Song by Song: "Purple Rain" Trivia Quiz

Answer: Bob Seger

In 1983, on his tour to promote his fifth studio album, "1999," Prince shared an arena with Bob Seger. On the tour, Prince decided to write a Segeresque ballad. Instead of authoring a song like Seger's "Night Moves," however, Rolling Stone reports, "he channeled a heartrending meditation on love, trust, God, and purple rain." Such emotional ballads, which contain soulful meditations and build in intensity, are often called "power ballads."

Answer: 1984

The song was first recorded on August 1983 live at First Avenue in Minneapolis. It was then polished with overdubs in Sunset Sound studios in August and mid-September before being released as a single on September 26, 1984 from the album "Purple Rain." The song "God" was contained on the B-side.

Answer: The Revolution

The Revolution was Prince's backing band and consisted at the time of Wendy Melvoin on guitar, Brown Mark on bass, Lisa Coleman on keyboards and piano, Matt "Doctor" Fink on keyboards, and Bobby Z. on drums. All but Bobby Z. also provided vocals. Producing credit for the song goes to Prince and The Revolution, while writing credit for the song is registered only to Prince with the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers.

Answer: laughing

"I only wanted to one time to see you laughing
I only wanted to see you
Laughing in the purple rain."

Prince explained his interpretation of the song, as quoted in NME's article on "Twenty Things You Didn't Know About Purple Rain": "When there's blood in the sky - red and blue = purple. Purple rain pertains to the end of the world and being with the one you love and letting your faith/god guide you through the purple rain."

Answer: Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go

Wham!'s "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" took the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100, leaving "Purple Rain" to number two. However, Prince's song did reach number one on the U.S. Cash Box Top 100 and the U.S. Hot Rocks songs. It peaked at number three on the U.S. Hot R&B Songs chart. "Purple Rain" also reached number one on the US iTunes Charts after Prince's death in 2016.

Answer: The Super Bowl XLI

Prince performed the song as the last number in his set at the XLI Super Bowl halftime show in 2007, featuring the Indianapolis Colts verses the Chicago Bears. The stage and stadium used purple lights, and rain actually began to fall from the sky during the performance. In 2021, NBCSports ranked Prince's performance as the number one Super Bowl halftime show performance of all time.

Answer: weekend lover

"I never wanted to be your weekend lover
I only wanted to be some kind of friend (hey)
Baby, I could never steal you from another
It's such a shame our friendship had to end."

"Purple Rain" was certified gold by RIAA in the U.S. and Platinum by BPI in the UK. It peaked at number one on single charts in Belgium, France, the Netherlands, and Scotland, and reached number six on the UK (OCC) Singles Chart.

The song has been covered by Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder and Madonna, Dwight Yoakam, and the Culture Club, among others.

Answer: Beyoncé Knowles

Prince and Beyoncé performed their medley ("Purple Rain/Baby, I'm a Star/Let's Go Crazy/Crazy in Love") as the opening act to the 46th Annual Grammy Awards. A singer, songwriter, and actress, Beyoncé Knowles first gained fame in the late 1990s as the lead singer of Destiny's Child.

Her first solo album, "Dangerously in Love," was released in 2003. It contained the hit song "Crazy in Love." That year, Beyoncé won a Grammy for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, Best R&B Song, and Best Contemporary R&B album.

Answer: Stevie Nicks

In an interview with Michael Hamm in "The Guardian," Prince's backing keyboardist Lisa Coleman said of "Purple Rain" that it "was kind of a country number, and he gave it to Stevie Nicks, but she felt intimidated by it." NME quotes Stevie Nicks as saying, "It was so overwhelming, that 10-minute track. I listened to it and I just got scared. I called him back and sad, 'I can't do it. I wish I could. It's too much for me.'"

One day, Prince began to fool around with the song at rehearsal, Coleman said in "The Guardian" interview, and Wendy Melovin, guitarist for the Revolution,
"started hitting these big chords and that rejigged his idea of the song[ . . .] It took it out of that country feeling."

Answer: true

Prince performed "Purple Rain" live a mere week before he died, at the end of his final performance in Atlanta, Georgia on April 14, 2016. It was part of his Piano & a Microphone tour, and "Purple Rain" ended both of his performances, which began at 7 and 10 pm that day.