Songoftheday 2/27/18 - Which one of us is right if we always fight, why can't we just let love decide...
from the album Diamonds and Pearls (1991)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #3 (one week)
Weeks in the Top-40: 17
Today's song of the day is from Prince, whose Diamonds and Pearls album had already scored two pop hits with "Gett Off" and the #1 single "Cream". A third single, "Insatiable", was a big hit on urban radio, climbing to #3 for a week on Billboard's R&B chart, but only managed to slip in to #77 on the pop Hot 100. It was overshadowed by the title track of the album, written and produced by Prince and credited to his band the New Power Generation, with singer/keyboardist Rosie Gaines singing a major part and appearing front stage in the video. It would be the closest thing since "Purple Rain" he would get to a power ballad, and mainstream America ate it up, even with the sexually ambiguous chorus "if I gave you diamonds and pearls, would you be a happy boy or a girl?"...
"Diamonds & Pearls" became the second top ten hit (and third to make the top-40) from the album of the same name in February of 1992. The single spent one week at #1 on Billboard's R&B chart, the eighth and final charttopper of his career. It even crossed over to their Adult Contemporary (or "easy listening") radio tally, making it to #40. Internationally, the record reached the top ten in Canada (#5), Switzerland (#7), Ireland (#8), and New Zealand (#8), while getting into the top-40 in Belgium (#12), Sweden (#12), Australia (#13), the Netherlands (#15), Austria (#19), France (#20), the UK (#25), and Germany (#28).
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On the finale of the twelfth season of The Voice, winner Chris Blue performed "Diamonds & Pearls" with mentor Alicia Keys...
Up tomorrow: Soul singer describes her intentions.
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