Dwight Yoakam – “Purple Rain” (Prince Cover)
The death of Prince, earlier this year, touched just about everyone who cares deeply about music, and that list includes veteran honky-tonk revival badass Dwight Yoakam. Yoakam has a new album called Swimmin’ Pools, Movie Stars coming out next week, and it ends with a version of “Purple Rain,” the monstrously important Prince power ballad that ended the 1984 album of the same name. Yoakam’s version, recorded just a few days after Prince’s death, is a modest and stripped-back take, and it doesn’t have to fundamentally alter the song’s DNA to make it work as a country song. Maybe that’s the greatest testament to Prince’s songwriting: His music could work in any genre, in any setting. Listen to Yoakam’s version below, via People.
Swimmin’ Pools, Movie Stars is out 9/23 on Sugar Hill.