Prince Estate Set to Release ‘Welcome 2 America’ Album This Summer

Prince’s estate is gearing up for the release of the icon’s latest posthumous album, Welcome 2 America. 

On Thursday, the singer’s estate in partnership with Legacy Recordings revealed that Welcome 2 America will be released from the singer’s vault on July 30th. The album which was originally crafted in 2010 is a politically charged project that is described as a “powerful creative statement that documents Prince’s concerns, hopes, and visions for a shifting society, presciently foreshadowing an era of political division, disinformation, and a renewed fight for racial justice.”

Welcome 2 America features in-studio collaborations with bassist Tal Wilkenfeld, drummer Chris Coleman, and GRAMMY-nominated engineer Jason Agel. There are also contributions from New Power Generation singers Shelby J., Liv Warfield, and Elisa Fiorillo as well as keyboardist Morris Hayes.

When Prince completed the album, he embarked on a tour bearing the same name. This run was capped off with a “21 Nite Stand” at the Los Angeles Forum. The deluxe version of this album will include CD and black vinyl as well as a Blu-Ray disc of Prince’s Welcome 2 America concert at The Forum.

Collectors will also have the opportunity to purchase a limited-edition gold-colored 7” vinyl exclusively from the official Prince Store. The 7” includes the studio version of “Welcome 2 America” and a previously unreleased live version of the song recorded on May 14, 2011, at The Forum.

To solidify this historic moment, 60 Minutes correspondent Jon Wertheim got a chance to preview the album and learn how it was crafted. Wertheim will be telling this story on CBS this Sunday. 

Listen to the album’s single, “Welcome 2 America,” below.