Beyonce officially kicked off her Formation World Tour Wednesday night in Miami and honored musical icon Prince by blasting a recording of “Purple Rain” to a crowd of tens of thousands of people who enthusiastically sang along. While Beyonce was off stage, a gigantic box in the center of the massive stage became the color purple as the classic rock ballad played throughout the stadium.
You may remember Prince and Beyonce performed a medley of songs from Purple Rain together at the 2004 Grammy’s. Beyonce has also performed “The Beautiful Ones” in the past during her live shows.
During the concert, the singer also paid tribute to one of Prince’s ex-girlfriends and ex-proteges, Denise “Vanity” Matthews, who died from kidney failure and abdominal issues back in February. Beyonce mashed up Vanity 6’s “Nasty Girl” with her own song “Blow,” which appeared on her self-titled album in 2013. She has also mashed up “Nasty Girl” with her song “Naughty Girl” in the past.
Other artists have also been paying tribute to Prince, following the musician’s sudden death last Thursday. D’Angelo beautifully covered “Sometimes It Snows In April” with the help of Maya Rudolph and Gretchen Lieberum’s cover band, Princess, on The Tonight Show Tuesday night. Meanwhile, Bruce Springsteen performed his own rendition of “Purple Rain” at his Brooklyn Concert last Saturday night.
(Via Rolling Stone)
