| "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" | |||||||||||
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| Single by Prince | |||||||||||
| from the album The Beautiful Experience | |||||||||||
| B-side | "Beautiful" "Beautiful" (Extended Club Version)" (UK 12") "Beautiful Beats" (UK 12") |
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| Released | February 24, 1994[1] | ||||||||||
| Format | 7" single 12" single Cassette single CD single |
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| Recorded | Paisley Park Studios, September 1993–March 1994 | ||||||||||
| Genre | Pop | ||||||||||
| Length | 4:07 (single edit) 4:37 (original mix) 4:25 (Gold Experience version) |
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| Label | NPG, Bellmark, Edel | ||||||||||
| Writer(s) | Prince | ||||||||||
| Producer | Prince, David Foster | ||||||||||
| Certification | Gold (RIAA) - May 26, 1994 | ||||||||||
| Prince singles chronology | |||||||||||
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"The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" is a song by Prince from his 1995 album The Gold Experience [2] It was his first release since changing his stage name to an unpronounceable symbol. With the consent of Prince's usual record distributor Warner Bros. Records, "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" was released by NPG Records and Edel Music and independently distributed by Bellmark Records, as a one-off single. The single was released in February 1994, and was shortly followed by an EP of remixes titled The Beautiful Experience. The version that was released on The Gold Experience is a different mix of the song.
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The original track is a slow-grooving ballad that serenades a beautiful woman, and was likely directed toward his soon to be fiancé Mayte Garcia, whom he later married on Valentine's Day, 1996. It is also claimed that Prince was inspired by actress Vanessa Marcil. The song was played during the Miss America pageant in 1994, but not in full. It was widely advertised in news and trade magazines that a new song from Prince would be premiered on the pageant. The ads had Prince sitting in a chair with a hat pulled down over his face, and Mayte standing next to his chair. The song was later released on February 24, 1994. It again later appeared on The Gold Experience. The version on The Gold Experience is replayed. The drums are more crisp in the mix and there are slight instrumental changes. There are also added sound effects and instrumental breaks in the second version. The bridge is slightly more robust as well. The song is still based in light guitar, keyboards and live drums. Although most of the song is sung in falsetto with Prince reaching some extremely high notes, the bridge has him using his regular voice as well as a lower baritone range in parts.
The song was a worldwide hit and established Prince's ability to succeed commercially under his new name, peaking at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100. It became his first (and to date, only) UK #1 single under any name as a performer. He did have two other UK #1s as a songwriter: the 1984 hit single "I Feel for You" by Chaka Khan and Sinéad O'Connor's 1990 cover of "Nothing Compares 2 U". It was also his first (and to date, only) #1 song in the Netherlands.
| Chart (1994) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 3 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs | 2 |
| U.S. Billboard Top 40 Mainstream | 3 |
| U.S. Billboard Rhythmic Top 40 | 3 |
| Canadian Singles Chart | 6 |
| Irish Singles Chart | 4 |
| Swedish Singles Chart | 13 |
| UK Singles Chart | 1 |
| ARIA Singles Chart | 1 |
| Swiss Singles Chart | 1 |
| Netherlands Singles Chart | 1 |
| New Zealand Singles Chart | 1 |
On December 5, 2007, Prince was sentenced on appeal from a ruling of the Court of Appeal of Rome (Italy) for plagiarism. The song was ruled identical to "Takin' Me to Paradise" by Raynard J, written by Bruno Bergonzi and Michele Vicino and published in 1983. The first instance of the case dated back to 2003.
Prince's then-wife, Mayte, later recorded her own version called "The Most Beautiful Boy in the World". The song appears on her album Child of the Sun. The B-side was a Spanish version of the song, "I Quieres Ser El Mas Bello De Este Mundo?". It was the same instrumental track with extra reverb, and her vocals, with a few slight ad-lib changes. It was released on Paisley Park Records on June 7, 1995, Prince's birthday.
| Preceded by "Everything Changes" by Take That |
UK Singles Chart number-one single April 17, 1994 for 2 weeks |
Succeeded by "The Real Thing" by Tony Di Bart |
| Preceded by "The Sign" by Ace of Base |
Australian ARIA Singles Chart number-one single May 28, 1994 for 2 weeks |
Succeeded by "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" by Crash Test Dummies |