20Ten

Prince crafted countless unforgettable lyrics in his lifetime, but few lyrics capture his sense of humor more succinctly than on the final track of 20Ten, “Laydown”: “From the heart of Minnesota, here comes the purple Yoda!”

Encouraged by the success of distributing his 2007 album, Planet Earth, in copies of the U.K. and Ireland’s Mail on Sunday newspaper, Prince upped the ante in 2010 by offering his new release exclusively to readers of England's Daily Mirror, France's Courrier International, Scotland's The Daily Record, Belgium's Het Nieuwsblad, and the German edition of Rolling Stone magazine.

Although the album was never released commercially or made available in any format in the U.S., 20Ten reached millions of listeners across Europe. Because the album was given away for free, there was no way to track album sales and 20Ten was not eligible to be considered for any of the charts, much to Prince’s delight.