A new report in TMZ alleges that the estate of the late music icon Prince is in the early stages of planning a reality show featuring his family members. Citing “sources close to Prince’s heirs,” the site claims that the TV series has a production company behind it and is “in the works right now, and will focus on how their lives have changed since [Prince] died.”
The site further put forth that Prince’s estate and family have fought to prevent his one-time collaborator George Ian Boxhill, the producer of the controversial Deliverance EP, from releasing new Prince music “so they can debut it on the show.” Prince, of course, was an intensely private person who never in a million years would have appeared on a reality television docuseries.
Fans were clamoring in anticipation of the Deliverance EP, a collection of unreleased songs by the late artist known as Prince. In grossly opportunistic fashion, the mini-album was scheduled to be released on April 21, the one-year anniversary of Prince’s death, and had managed to reach No. 1 on iTunes’ pre-order chart. Our own Stereo Williams listened to an early stream of the EP, calling some of the tunes “on par with some of his best post-Musicology tracks,” while questioning the “motives and legal sparring” behind the release.
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Prince’s estate had, prior to its release, filed a federal lawsuit against Deliverance co-producer Boxill accusing him of violating the terms of his agreement with the late music legend.
“The Estate of Prince Rogers Nelson is aware that Mr. George Ian Boxill, in conjunction with Rogue Music Alliance, has issued a press release announcing an intent to distribute previously unreleased Prince master recordings and musical compositions,” the estate’s statement read.
“Like the other engineers that had the opportunity to work with Prince, Mr. Boxill signed an agreement, under which he agreed (1) all recordings that he worked on with Prince would remain Prince’s sole and exclusive property; (2) he would not use any recordings or property in any way whatsoever; and (3) he would return any such recordings or property to Prince immediately upon request. Mr. Boxill did not comply with his agreement,” it continued. “Instead, Mr. Boxill maintained copies of certain tracks, waited until after Prince’s tragic death, and is now attempting to release tracks without the authorization of the Estate and in violation of the agreement and applicable law.”
On April 19, just two days before the scheduled release date of the Deliverance EP, Judge Wilhelmina M. Wright of the U.S. District court in Minnesota issued a temporary restraining order blocking the release of the EP, and forcing Boxhill to “deliver all of the recordings acquired through his work with Paisley Park Enterprises” back to Prince’s estate, reported The New York Times.
“The Federal Court located in Minnesota has temporarily enjoined the release of the remaining unreleased tracks on the ‘Deliverance’ EP. The court order has not enjoined the released single ‘Deliverance,’” Boxhill and his label Rogue Music Alliance said in a statement. “Therefore the ‘Deliverance’ single will continue to be sold.” The restraining order expires on May 3, but can be extended.
