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Prince wrote just 28 handwritten pages of his memoir before he died at Paisley Park, his studio complex in Minnesota, on 21 April 2016. In those pages he spells the way his song titles did, with “U” for you and “2” for to, and he writes “eye” for I. His co-writer, Dan Piepenbring, built The Beautiful Ones (2019) around them, adding photographs, drawings, lyrics and an early outline for Purple Rain. Eleven years earlier Prince had published 21 Nights (2008), a book of photographs, poetry and lyrics from his 21-concert run at London’s O2 Arena. This guide covers his two key books, in order, and where to begin.
By Lisanne Swart · 2 key books · 2008–2019 · Updated October 2026
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Quick answer
Prince published two books: The Beautiful Ones (2019), the memoir he was writing with Dan Piepenbring when he died, and 21 Nights (2008), photographs, poetry and lyrics from his 2007 London concerts, sold with a live CD. Start with The Beautiful Ones: it is the only book in which he tells his own story.
Where to Start with Prince
If you want his own story
→ The Beautiful Ones (2019) — the memoir pages he wrote by hand, completed after his death.
If you want his poetry and the London concerts
→ 21 Nights (2008) — photographs, lyrics and a live CD.
2 Prince Books, in Order
21 Nights
Published by Atria Books in October 2008, about his 21-concert stand at London’s O2 Arena in the summer of 2007. It has 124 photographs by Randee St. Nicholas, mostly posed rather than taken on stage, alongside poetry and lyrics by Prince, some from songs he had not recorded. It came with a 14-track CD, Indigo Nights, recorded at the after-shows in Indigo2, the club attached to the arena.
The Beautiful Ones
Published by Spiegel & Grau in October 2019, written with Dan Piepenbring, a journalist at The Paris Review whom Prince chose for the project. The 28 pages Prince wrote by hand cover his childhood, including his parents’ fights. Around them are Piepenbring’s long introduction about their meetings in Minneapolis, New York and Melbourne, childhood drawings and cartoons, lyrics written on scraps such as a paper bag, a photo album Prince put together in 1977 while finishing his first album, and a 1982 outline for Purple Rain with a darker story than the film.
In What Order to Read Prince
The two books are unrelated, so the order does not matter. The Beautiful Ones is the one about his life; 21 Nights is about a single run of concerts in London in 2007.
The Beautiful Ones moves through his life in the order of its materials: his own handwritten pages about childhood first, then the 1977 photo album from the time of his first record, then the outline for Purple Rain. Piepenbring’s introduction explains how the book was put together after Prince died.
A reading path
1. The Beautiful Ones (2019)
2. 21 Nights (2008), with the Indigo Nights CD
The years · 1958–2019
Quick facts about Prince
- Known for
- Prince is known as the singer and songwriter behind Purple Rain (1984), the album and film that won him an Academy Award.
- 1958
- Born in Minneapolis
- 1978
- First album, For You
- 1984
- Purple Rain, album and film
- 2008
- 21 Nights
- Born
- Prince Rogers Nelson, 7 June 1958, Minneapolis, Minnesota
- Died
- 21 April 2016, Paisley Park, Chanhassen, Minnesota, aged 57
- First album
- For You (1978)
- Breakthrough
- Purple Rain (1984), album and film; Academy Award for Best Original Song Score
- Name
- Changed to an unpronounceable symbol in 1993, during a dispute with Warner Bros.
- Honours
- Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, 2004
- Books
- 21 Nights (2008), The Beautiful Ones (2019)
The red mark is 2019: The Beautiful Ones, the memoir published three years after his death.
How Prince Writes
Prince wrote the way he titled his songs. In his handwritten memoir pages “you” is “U”, “to” is “2” and “I” becomes “eye” or a small drawing. The pages are printed as he wrote them, so the reader sees his handwriting rather than a typeset version.
His memoir pages go back to his earliest memories and to his parents’ fights, which he describes in a few short, plain sentences. Much of the rest of The Beautiful Ones is material he made himself and kept: drawings, lyrics on whatever paper was at hand, and a 1977 photo album with his own pencilled remarks.
21 Nights is a different kind of book: poetry and lyrics set beside posed photographs, with music on a CD. For other musicians who write books about their lives, see the guides to Patti Smith and David Byrne.
Frequently asked questions about Prince’s books
How many books has Prince written?
Two: 21 Nights (2008), a book of photographs, poetry and lyrics, and The Beautiful Ones (2019), his unfinished memoir, completed with Dan Piepenbring after his death.
What are Prince’s books in order?
21 Nights (2008), then The Beautiful Ones (2019).
Where should I start with Prince?
With The Beautiful Ones (2019), the only book in which he writes about his own life.
What is Prince’s most famous book?
The Beautiful Ones, the memoir published by Spiegel & Grau in October 2019.
Did Prince write The Beautiful Ones himself?
In part. He wrote 28 pages by hand before he died in April 2016. Dan Piepenbring, the journalist he had chosen as co-writer, completed the book: he wrote a long introduction about their meetings and put Prince’s pages together with his drawings, lyrics, photographs and an early outline for Purple Rain.
Who is Dan Piepenbring?
A New York journalist who was working for The Paris Review when Prince chose him, at 29, to help write the memoir. They spent between 12 and 15 hours together in Minneapolis, New York and Melbourne before Prince died.
What is in The Beautiful Ones?
Prince’s handwritten pages about his childhood; childhood drawings and cartoons; lyrics; a photo album he assembled in 1977, at 19, while finishing his first album, For You; earlier interviews; and a 1982 outline for Purple Rain with a darker storyline than the film.
Is 21 Nights a memoir?
No. It is a book of 124 photographs by Randee St. Nicholas with Prince’s poetry and lyrics, about his 21 concerts at the O2 Arena in London in 2007. It came with the live CD Indigo Nights.
When and how did Prince die?
On 21 April 2016 at Paisley Park, his studio complex and home in Chanhassen, Minnesota, aged 57. The medical examiner’s office reported the cause as an accidental overdose of fentanyl.
Footnotes
- Prince’s posthumous memoir is ready for fans — Associated Press via FOX 5 New York, 2019
- Purple haze (review of 21 Nights) — Star Tribune, 2008
- Prince (musician) — Wikipedia
- Prince died from accidental overdose of painkiller — The Boston Globe, 2016
- Posthumous Prince: an interview with Dan Piepenbring — The Paris Review, 2019
Bibliography last verified 9 October 2026. Where sources give different first-publication years, this page uses the year in library catalogues or the publisher’s own record.
This list was not put together by a machine.
The notes are all mine,
and the books are all his.
Lisanne x
Written by Lisanne Swart, who has curated reading lists and author guides at lisanneswart.com since 2021.
See more on her personal bookshelf.
“The wound of Ur parents fighting is chilling when U’re a child.”
— Prince, The Beautiful Ones (2019), as quoted by the Associated Press
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