prince

Eighteen years since their highly-publicized fallout, Prince has realigned with Warner Bros. Records and announced a new agreement that will see the release of previously unheard music and remasters.

As part of the deal, the pop icon will retain ownership of his master recordings. Prince and Warner Bros. have also formed an exclusive global licensing partnership that covers every album released from 1978 into the ’90s.

The announcement coincides with the 30th anniversary of Purple Rain. For the first time, Prince will release a digitally re-mastered, deluxe version of his breakthrough album, with other projects to follow.

“A brand new studio album is on the way,” said Prince, “and both Warner Bros. Records and Eye are quite pleased with the results of the negotiations and look forward to a fruitful working relationship.”

Warner Bros. Records Chairman and CEO Cameron Strang added,

“Everyone at Warner Bros. Records is delighted to be working with Prince once again: he is one of the world’s biggest stars and a truly unique talent. We are also very excited about the release of new and re-mastered music from one of his greatest masterpieces.”

In 1996, Prince split with Warner Bros., calling himself a slave to the label and changing his name to a symbol. The label subsequently dropped its distribution deal with Prince’s Paisley Park imprint.

Just last month, Prince released “FallinLove2Night,” a duet with “New Girl” star Zooey Deschanel, via Epic Records. He has also debuted songs from an album titled Plectrumelectrum, which he recorded with his all-female band 3rd Eye Girl.