1986 Hit Ranked Among ‘Greatest Songs of All Time' Hit No. 1 40 Years Ago Today
"Kiss" by Prince hit No. 1 on the charts 40 years ago today!
On April 19, 1986, the song reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, holding the top spot for two weeks. Later that year, the single was certified gold after selling more than 1 million copies.
"Kiss" was Prince's third number one hit in the United States, following 1984's "When Doves Cry" and "Let's Go Crazy." The song also famously held off "Manic Monday" by The Bangles from topping the charts.
"Kiss" began as a rough acoustic demo, with the verse and chorus both written by Prince. He gave his demo to rock/funk band Mazarati, who worked on it with producer David Z at Sunset Sound Studio 2 in Hollywood.
In 2021, Rolling Stone ranked "Kiss" No. 85 on their list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time."
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"When Mazarati, one of the bands in Prince's Paisley Park orbit, asked him for a song, Prince dashed off a bluesy acoustic demo for them," Rolling Stone wrote in their review. "Mazarati added a funk groove, and Prince was smart enough to take the song back, maintaining some of producer David Z's arrangements and the band's background vocals but no bass line, to the disappointment of his label."
The outlet also spoke to Z, who recalled, "At that time, however, Prince had enough power to go, ‘That's the single and you're not getting another one until you put it out.' The rest is history."
"That song totally reignited his career, and a year later Warner Bros. was trying to sign people who sounded like that," Z added.
Following Prince's death at the age of 57 in April 2016, the song re-charted on the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 28, and jumped to No. 23 a week later.
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This story was originally published April 19, 2026 at 7:00 AM.