The funk-influenced 1982 album “1999” was released by Prince. It was his fifth studio album and the first Prince album recorded with his backing band, the Revolution.
Warner Bros. issued the album on October 27, 1982, as a double LP. Prince wrote, arranged and produced the material, blending funk with synth-pop, R&B, dance music and the emerging Minneapolis sound. The Linn LM-1 drum machine and layered synthesizers became especially important to the album’s tightly programmed grooves.
The title track addressed fears of nuclear proliferation while turning apocalyptic anxiety into a dance-floor anthem. Other major tracks included “Little Red Corvette,” “Delirious,” “Automatic” and “Let’s Pretend We’re Married.” “Little Red Corvette” became Prince’s highest-charting U.S. single at that point, reaching No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Listeners sometimes confuse the album with later Prince landmarks such as Purple Rain, released in 1984. “1999” came first and was the breakthrough that established Prince as a major crossover artist. It originally peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard 200 and was later inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.