How Stranger Things got rights to Prince songs…
A rocking finale.
“Stranger Things” pulled off a thrilling ending by utilizing two Prince songs in the ultimate episode of the beloved Netflix collection.
Creators Matt and Ross Duffer secured the rights to “Purple Rain” and When Doves Cry,” both from Prince’s Grammy Award-winning 1984 album.
Millie Bobby Brown as Eleven in “Stranger Things.” COURTESY OF NETFLIX © 2025
Ross and Matt Duffer at the “Stranger Things” Season 5 Final Celebration in NYC on Dec. 18. Gregory Pace/Shutterstock
Prince performs during the 2007 Super Bowl. Getty Images
And while the songs had been featured in Prince’s 1984 film, “Purple Rain,” that they had never been used in a TV collection until now.
“When Doves Cry” performs when Hopper (David Harbour) and Murray (Brett Gelman) set off the bomb’s distant set off and the group escapes the interdimensional bridge, while “Purple Rain” performs as Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) seems at the MAC-Z gate and seemingly sacrifices herself as the Upside Down collapses.
“Once we came up with the idea that the record was going to be the trigger for the bomb, we knew we needed an epic needle drop, and so many ideas were thrown around,” Ross told Netflix’s Tudum in an interview launched after the finale.
Noah Schnapp as Will Byers and Winona Ryder as Joyce Byers in “Stranger Things.” COURTESY OF NETFLIX © 2025
Caleb McLaughlin, Natalia Dyer, Gaten Matarazzo, Joe Keery, Charlie Heaton, Finn Wolfhard, Noah Schnapp and Maya Hawke in “Stranger Things 5.” Courtesy of Netflix/Netflix © 2025
“I think there’s nothing really more epic than Prince,” he added.
Ross explained that the brothers “never talked about a song choice as much as we did for that moment,” noting, “What is also very exciting about it is it just has not been used. [Prince’s] estate does not generally allow that song to be licensed outside the ‘Purple Rain’ movie.”
The Duffer Brothers at a “Stranger Things” Season 5 screening in London on Nov. 13. Jonathan Brady/PA Images/INSTARimages
Prince performs during the “HitnRun” tour in Detroit, Michigan in April 2015. Chelsea Lauren
Matt revealed that “thanks to Kate Bush, we were able to acquire the rights.”
Bush’s tune “Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)” had an notorious resurgence when it was used in Season 4.
The show’s creators wished to use two Prince songs in the Season 5 finale, but “we were told that it was a real long shot, so we just crossed our fingers,” Matt said.
Prince performs in Los Angeles in 2009. Kristian Dowling
Prince performs in Washington, DC in 2015. Getty Images
“Thank God they agreed,” Matt added.
The Post has reached out to Prince’s property for remark.
The Duffer Brothers beforehand subtly teased utilizing the Prince songs at the one of the Season 5 crimson carpet premieres in November.
“I don’t even know how would one go about teasing a needle drop. This year, I will say, there is a song I’m particularly proud of. It’s in the finale. It’s never been on a TV show before,” Matt told Entertainment Weekly.
The Duffer Brothers at the “Stranger Things 5” premiere in London on November 13. AFP via Getty Images
“I think because of Kate Bush, we were able to get the rights,” he continued. “Under normal circumstances, they would not have allowed us to get those rights. So I think that’s an epic needle drop, but you gotta wait all the way to the final episode.”
In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Ross teased, “It’s just a very pivotal moment in the show, and we always knew that it was going to revolve around a song. But there was very specific parameters for this song, which made it challenging. And also we knew it was important so I think we quizzed everyone on the cast, all of our friends… We just got lists. ‘What do you think it should be? What do you think it should be?’”
Millie Bobby Brown as Eleven in “Stranger Things.” ©Netflix/Courtesy Everett Collection
Gaten Matarazzo as Dustin Henderson in “Stranger Things.” COURTESY OF NETFLIX © 2025
David Harbour as Jim Hopper in “Stranger Things.” COURTESY OF NETFLIX © 2025
“And when we finally landed on it, it just felt right,” he said. “And the fact that it’s been so rarely licensed, I don’t think it’s ever been licensed for television, just made it that much more special. But hopefully people like it.”
In the show’s two-hour collection finale, called “The Rightside Up,” the gang defeats Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) and none of the main character die — including Eleven.
While everybody thinks she’s useless, Mike (Finn Wolfhard) reveals at the end that she faked her death and resides out a quiet life in a peaceable city close to waterfalls.
All 5 seasons of “Stranger Things” are streaming on Netflix.
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