. I mean, no one has yet ranked my favorite Prince song as their favorite Prince song.

But perhaps my favorite ranking of Prince songs is the one Questlove did for Rolling Stone on the tenth anniversary of Prince's passing. He called it The Prince 100. With the possible exception of 500 Prince Songs, it is the most diverse lineup of Prince-penned tracks accompanied by passionate and informative write-ups I've ever read. Makes putting off my own ranked list of Prince songs a no-brainer. The best part of Questlove's ranking is that "Little Red Corvette" is his favorite Prince song, too.