Difference between revisions of "The Most Beautiful Girl In The World"

The Gold Experience
Child Of The Sun

• 13 February 1994 (a.m.): Paisley Park Studios, Chanhassen, MN, USA (video premiered during show; no live performance as such); 6 March 1994 (a.m.): Paisley Park Studios, Chanhassen, MN, USA (first live performance)
  
• 14 April 2016 (Show 1): Fox Theatre, Atlanta, GA, USA

• The Ultimate Live Experience
• Japan '96
• Love 4 One Another Charities Tour
• Jam Of The Year World Tour

• 1994, 1995, 1998, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007 (clip only during sampler set), 2011 (clip only during sampler set), 2012 (clip only during sampler set), 2013 (clip only during sampler set), 2014 (instrumental clip only during sampler set) , 2016 (solo piano)

The Most Beautiful Girl In The World was released initially on a stand-alone single, The Most Beautiful Girl In The World, as the first track to carry the artist credit (although seventeen months after the album), and the first Prince/ to be released independently of Warner Bros. (see The Most Beautiful Girl In The World for more details).

A tape containing a 10-minutes medley of remixes of the track and seven other new songs (Interactive, Days Of Wild, Now, Poem, Acknowledge Me, 319, and Pheromone) as well as the show given at Paisley Park Studios in Chanhassen, Minnesota on 13 February 1994, am was purchased by some European radio networks. This tape was broadcast in early March 1994 (by Los 40 Principales in Spain, Radio Veronica and Tros in The Netherlands and DSR3 in the Switzerland).

On 17 May 1994, multiple remixes of the track were released on the The Beautiful Experience EP.

Later in 1994, The Most Beautiful Girl In The World (Saxophone Version) was released by Brian Gallagher on his stand-alone single The Most Beautiful Girl In The World (containing ’s original version as the b-side).

Around the same time, a gender-reversed recording titled The Most Beautiful Boy In The World sung by Mayte was released as a single which also contained a Spanish version, titled ¿Quieres Ser El Mas Bello De Este Mundo?. The Most Beautiful Boy In The World was included as the twelfth and final song on Mayte’s first and only album Child Of The Sun, released in 1995.

In 1995, a slightly different recording of the track was included as the seventh track (fifth song) on Prince’s 17th album The Gold Experience, his first using the name . By this time, other versions using the same basic tracks had already been released, however.

In March of the same year, an instrumental version (titled Beautiful Girl) was released as a b-side on the New Power Generation’s single Get Wild (the first single from Exodus), credited to " and Eric Leeds" (the only time they have shared an artist credit on a track).

’s original version and the remix Beautiful were also included on The Beautiful Experience TV movie.

Basic tracking for the original version took place on 20 September 1993 at Paisley Park Studios in Chanhassen, Minnesota (on the same day as Slave 2 The Funk). Remixes and overdubs took place in early 1994 (during the same set of sessions as Hate U, Days Of Wild, and a new version of Shhh), although specific dates are unknown.

It was announced at one point that Prince (as ) intended the song to be recorded in multiple languages by local artists, but it is unknown how many of these recordings took place; one recording that was made was Le Plus Bel Homme De L’Univers by French model and actress Ophélie Winter (intended for a single, Le Plus Bel Homme De L’Univers), but this remains unreleased.

Kahoru Kohiruimaki (who previously recorded Bliss and Mind Bells) recorded a Japanese-language version of the track as part of this project, but using new music with no input by Prince; as such, it is considered a cover version of the song and is not listed below (Her version was released in remixed form on her 1995 compilation album White Kohhy Best '89-'95 and via her 公式 Kohhy OFFICIAL CHANNEL in 2016).

The Beautiful remix uses similar production to New World, which it replaced as the b-side for The Most Beautiful Girl In The World single (Warner Bros. only authorized Prince to release one song independently, causing New World to be removed).

The original version of the track was included as the sixth track (third song) on a March 1994 configuration of The Gold Experience, and kept as the sixth track (third song) on a May 1994 configuration. It was included as the seventh song on a Summer 1994 configuration, and the sixth song on an August 1994 configuration.

The Mustang Mix of the song was also re-recorded in 1996 at Paisley Park Studios, and was planned for inclusion on The Dawn album, and as a single release, The Most Beautiful Girl In The World (Mustang Mix '96), both of which remain unreleased. The song’s chorus is heavily sampled on the track 2morrow.

Mayte’s version, The Most Beautiful Boy In The World, was included as the eleventh track (labeled a "bonus track") on an early version of her first album, which was titled Latino Barbie Doll at the time, with the Spanish version, ¿Quieres Ser El Mas Bello De Este Mundo?, included as the twelfth and final track (also labeled a "bonus track"), before the album underwent some changes prior to release.

In 1995, two Italian songwriters, Bruno Bergonzi and Michele Vicino filed a lawsuit against Prince for plagiarism. Bergonzi and Vicino claimed that The Most Beautiful Girl In The World borrowed heavily from one of their song called Takin’ Me To Paradise released by Raynard J. in 1983. Bergonzi and Vicino won their case in 2007. This judgement was confirmed by the Supreme Court of Cassation in Italy in 2015, acknowledging Bergonzi and Vicino as co-authors of The Most Beautiful Girl In The World. Although this decision is only limited to the Italian territory (where the song is banned for distribution), it impacted the status of The Gold Experience in other countries. After Prince’s passing, his Estate re-released many of his albums physically (through Warner Bros. or Sony’s Legacy Recordings), except The Gold Experience because of this legal action. All of his albums were also made available on streaming plateforms including The Gold Experience, but without The Most Beautiful Girl In The World. It was not until February 2022, after the dispute was settled, that the song was finally put online.

versions

• Prince (as ) - all vocals and instruments, except where noted
• Ricky Peterson - additional keyboards (as "Ricky P.")
• Michael B. - additional drums
• James Behringer - additional guitar

and Eric Leeds version

• Eric Leeds - saxophone
• Prince (as ) - all instruments, except where noted
• Ricky Peterson - additional keyboards (as "Ricky P.")
• Michael B. - additional drums
• James Behringer - additional guitar

Brian Gallagher version

• Brian Gallagher - saxophone
• Prince (as ) - all instruments, except where noted
• Ricky Peterson - additional keyboards (as "Ricky P.")
• Michael B. - additional drums
• James Behringer - additional guitar

Mayte version

• Mayte - lead vocals
• Prince (as ) - background vocals and all instruments, except where noted
• Ricky Peterson - additional keyboards (as "Ricky P.")
• Michael B. - additional drums
• James Behringer - additional guitar

Ophélie Winter version

• Ophélie Winter - lead vocals
• Prince (as ) - background vocals and all instruments, except where noted
• Zazie - background vocals
• Ricky Peterson - additional keyboards (as "Ricky P.")
• Michael B. - additional drums
• James Behringer - additional guitar

• The Gold Experience album
• The Most Beautiful Girl In The World single
• The Most Beautiful Girl In The World single (Brian Gallagher)
• The Most Beautiful Boy In The World single
• Child Of The Sun album
• The Most Beautiful Girl In The World video
• The Beautiful Experience TV movie
• Le Plus Bel Homme De L’Univers unreleased single
• Mayte
• Brian Gallagher
• Eric Leeds

• This track is the earliest-released track to receive the official artist credit "".
• A drum sample used in some of the remixes of the song (Staxowax, Flutestramental, Sexy Staxophone And Guitar and the 10-minute version) is originally from You’ll Like It Too by Funkadelic (from Connections & Disconnections, 1980). That sample also appears on Simon Harris’ compilation "Beats, Breaks & Scratches Volume 1" as Funky Roll (released in 1987). Prince likely took it from there as Simon Harris’ Beats, Breaks & Scratches compilations were heavily used by him and his associates in the early nineties on various songs and remixes. The same Funky Loop sample also appears on Color and Jam Of The Year.

• The Vault: The Definitive Guide to the Musical World of Prince (2004)
• Prince: All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track by Benoit Clerc (Mitchell Beazley : 2022) ISBN 1784728241
• Prince’s Italian Plagiarism Case Drags On by Mark Worden (Billboard: 20 July, 2016)
• ‎"Truth In Rhythm" - Ricky Peterson (Prince, Others), Part 1 of 2 on Funknstuff (3 January 2023)