Prince’s Live Debut Full Length Version of ‘Purple Rain’ with Extra Verse [WATCH]

Prince & The Revolution debuted the song Purple Rain in 1983 during a benefit show at First Avenue in Minneapolis. This version includes a 3 minute intro by Wendy Melvoin and a 3rd verse that was cut from the album version. Here's the amazing part, this live version was edited and mixed for the album version. So what you hear on the album and the movie is Prince singing the song live for the very first time, it's just mixed down.

You can hear the dropped 3rd verse at the 6:00 mark. According to a guy who worked at First Avenue doing rigging at the time, the club employees never knew what to expect when they went to work. They didn't know if the band was rehearsing, recording for the album or shooting clips for the movie.

First Avenue is the club where Prince got his start and the setting for the Purple Rain movie. Corey Taylor just happened to be scheduled to play there the day Prince died. Here's his rendition of Little Red Corvette.