Prince anchors memoir to early memory

US musician Prince will publish his memoir in 2017.[Photo/Agencies]

Prince announced he's writing his memoir, told the audience he was leaving to change clothes and came back to perform songs for the feverish New York City crowd.

Prince said on Friday that his book - with the working title The Beautiful Ones - will be released next year by publishing house Spiegel & Grau.

"If you don't mind, I'm going to go home and change real quick and come back and party with y'all," Prince said.

And he did.

He returned to the dark room to perform for the audience, which included Harry Belafonte, Trevor Noah, rhythm and blues singer Maxwell, journalists and music industry players.

Before his performance, the pop icon said Spiegel & Grau made him "an offer I can't refuse".

He added that the book will start with his first memory.

"This is my first (book). My brother Dan is helping me with it. He's a good critic and that's what I need. He's not a 'yes' man at all and he's really helping me get through this," Prince told the audience.

"We're starting from the beginning from my first memory, and hopefully we can go all the way up to the Super Bowl," he said.

At one point Prince asked the crowd: "You all still read books right?"

The audience roared loudly.

According to a news release about the memoir, "Prince will take readers on an unconventional and poetic journey through his life and creative work".

It says the book will include stories about Prince's music and "the family that shaped him and the people, places, and ideas that fired his creative imagination".

The 57-year-old Minneapolis-born Prince is one of the most successful musical acts of all time. He has released four albums in the last 18 months, including two on the Tidal streaming service last year.

New York-based Spiegel & Grau is an imprint of Penguin Random House. The book will be released in the fall of 2017.