The Beautiful Ones

by Prince

Anyone who knew Prince knew that it was never a good idea to guess how he’d feel about something. But insofar as he envisioned this book as a collaborative project, I believe this is the closest, truest realization of the work that we started during those three whirlwind months in 2016. It asks the reader to fill in the gaps, to imagine a way into the negative space. If it raises as many questions as it answers, so much the better—his intention was never to puncture the veil of mystery around him. For the rest of my life, I’ll wonder what sort of book Prince and I would’ve written had he remained alive. These pages represent only a sliver of what could’ve been—and this book is, in its very existence, an expression of grief as much as a celebration of life. But I hope it makes good on the mission he set out for us: to provide “a handbook for the brilliant community, wrapped in autobiography, wrapped in biography,” a book that blended our voices to tell a story, his story, with purpose.