Prince 'Deliverance' EP To Be Released 1 Year After Death; Estate Files Lawsuit
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- One year since Prince's passing, a six-song EP entitled "Deliverance" will be released this Friday. However, the Prince estate is challenging the release and has filed a lawsuit.
The EP includes new, previously undiscovered studio recordings from 2006 through 2008.
According to Vancouver-based record company, RMA, Prince wrote and recorded the songs when he was an independent artist protesting what he believed to be an unjust music industry.
Prince co-wrote and co-produced the tracks with longtime Paisley Park engineer Ian Boxill, who continued and completed the work after Prince's passing.
"I believe 'Deliverance' is a timely release with everything going on in the world today, and in light of the one-year anniversary of his passing," Boxill said. "I hope when people hear Prince singing these songs it will bring comfort to many. Prince once told me that he would go to bed every night thinking of ways to bypass major labels and get his music directly to the public. When considering how to release this important work, we decided to go independent because that's what Prince would have wanted."
Prince's estate and Paisley Park have now filed a federal lawsuit against Boxill for control of the tracks. The lawsuit was previously filed in Carver County, but was refiled because Boxill lives in California.
The lawsuit accuses Boxill of breach of contract, exploiting the songs for his personal gain, and is requesting the return of the tracks. The lawsuit estimates the tracks are the sole and exclusive property of the Prince estate and have a value exceeding more than $75,000.
The Prince estate says that when it was learned Boxill was going to release the songs, he was demanded to return all the recordings in his possession, but he refused, leading to the lawsuit.
The title track, "Deliverance", is already available on iTunes and Apple Music. The pre-order is also available on iTunes, Google Play and Amazon.
The EP also includes tracks "Man Opera", "I Am", "Touch Me", "Sunrise Sunset", "No One Else" and an extended version of "I Am".
The disc version of the EP is scheduled to be released nationwide on June 2 at major brick and mortar stores, including Walmart and Target.