By Jon Wiederhorn
Yesterday, hundreds of radio stations across the nation paid tribute to Prince by playing “Nothing Compares 2 U” exactly seven hours and 13 days after the pop star died. The group Prince wrote the 1985 song for, The Family, also paid tribute at the appointed time — which came from the first lyric of the song, “It’s been seven hours and 13 days/ Since you took your love away” — by releasing a new recording of the tune.
Related: Prince Song to be Played by Hundreds of Radio Stations at Same Time
Using the name fDeluxe, the group formerly known as The Family, re-recorded the song with recent Prince collaborators StrinGenius and released it along with a video.
“It’s with a musically heavy heart that tonight we honor our dear friend and musical collaborator Prince on what’s to be seven hours and 13 days after his passing,” singer Susannah Melvoin says in the beginning of the video. “Our band, the Family – myself, Paul Peterson, Eric Leeds and Jellybean Johnson – offer you a moment of Prince’s musical legacy and brilliance with a song that he wrote for us many purple moons ago.”
Melvoin is the twin sister of The Revolution guitarist Wendy Melvoin, reported Rolling Stone. The Family’s put out its self-titled debut in August 1985, and broke up after just one concert. Melvoin, saxophone and flute player Leeds and percussionist Benton subsequently played with the Prince and the Revolution, but “Nothing Compares 2 U” wasn’t a radio hit until Sinead O’Connor covered it in 1990. The eccentric Irish artist was at the peak of her career at the time and as soon as it was released the song reached number one.
After O’Connor’s version of the song came out Prince began performing it in concert. A live version of the song, featuring New Power Generation vocalist Rosie Gaines was featured on Prince’s 1993 compilation The Hits/The B Sides.
The Family reformed as fDeluxe in 2011, and released the album Gaslight.
