After 40 Years, Prince's 'Purple Rain' Is Becoming A Broadway Musical

LOADING ERROR LOADING Forty years after its release, “Purple Rain” is bound for Broadway. Released in the summer of 1984, the original “Purple Rain” starred Prince as The Kid, a Minneapolis musician who grapples with a difficult home life and a new romance as he rises to prominence. Warner Bros. via Getty Images Though the Oscar-winning “Purple Rain” soundtrack was technically Prince’s sixth album, its genre-smashing, game-changing success catapulted the singer-songwriter into the echelon of ’80s superstars like Michael Jackson and Madonna. His name was Prince, and he was funky,” Billboard wrote of “Purple Rain” during the film and album’s 30th anniversary in 2014. His last acting role was the 1990 “Purple Rain” sequel, “Graffiti Bridge,” which garnered mostly negative reviews and fared poorly at the box office.