Prince The Black Album (1987) Value & Price Guide

One week before Christmas 1987, Warner Bros. Records had 500,000 copies of Prince's new album sitting in a warehouse, ready to ship. The catalog number was 25677-1. The cover was solid black with nothing but that number printed on the spine. There was no title on the packaging. Inside was some of the rawest, funkiest, most explicit music Prince had ever recorded.

Then Prince called it off. All of it. The entire pressing run was ordered destroyed.

The reasons have become part of rock mythology. Prince reportedly had a spiritual experience, possibly influenced by his Jehovah's Witness faith, and decided the album was too dark, too evil to release. Some accounts say he had a bad ecstasy trip. Others say he simply changed his mind. Whatever happened, the destruction order went out, and workers at pressing plants across North America fed hundreds of thousands of records into industrial shredders.

A handful survived. Nobody knows exactly how many. The best estimates put the number of original 1987 U.S. vinyl pressings at fewer than ten.

Quick Value Summary

Item: Prince - The Black Album (1987 Recalled Pressing)
Year: 1987 (recalled before release)
Label: Warner Bros. Records (catalog 25677-1)
Category: Vinyl Records
Condition Range:
  Original 1987 U.S. Vinyl (any condition): $15,000 - $30,000+
  Original 1987 German Vinyl: $5,000 - $15,000
  Original 1987 CD (promo): $3,000 - $10,000
  1994 Official Vinyl Release: $100 - $300
  1994 Promo Colored Vinyl: $1,000 - $3,000
Record Sale: $27,500 (Discogs, 2018 - original 1987 U.S. vinyl)
Rarity: Extremely Rare (original 1987 pressing)

The Story

Prince recorded The Black Album in late 1987, during one of the most productive periods in music history. He was coming off Sign o' the Times and working simultaneously on what would become Lovesexy. The Black Album sessions were loose, funky, and deliberately stripped down. Tracks like "Bob George" featured Prince adopting a deep, menacing voice to play a violent character. "Le Grind" and "Cindy C" were pure party funk. "Dead on It" took aim at hip-hop.

The album was finished and mastered. Test pressings were approved. Warner Bros. set a December 7, 1987 release date. Promotional copies went out to radio stations and reviewers. The pressing plants ran their full production orders.

Then, somewhere around December 1, Prince pulled the plug. The specifics vary depending on who tells the story. Ingrid Chavez, a singer and Prince associate, has said that Prince listened to the album during a party, had a bad reaction (some sources say drug-related), and became convinced the music was "evil." Within days, he recorded "Positivity" and decided to replace The Black Album with Lovesexy, a more spiritual, uplifting record.

Warner Bros. scrambled. The destruction order covered vinyl, cassettes, and CDs. Most were successfully destroyed, but the logistics of recalling product that had already shipped to distributors meant that some copies inevitably slipped through. A few pressing plant employees pocketed copies. A few promo CDs were already in the hands of radio programmers who never returned them.

Bootleg cassette copies circulated almost immediately, making The Black Album one of the most bootlegged records in history. The mystique only grew. By the early 1990s, the album had achieved a legendary status that no official release could match.

In 1994, Prince finally allowed Warner Bros. to officially release The Black Album, but with a new catalog number (1-45793). The official release was limited and is now out of print, but it's nowhere near as valuable as the original 1987 pressing.

How to Identify It

The 1987 original U.S. pressing:

• All-black sleeve with no printing except catalog number 25677-1 on the spine

• Black PVC inner sleeve

• Label on the vinyl itself should show Warner Bros. Records branding with the 25677 catalog number

• Matrix numbers on the run-out groove are specific and documented (sellers with genuine copies can verify these)

• The vinyl should be standard black, standard weight

The 1994 official release:

• Different catalog number: 1-45793

• May include liner notes or credits not present on the 1987 pressing

• Much more common and significantly less valuable

Key differences from counterfeits:

• The Black Album is one of the most counterfeited records in existence. Convincing fakes have been produced since the late 1980s.

• Genuine 1987 pressings have specific matrix numbers in the dead wax that are known to authentication experts but not widely published (to prevent more convincing fakes)

• The vinyl quality, label printing, and sleeve construction should all be consistent with late-1987 Warner Bros. manufacturing standards

• Any purchase of a purported original should involve expert authentication

Value by Condition

Original 1987 U.S. Vinyl: So few copies exist that traditional condition grading barely applies. Every confirmed sale is a major event in the record collecting world. In April 2016, a copy sold on Discogs for $15,000. In August 2018, another copy sold on Discogs for $27,500, setting the record for the most expensive item ever sold on that platform at the time. The seller was a former employee of a Toronto pressing plant who had saved a copy from destruction.

Any confirmed original 1987 U.S. vinyl, regardless of condition, would likely sell for $15,000 or more today. A sealed copy, if one exists, could potentially reach $50,000+.

Original 1987 German Vinyl: A small number of German pressings also survived. These are easier to authenticate due to different manufacturing characteristics. Values range from $5,000 to $15,000, though sales are rare enough that pricing is volatile.

Original 1987 Promo CDs: Promotional CD copies were sent to radio stations before the recall. These surface more frequently than vinyl copies but are still very scarce. Values: $3,000-$10,000 depending on condition and provenance.

1994 Official Release (Vinyl): The legitimate commercial release is collectible but not rare in the same league. Sealed copies: $200-$300. Near Mint: $100-$200. These are not investment-grade items.

1994 Promo Colored Vinyl: Warner Bros. produced a very limited run of promotional colored vinyl for the 1994 release, overseen by Jeff Gold (a senior Warner executive who worked directly with Prince). These are genuinely scarce and sell for $1,000-$3,000.

Authentication and Fakes

This is perhaps the most counterfeited record in collecting history. The all-black, text-free packaging makes it trivially easy to create convincing fakes.

Red flags:

• Any "original 1987" pressing priced under $5,000 is almost certainly fake

• Sellers who can't provide detailed provenance (how did this specific copy survive destruction?)

• Vinyl weight or quality inconsistent with 1987 Warner Bros. standards

• Matrix numbers that don't match known authentic copies

Authentication resources:

• Jeff Gold at Recordmecca has authenticated copies and provides signed letters of authenticity

• The website the-black-album.info maintains detailed information about known authentic copies

• PCGS-equivalent services don't exist for vinyl, so provenance documentation and expert opinion are the primary authentication methods

Do not buy a claimed original without expert authentication. The counterfeiting is sophisticated enough that visual inspection alone is insufficient.

Where to Sell

For original 1987 pressings:

• Specialist dealers like Recordmecca, who understand the provenance requirements and have the collector network to find buyers

• Major auction houses (Heritage Auctions, Sotheby's) for high-profile consignment

• Discogs has handled the two most notable public sales but offers less protection than auction houses

For 1994 releases:

• Discogs and eBay are both fine for the standard 1994 release

• Expect to net $70-$150 after fees for a Near Mint copy

Selling costs for original pressings: Authentication and provenance documentation are essential. Budget $500-$1,000 for professional authentication. Auction house premiums run 15-25% of the hammer price. For a $20,000+ item, insured shipping will cost $200-$500.

Not sure what pressing you have? Upload a photo to Curio Comp for help identifying your copy.

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