Prince's 'Little Red Corvette' Turns 37: Six Facts About His Beloved Hit

Prince's long-standing legacy has reminded folks just what a beloved star he was to the music industry and his influence is still something that appears sacred. Just look at the reaction to Justin Timberlake's 2017 Super Bowl LI halftime show, which featured a projection of the late, great icon. He's someone that most can't touch.

Back in February, "Little Red Corvette," one of the Purple Wonder's first hits, turned 37-years-old and to commemorate the anniversary, as well as Black Music Month, iHeartRadio rounded up six facts about the smash single that you might have forgotten about. Scroll on below to revisit one of Prince's catalog highlights!

1. Prince's backing record for "Little Red Corvette" was recorded at Sunset Sound Recorders in Hollywood on August 7, 1982, the same day that "1999" was recorded.

2. Speaking of "1999," the song was the lead single off Prince's album of the same name and preceded the release of "Little Red Corvette." Still, the latter did so much better than "1999" when it came to success, hitting the No. 6 position on the Billboard Hot 100. "1999" originally peaked at the No. 44 spot on the chart in December 1982, but rose to the No. 12 position in July 1983 after it was re-released.

3. Prince got the idea for "Little Red Corvette" when he dozed off in band memberLisa Coleman's 1964 Mercury Montclair Marauderafter an exhausting all-night recording session. Yep, you read that correctly. The song was not inspired by a Corvette at all. As the story goes, the lyrics to the one-night stand anthem came to him in bits and pieces during this nap, among others. Prince helped Lisa buy the car at an auction in 1980 in Minneapolis and she reportedly still owns it to this day.

4. Stevie Nicks got the idea for her 1983 song "Stand Back" from the Prince classic. Nicks heard "Little Red Corvette" in her own car and wrote "Stand Back" that night. She even went a step further with her inspiration for the song by calling Prince, who came to the studio and played keyboards for the track.

5. The Purple Wonder's video for the track was one of the first clips by a black artist to get regular rotation on MTV after Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean." The video was shot during a tour stop in Jacksonville.

6. The album version of the track is five minutes and three seconds long, but the radio edit was cut down to 3:08, which eliminated the reprise where Prince breaks it down and screams, "You must be a limousine!"

Photo: Getty Images


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