The White House celebrated International Jazz Day yesterday with a star-studded affair. However, one of the best parts of the evening came when one incomparable music legend paid tribute to another.
Herbie Hancock, John McLaughlin, Chick Corea, Sting and Esperanza Spalding were among the luminaries showcasing their talents for President and “Roast King” Barack Obama. The performances are all fantastic, but one of the most remarkable moments was Aretha Franklin’s tribute to Prince. Stepping out to the brand of applause one might expect for the Queen of Soul, she performed the Purple One’s immortal “Purple Rain” and encouraged the audience to sing along. The rendition was brief, but we’ll take Aretha covering Prince for any length of time. (Check out Aretha’s “Purple Rain” out at the 1:14:18 mark in the video nestled above.)
After Prince’s death, Aretha shared her feelings on the loss in an interview with MSNBC’s Brian Williams. She clearly held the Minnesotan cultural icon in high regard:
“He was definitely an original and a one-of-a-kind. There was truly only one Prince,” the soul singer said in an interview soon after Prince’s death. “He put his stamp [on his sound]. Prince is gone but his music lives on.” Franklin added, “There was a mystique about him that made you want to know a little more about him. Kind of like Stevie [Wonder], he was one of those artists that loved to go into and stay in the studio.”
Of course, this was the same interview in which Aretha suggested (unprompted) that the Zika virus may have had something to do with Prince’s death. The CDC’s data indicates that such a scenario would be unlikely.
(Via Rolling Stone)
