Prince Estate Releases 'Timeless,' a 10-Track Vault Collection Spanning His Entire Career
The Prince estate released Timeless, a 10-song collection of rare and previously unreleased recordings, on Friday, August 28, 2026, through Legacy Recordings, Sony's catalogue label. The album is part of a year-long commemoration marking the 10th anniversary of Prince's death. Billboard
The estate says Timeless is the first Prince release to cover every major era of his career, with recordings spanning 1977 to 2016. Prince died of an accidental fentanyl overdose on April 21, 2016, at his Paisley Park estate in Minnesota. Billboard
The collection opens with "I Am You," recorded at Minneapolis' Sound 89 studio in 1977, when Prince was 19 years old. Most songs on the album were written, arranged, performed and produced almost entirely by Prince himself — a pattern that held across his decades of recording.
Several tracks trace the winding paths Prince's songs sometimes took before reaching the public. "Tick Tick Bang," recorded in 1981, later appeared on the Graffiti Bridge album in 1990 with a more funk-forward feel. The piano ballad "With This Tear," tracked in 1991, was given to Celine Dion, who recorded it for her self-titled 1992 album. "With This Tear" and "Stone" — a previously unreleased slow-burn R&B tune from 1995 — were released as singles ahead of the collection.
The remaining tracks reach across the decades. "Heaven," from 1985, features backing vocals from Susannah Melvoin, Prince's former girlfriend and a member of the Revolution, the band credited on several of his albums. "I Wonder," from 1989, carries a loping, gospel-country feel. Later entries include 2003's hand-clapping soul jam "Calabama," 2007's rock burner "The Guilty Ones," and 2012's "Bestest Friend."
The final track is a live version of "How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore?," a song originally released as the B-side of the 1982 single "1999." This recording was captured at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California, on March 4, 2015 — one of Prince's last years of touring before his death.
L. Londell McMillan, co-manager of the estate, produced the collection for compilation. Grammy-nominated engineer and producer Chris James, who previously worked on Prince's 2014 album Plectrumelectrum, handled mixing and mastering. Billboard
Alongside the album, the estate released an official video for "The Guilty Ones" compiled from live and music video footage spanning Prince's career. Billboard
The official Prince store sells Timeless on CD for $12.98 USD, on standard 140g vinyl for $24.98 USD, and on a purple marble 140g vinyl pressing for $25.98 USD. Prince Store
For fans, the appeal is straightforward: a single album that moves from a teenager in a Minneapolis studio to a final-night roar in Oakland, covering nearly 40 years of vault material in between.
