--- description: 'The Very Best of Prince' was the top-selling album Thursday afternoon title: Prince's iTunes Sales Spike After His Death image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2d8e4151cf8e1cbb/69889038196cf47c5503b4cf/prince-musician-dead-09.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Prince's iTunes Sales Spike After His Death  by [Julie Shapiro](/author/julie-shapiro/)  ## Julie Shapiro Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 21, 2016 6:48 PM CUT  Prince perform on Feb. 19, 1985 in Inglewood, Calif. Prince perform on Feb. 19, 1985 in Inglewood, Calif.Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images  by [Julie Shapiro](/author/julie-shapiro/)  ## Julie Shapiro Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 21, 2016 6:48 PM CUT [Prince](http://time.com/4303531/prince-dead-photos/ "undefined")‘s albums jumped to the top of iTunes’ best seller list on Thursday as fans learned that the [pop icon had died](http://time.com/4303558/prince-dead-died-death-paisley-park "undefined"). _The Very Best of Prince_, a 2001 greatest hits compilation, topped iTunes’ albums sales list as of 2:30 p.m., followed by _Purple Rain_ and _The Hits/The B-Sides_ in second and third place, and _1999_ at No. 5\. Prince had [pulled his music from streaming sites](http://variety.com/2015/digital/news/prince-spotify-apple-music-streaming-1201533100/ "undefined"), so iTunes is one of the only places to find it online. Prince, 57, died Thursday at his [Paisley Park](http://time.com/4303574/paisley-park-prince-studios/ "undefined") estate in Minnesota, after battling the flu. Dozens of celebrities [offered remembrances of the singer ](http://time.com/4303561/prince-dead-celebrity-tributes/ "undefined")on Twitter, sharing their favorite songs and lyrics. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4303731/prince-dead-itunes-music-sales/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4303731/prince-dead-itunes-music-sales/"},"headline":"Prince's iTunes Sales Spike After His Death","datePublished":"2016-04-21T18:48:22.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:49:53.342Z","description":"The Very Best of Prince was the top-selling album Thursday afternoon","url":"https://time.com/4303731/prince-dead-itunes-music-sales/","keywords":["Tech","Music"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2d8e4151cf8e1cbb/69889038196cf47c5503b4cf/prince-musician-dead-09.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Julie Shapiro","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/julie-shapiro/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2d8e4151cf8e1cbb/69889038196cf47c5503b4cf/prince-musician-dead-09.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Prince Dead TIMEHP","caption":"Prince Musician Dead","creditText":"Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4303731/prince-dead-itunes-music-sales/","name":"Prince's iTunes Sales Spike After His Death"}}]}] ```