Prince's Endless Consort

Prince illustration (Twitter @PrinceNewsRIP)

JAKARTA - The Prince film released in 1984, Purple Rain was registered with the National Film Library of the United States. The film musical - which spawned a soundtrack album and title track of the same name - is now guaranteed its preservation under the National Film Preservation Act.

The film, directed by Albert Magnoli, was developed to showcase the talents of Prince who also made his major acting debut as "The Kid", a character based partly on himself. The film also contains some concert footage.

Purple Rain grossed over $ 68 million at the American box office and over $ 80 million worldwide. It then won an Oscar for Best Original Song Score, the last film to receive the award.

Other films to be filed this year include Spike Lee's She Gotta Have It, Clerks (Kevin Smith) and Martin Scorsese's The Band classic concert film The Last Waltz.

The US National Library adds 25 films to their list each year which this year includes seven films directed by women, including Boys Don't Cry and I Am Somebody.

Looked back a little. Music icon Prince died in April 2016 aged 57 at Paisley Park in Chanhassen, Minnesota. His death was due to an overdose of fentanyl (pain reliever).

In April, Prince Estate (the company that owns Prince's assets) released a 15-track album featuring original versions of the iconic hit Prince wrote for other artists. The full album, titled Originals, was released in physical format on June 21 via Warner Bros.

For the most part, the album consists of songs recorded in the period 1981 to 1991, including original versions of Sheila E's The Glamorous Life and Manic Monday (The Bangles).

Other songs not heard very often include versions of Prince for Make-Up (Vanity 6) and You're My Love (Kenny Rogers). To conclude, Prince Estate chose the iconic song Nothing Compares 2 U, which became a worldwide hit with Sinead O'Connor in 1990.

Meanwhile, at the end of last October, Random House with Prince Estate released a book entitled The Beautiful Ones. This book contains a very personal story about how Prince Rogers Nelson became the Prince we know until his death.

"The true story of a child who absorbs the world around him and creates a personality, artistic vision and life, before the number of hits and fame that will define him," Random House said of the book.