Madonna has paid homage to Prince by wearing his signature colour and bringing another icon – Stevie Wonder – onstage to sing the classic Purple Rain at Sunday’s Billboard Music Awards.
Sitting atop a purple throne, Madonna kicked off the tribute with a version of Nothing Compares 2 U, which Prince wrote and Sinead O’Connor recorded. She was teary-eyed as she sang the song,
Wonder, in a purple scarf, later joined her for Purple Rain as the audience at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas sang along.
“Most of all, thank you Prince Rogers Nelson for all that you’ve given us,” Madonna said after the performance.
Prince died on April 21 at age 57. The icons collaborated on Love Song in 1989 and Madonna was met with criticism online when Billboard announced she would be the one to pay homage to The Purple One. Some felt she should not do the tribute alone, and others said a black artist should be involved.
“All of us live in the land of music and his departure was an earthquake,” Roots drummer Ahmir “
“I just want to take a moment to remember the great Prince Rogers Nelson.”
Their performance has received mixed reactions online…
Crying. Great tribute. @Madonna and #StevieWonder are beautiful. #Prince
— Margaret Cho (@margaretcho) 23 May 2016
My take on @madonna‘s #bbmas #PrinceTribute pic.twitter.com/shRbkckEOw
— Jason Sywak (@SywakSays) 23 May 2016
Dearly Beloved, we r gathered here today to see a horrific flat version of my music @Madonna #BBMAs #PrinceTributeGoneWrong
— Santiago Restrepo (@Santisus) 23 May 2016
Watch their performance below and tell us what you think:
Watch: Stevie Wonder and @Madonna pay tribute to Prince at the #BBMAs https://t.co/VIlBnzZkWp https://t.co/S1wHpqvmw9
— Hollywood Reporter (@THR) 23 May 2016
Source: AAP / Hollywood Reporter
