Prince (July 22, 2021) – "Hot Summer" Welcome 2 America Album Preview

Hot Summer is the fifth song of the tenth posthumous album Welcome 2 America released in 2021 (the first full previously‑unreleased studio album of Prince material).

The track premiered on Minnesota public radio station 89.3 The Current’s website on June 7, 2010, Prince’s 52nd birthday.

July 22, 2021 – Hot Summer is made available to stream and download as a preview track from the forthcoming Welcome 2 America album.

Hot Summer was released as the A‑side of a 7" vinyl single distributed as cover mount with the August 2021 edition of Rolling Stone magazine in Germany in July 2021.

While specific recording dates are not known, it is assumed to have been recorded in mid‑March 2010 at Paisley Park Studios in Chanhassen, Minnesota, amidst sessions that yielded material for the Welcome 2 America album that remained unissued during Prince’s lifetime, but was posthumously released in 2021.

The version on Welcome 2 America is a slightly different mix than was played on 89.3 The Current in 2010, with the prominent keyboard‑line buried deeper in the mix.

RELEASE HISTORY

• July 22, 2021 — Hot Summer made available to stream and download as a preview track from the forthcoming Welcome 2 America album

• June 7, 2010 — First released via online stream on 89.3 The Current

• July 2021 — 7" vinyl single distributed with Rolling Stone Germany

RECORDING

Mid‑March 2010 — Paisley Park Studios, Chanhassen, MN, USA (Tracking)

March – April 2010 — Paisley Park Studios, Chanhassen, MN, USA (Vocal overdubs)

Spring 2010 — Paisley Park Studios, Chanhassen, MN, USA (Additional production by Morris Hayes)

Recording Personnel  

Prince — all vocals and instruments

Chris Coleman — drums

Tal Wilkenfeld — bass guitar

Morris Hayes — keyboards

Shelby J. — background vocals

Elisa Dease — background vocals

Liv Warfield — background vocals and adlibs

SOURCES   Discogs, 45 World, Wikipedia, BBC Official Charts, Prince Vault, Sleeveographia2

All magazine scans, photographs, and original text excerpts referenced in this entry remain the property of their respective copyright holders. This Chronicle entry is a transformative, non‑commercial archival summary created for historical documentation and educational reference. No ownership of the original material is claimed or implied.

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