Celebrating 42 Years Since Prince Released 'When Doves Cry,' His Biggest Hit

After Prince vaulted to another level of stardom with his 1982 album 1999, anticipation was high for his follow-up, Purple Rain, the soundtrack album to the 1984 film of the same name. Fortunately, the Minnesota-born musician delivered on all the hype.

Forty-two years ago today, Prince released Purple Rain's first single, "When Doves Cry," roughly one month before the full album dropped. The song wound up being "The Purple One's" biggest hit and one of the most legendary songs of the 1980s.

A smash hit--but not without controversy

Released on May 16, 1984, "When Doves Cry" began a steady climb up the Billboard Hot 100, reaching the top spot on July 7 and staying at No. 1 for five weeks. It became Prince's first No. 1 single, a feat he would repeat multiple times, including with "Let's Go Crazy," another song off Purple Rain.

"When Doves Cry" wound up as the top-selling single of 1984 and finished the year at No. 1 on Billboard's Year-End Hot 100. The song also went No. 1 in Australia and Canada.

However, the music video, which began with Prince emerging out of a bathtub and crawling on the floor, generated blowback from television executives, some of whom thought it was too explicit to air. Still, this controversy did little to affect the song's popularity and or lasting impact.

Prince's biggest hit, and one of the "best songs" ever

"When Doves Cry" is Prince's only song to hit No. 1 in three different countries, and is widely-regarded as one of the top songs of the 1980s--and all time.

In 2024, Rolling Stone ranked it the 37th-best song of all time on its list of the top 500 songs ever.

"Even by Prince standards, it's eccentric; after single-handedly recording the stark, brokenhearted song in the studio, he decided to erase the bass track from the final mix," Rolling Stone wrote. "According to the engineer, Prince said, "Nobody would have the balls to do this. You just wait - they'll be freaking." He was right. Prince made it the soundtrack's first single - and 1984's most avant-garde pop record became his first American Number One hit, keeping Bruce Springsteen's "Dancing in the Dark" out of the top spot."

In 2016, following Prince's death, the song recharted, cracking the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100.

This story was originally published by Men's Journal on May 16, 2026, where it first appeared in the Entertainment section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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This story was originally published May 16, 2026 at 9:43 AM.