The Most Beautiful Girl in the World (Prince song)

"The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" is the lead single from Prince's 1995 album The Gold Experience. 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, under the control and guidance of Music of Life as a one-off single. Liza Hopkins.

The single was released in February 1994 in the UK and remains Prince's only number-one single in the UK Singles Chart,^[1] and was shortly followed by an EP of remixes titled The Beautiful Experience that also charted at 18 in the UK chart. The version that was released on The Gold Experience is a different mix of the song.

Development

The original track is a slow-grooving ballad that serenades a beautiful woman. The song was played during the Miss USA 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 at the pageant. The ads had Prince sitting in a chair with a hat pulled down over his face, and Garcia standing next to his chair. The song was officially released on February 24, 1994. It later appeared on The Gold Experience. The version on The Gold Experience is remixed. 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 No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was certified gold by the RIAA and sold 700,000 copies domestically.^[2]^[3] It became his first and only UK No. 1 single under any name as a performer.^[1] He did have two other UK No. 1s as a songwriter: the 1984 hit single "I Feel for You" covered by Chaka Khan and Sinéad O'Connor's 1990 cover of "Nothing Compares 2 U". The song was his last top 5 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 during his lifetime. Prince danced to his own song ' The Most Beautiful Girl In The World' after the World Music Awards at an after show event with Kylie Minogue in 1994.

Track listings

Single

"The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" (single edit) – 4:06
"Beautiful" (single edit) – 3:54

UK 12"

"The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" – 4:07
"Beautiful" – 3:57
"Beautiful" (extended club mix by Simon Harris) – 6:25

Charts

Chart (1994–95)	Peak position
Australia (ARIA)^[4]	1
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)^[5]	5
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)^[6]	4
Canadian Singles Chart	6
France (SNEP)^[7]	5
Germany (Official German Charts)^[8]	9
Irish Singles Chart	4
Netherlands (Single Top 100)^[9]	1
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)^[10]	1
Norway (VG-lista)^[11]	4
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)^[12]	13
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)^[13]	1
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)^[14]	1
US Billboard Hot 100^[15]	3
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)^[16]	2
US Mainstream Top 40 (Billboard)^[17]	3
US Rhythmic (Billboard)^[18]	3

Mayte version

Mayte Garcia later recorded her own version called "The Most Beautiful Boy in the World" when she and Prince were married. The song appears on her album Child of the Sun. It has the same instrumental backing track with extra reverb, and her vocals, with a few slight ad-lib changes. It was released by NPG Records.

Cover versions

In 1998, rapper Raheem the Dream sampled the song to make his own track, "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World"
In 2003, pianist Alex Bugnon covered the song on his album Southern Living^[19]^[20]
In 2013, artist Bruno Mars covered the song during The Moonshine Jungle Tour

Bibliography

Uptown: The Vault – The Definitive Guide to the Musical World of Prince: Nilsen Publishing 2004, ISBN 91-631-5482-X

References

1 2 Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 565. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
↑ "American certifications – Prince – The Most Beautiful Girl in the World". Recording Industry Association of America.
↑ "Best-Selling Records of 1994". Billboard. BPI Communications. 107 (3): 57. January 21, 1995. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved May 5, 2015.
↑ "Australian-charts.com – The Symbol – The Most Beautiful Girl in the World". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
↑ "Austriancharts.at – The Symbol – The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
↑ "Ultratop.be – The Symbol – The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
↑ "Lescharts.com – The Symbol – The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – The Symbol – The Most Beautiful Girl in the World". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – The Symbol – The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
↑ "Charts.org.nz – The Symbol – The Most Beautiful Girl in the World". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – The Symbol – The Most Beautiful Girl in the World". VG-lista. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
↑ "Swedishcharts.com – The Symbol – The Most Beautiful Girl in the World". Singles Top 100. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
↑ "Swisscharts.com – The Symbol – The Most Beautiful Girl in the World". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
↑ "Prince: Artist Chart History" Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
↑ "Prince – Chart History: The Billboard Hot 100". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved August 15, 2014.
↑ "Prince – Chart History: Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved August 15, 2014.
↑ "Prince – Chart History: Pop Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved August 15, 2014.
↑ "Prince – Chart History: Rhythmic Top 40". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved August 15, 2014.
↑ "Southern Living". Narada.com. Retrieved 2014-03-31.
↑ "Southern Living Alex Bugnon". JazzTimes.com. Retrieved 2014-03-31.

Preceded by "Everything Changes" by Take That	UK Singles Chart number-one single April 17, 1994 - April 30, 1994	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 29, 1994 - June 11, 1994	Succeeded by "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" by Crash Test Dummies

Prince singles

1970s	"Soft and Wet" "Just as Long as We're Together" "I Wanna Be Your Lover"

1980s	"Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad?" "Still Waiting" "Sexy Dancer" "Bambi" "Uptown" "Dirty Mind" "Do It All Night" "Controversy" "Let's Work" "Do Me, Baby" "Sexuality" "1999" "Little Red Corvette" "D.M.S.R." "Delirious" "Automatic" "Let's Pretend We're Married" "When Doves Cry" "Let's Go Crazy" "Purple Rain" "I Would Die 4 U" "Take Me with U" "Paisley Park" "Raspberry Beret" "Pop Life" "America" "Kiss" "Mountains" "Anotherloverholenyohead" "Girls & Boys" "Sign "O" the Times" "If I Was Your Girlfriend" "U Got the Look" "I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man" "Alphabet St." "Glam Slam" "I Wish U Heaven" "Batdance" "Partyman" "The Arms of Orion" "Scandalous!"

1990s	"The Future" "Thieves in the Temple" "New Power Generation" "Gett Off" "Cream" "Diamonds and Pearls" "Money Don't Matter 2 Night" "Insatiable" "Thunder" "Sexy MF" "My Name Is Prince" "7" "Damn U" "The Morning Papers" "Pink Cashmere" "Nothing Compares 2 U" "Peach" "Pope" (remix) "Come" "Letitgo" "Space" "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" "P Control" "Dolphin" "Endorphinmachine" "I Hate U" "Gold" "Dinner with Delores" "Betcha by Golly Wow!" "The Holy River" "Somebody's Somebody" "Face Down" "The Truth" "Extraordinary" "The Greatest Romance Ever Sold"

2000s	"U Make My Sun Shine" (with Angie Stone) "When Will We B Paid?" (with Audio Stepchild) "Supercute" "The Work, pt. 1" "Days of Wild" "Musicology" "Cinnamon Girl" "Controversy (Live in Hawaii)" "S.S.T." "Te Amo Corazón" "Black Sweat" "Fury" "Guitar" "F.U.N.K." "Dance 4 Me"

2010s	"Extraloveable" "Rock and Roll Love Affair" "Screwdriver" "Fixurlifeup" "Breakfast Can Wait" "Pretzelbodylogic" "Fallinlove2nite" "Breakdown" "Clouds" "Baltimore" "Hardrocklover" "This Could B Us" "Free Urself"

Promotional singles	"When You Were Mine" "D.M.S.R." "Another Lonely Christmas" "Erotic City" "Hot Thing" "Trust" "Willing and Able" "Nothing Compares 2 U" "Pope" "Love Sign" (with Nona Gaye) "Come" "P. Control" "Dolphin" "Endorphinmachine" "Slave" "Somebody's Somebody" "Face Down" "The Rest of My Life" "5 Women" "It's About That Walk" "Baby Knows" "Man'O'War" "She Loves Me 4 Me" "Last December" "One Nite Alone... Live EP" "Live at the Aladdin Las Vegas" "Call My Name" "The Song of the Heart" "Beautiful, Loved & Blessed" (with Tamar Davis) "Chelsea Rodgers" "Future Baby Mama" "The One U Wanna C" "U're Gonna C Me"

Airplay-only songs	"International Lover" "Shhh" "Satisfied" "Better with Time"

Internet downloads	"One Song" "Cybersingle" "Bataclan" "Glass Cutter" "Live from Paisley Park" "Strange Relationship" (Live in Minneapolis) "Guitar (original "demo" version)" "Love" (acoustic version) "Rock and Roll Love Affair" (Remix 7) "Screwdriver" (Remix) "Boyfriend" (Demo) "That Girl Thang" "Live Out Loud" "Ain't Gonna Miss U When U're Gone" "Extraloveable Reloaded" "Menstrual Cycle" "Octopus Heart" "Groovy Potential" "The Sweeter She Is" "Something in the Water" (Paisley Park Rehearsal) "Da Bourgeoisie" "What If" "The X's Face"

Streams	"U're Still the One" "Xylophone" "In a Large Room with No Light" "Purple and Gold" "Cause and Effect" "Hot Summer" "Rich Friends" "Same Page Different Book" "Stare"

EP's	The Scandalous Sex Suite EP New Power Generation Remixes Gett Off Remix EP Cream Remixes My Name Is Prince Remixes 7 Remixes The Beautiful Experience Letitgo Remixes Space Remixes I Hate U Remixes 1999: The New Master The Greatest Romance Ever Sold Remixes Breakfast Can Wait

Other songs	"I Feel for You" "When You Were Mine" "Private Joy" "How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore?" "17 Days" "The Beautiful Ones" "Computer Blue" "Darling Nikki" "Baby I'm a Star" "4 the Tears in Your Eyes" "Sometimes It Snows in April" "Adore" "Don't Talk 2 Strangers" "I Can't Make U Love Me" "La, La, La Means I Love U" "One of Us" "Everyday Is a Winding Road" "A Case of U"

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