Beyoncé has written the foreword to a new book about Prince called Prince: A Private View, reports EW. The hardback features photography of the late musician by longtime friend Afshin Shahidi.

“Truth be told, the word ‘icon’ only scratches the surface of what Prince was and what he remains to me,” the R&B superstar writes about the Purple One. Beyonce performed "Crazy In Love" with Prince at the 2004 Grammy Awards.

Shahidi has photographed Prince for over a decade and was his friend for 20 years. The book will detail their close friendship and professional relationship through photographs. Interestingly, Shahidi’s connection to Beyoncé goes beyond the book. His daughter, black-ish star Yara, has appeared in Queen Bey’s Lemonade film and modeled for her Ivy Park clothing line.

The veteran shutterbug went on his Instagram page to officially announced the release of his Prince book. "I'm beyond excited to officially share with you what I've been working on," he writes. "This is the cover to my new book which comes out in October. I feel so thankful and blessed that @beyonce agreed to lend her voice to this book honoring Prince! Link to a preview in my bio!"

Prince: A Private View will be released Oct. 17 via St. Martin’s Press for $35. You can check out exclusive images from the upcoming book at EW.

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