It is certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and is considered to be one of Prince's signature songs.

[8] "Purple Rain" was originally written as a country song and intended to be a collaboration with Stevie Nicks.

[9] According to Nicks, she received a 10-minute instrumental version of the song from Prince with a request to write the lyrics, but felt overwhelmed.

[14] In the context of the film, each verse ties into a different strained relationship Prince's character has and his desire to reconcile.

[15][irrelevant citation] The song was recorded during a benefit concert for the Minnesota Dance Theatre at the First Avenue nightclub in Minneapolis on August 3, 1983.

[17] David's older brother Cliff Rifkin was the regional promotion executive for Warners in Minneapolis, who also expedited Prince's label signing.

Prince performed overdubs while working at Sunset Sound in Los Angeles from August to September 1983.

[20] Lisa Coleman created the string arrangement, played by her brother and friends, that was overdubbed into the song in a studio in Los Angeles.

Towards the end, Prince mentions "The Dance Electric", which was a song given to former band member André Cymone.

In the UK, the 12-inch single also included an instrumental of "God", also known as "Love Theme from "Purple Rain", an edited portion of which appears in the film.

At the Super Bowl XLI halftime show, in which he was the featured performer, "Purple Rain" was featured as the last song of Prince's set and was, appropriately, played during a downpour at the stadium; when combined with the purple stage lighting, this created the song's signature image.

[8] In a contemporary review of the single release, Billboard called it "pretty majestic," stating, "captured in four minutes, the song and the emotion that make the pivotal moment of a remarkable film.

[22] Q magazine placed it at number 40 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks, and Pitchfork named it the best song of the 1980s.