On April 21, 2016, music fans across the world were stunned by the news that Prince had died at his Paisley Park estate in Chanhassen, Minnesota.
“Prince was one of the most unique and exciting artists of the last 30 years,” Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger commented, while Elton John hailed the 57-year-old star as "probably the greatest musician I've ever seen live on stage."
"There was nothing he couldn't do," he continued. "He was a showman, a great writer, an incredible performer, singer, guitarist, and we all knelt at his feet."
Other artists chose to honour the legendary musician by performing tributes to the ground-breaking, phenomenally-gifted, singular talent. Here are five of the best salutes to his genius.
Bruce Springsteen
Prince and Bruce Springsteen truly exploded into global consciousness in the mid ‘80s, with the release of Purple Rain and Born In The USA, released just three weeks apart in June 1984. On April 23, 2016, two days after Prince's death, Springsteen and his E Street Band opened their show at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, bathed in purple light, with an emotional performance of the title track of Purple Rain.
"Prince forever," Springsteen said. "God bless."
Chris Cornell
Chris Cornell began covering Nothing Compares 2 U, made famous by Sinead O'Connor but written by Prince, while touring in 2015. On April 21, 2016, Soundgarden's frontman uploaded his take on the song on his YouTube channel.
“Prince’s music is the soundtrack to the soulful and beautiful universe he created, and we have all been privileged to be part of that amazing world,” Cornell stated. “I performed his song Nothing Compares 2 U for the first time a couple months ago. It has a timeless relevance for me and practically everyone I know. Sadly, now his own lyrics in this song could not be more relevant than at this moment, and I sing them now in reverence as I pay tribute to this unequaled artist who has given all of our lives so much inspiration and made the world so much more interesting. We will miss you Prince!!!”
David Gilmour
One of the most understated, tasteful and beautiful tributes to Prince in the aftermath of his passing came courtesy of David Gilmour, as the Pink Floyd legend incorporated musical phrases from Purple Rain into his iconic guitar solo on Comfortably Numb during his Teenage Cancer Trust show at the Royal Albert Hall on April 24, 2016.
Pearl Jam
In a similar vein, Pearl Jam closed out their April 21, 2016 performance at the Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, South Carolina with guitarist Mike McCready incorporating ‘licks’ from Purple Rain in his solo on final encore Yellow Ledbetter.
Earlier in the evening, following a performance of Even Flow, a song which Prince himself had covered, Eddie Vedder addressed Prince’s death, saying, “The shocking news of the day was losing an incredible musician. All of us on this stage can tell you: that guy loved music so damn much. He never stopped playing, never stopped writing, never stopped recording, never stopped creating. He was dripping with songs. They’d go into the shower after he took a shower and there’d be three songs laying there.”
Describing Prince as “an intense cat”, Vedder closed his tribute by hailing the late legend as "probably the greatest guitar player we’ve ever seen.”
Lenny Kravitz
When it came to honouring Prince at the 2017 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, there was really only one appropriate choice to salute his memory. Lenny Kravitz and Prince had been friends since the early '90s.
"Not to be dramatic or overly sensitive, but I really feel like a piece of me died," Kravitz recalled to Rolling Stone following his friend's passing, going on to hail the influence Prince had upon him.
"Here was an African-American cat, skin color like mine was, playing the guitar like I wanted to play," he said. "He had a very deep impact on me. I was able to see where I could go.
"I remember sitting in biology class in high school. I had a Sony Walkman and I’m listening to Dirty Mind... That record just opened up my imagination as to where I wanted to go. He looked like me. I could identity with him. I had this big imagination as to where I was gonna go, and it did not fit in a box. He was saying to me, ‘You can do this. This is how I did it, and now you do it your way.’ That meant a lot. He was a mentor and then someone I got to know as a friend and play with. So when he left, a part of me really went too."
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