Watch: Questlove, Madonna and Stevie Wonder Honor Prince at Billboard Music Awards
May 23, 2016
Last night’s Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas honored the best of the music business today and ended with a touching finale dedicated to the late legend Prince, whose memory was kept alive in both a touching speech from Questlove and a rousing collaboration between Madonna and Stevie Wonder.
Before the musical performance, Questlove came out wearing Prince’s iconic symbol on his jacket to deliver a speech urging all Prince fans to keep the musician’s memory alive. “No matter what kind of music we make, no matter how long we’ve made it, no matter our race, our color, our creed, sexual orientation, all of us live in the land of music,” he said. “And his departure from it was an earthquake.” He went on to outline the traits that Prince embodied, saying, “we can follow his example. We can be fierce. We can be uncompromising. We can be experimental.”
After asking for a moment to remember the legend, Questlove ended his speech by saying, “It can be a moment of silence here in the air, but inside of our heads, it should be anything but silent.”
The night was then closed out by the speakers playing Prince’s famous “Dearly beloved” speech from the beginning of “Let’s Go Crazy” before Madonna came onstage wearing a Prince-like suit to deliver a sparse and emotional rendition of “Nothing Compares 2 U.” Stevie Wonder then joined her onstage to lead the crowd in the refrain of “Purple Rain” to round out the evening. Watch a video of Questlove’s speech below, and see the performance over at
Consequence of Sound.
