10 of Prince's top performances

A prolific and powerful performer, we have taken a look at some of Prince's finest performances from his career

Author: Alastair SteelPublished 22nd Jun 2021

Prince was an incredible performer with a career spanning an impressive four decades. He released a multitude of hit singles which won him an Oscar, Grammys and countless other awards.

To pay tribute to this charismatic performer, we've put together a list of his best performances of all time.

1) Prince at the Super Bowl Halftime Show (2007)

Possibly his most iconic performance was during the Super Bowl Halftime Show in 2007. He sang 'Purple Rain' in the middle of a downpour - this is truly a performance to remember.

2) Prince and Elton John performing at the O2 (2007)

Also in 2007, Prince performed a massive 21 dates at London's O2 Arena. One memorable performance was with another music legend - Elton John - when they performed The Beatles' cover 'The Long and Winding Road'.

3) Prince and Beyoncé team up for the Grammys (2004)

In a Billboard interview longtime Grammy Awards producer Ken Ehrlich spoke about getting Prince and Beyoncé to collaborate.

After Prince approached Ken about doing a collaboration, Ken spoke to Beyoncé. "She was hesitant. It was a big year for her," he said, but she finally agreed if she could also do a solo performance. The pair sang a 'Purple Rain' medley much to the audience's delight.

4) Prince's Capitol Theatre concert (1982)

This video is a rare recording of his gig at the Capitol Theatre in New Jersey. This was part of a tour which followed Prince's fourth album 'Controversy', released the previous year.

5) Prince and Lenny Kravitz see in the New Year (1999)

On hearing about his death, Lenny described Prince as his 'musical brother'. The pair performed Lenny's 'American Woman' for a New Year's Eve concert to ring in the new millennium. Although a video of their joint performance isn't available, you can see Prince kick off the gig with 'Let's Go Crazy'.

6) Prince live at the BRIT Awards (2006)

Prince took to the stage at the BRITs in 2006, performing a massive 12-minute set including 'Purple Rain' and 'Let's Go Crazy'.

7) Prince at Coachella (2008)

Radiohead's 'Creep' is a massive hit in itself, but when Prince covered it at Coachella in 2008 it divided a lot of fans. After being removed due to Prince's strict copyright rules, the song has resurfaced for us to enjoy.

8) Gnarls Barkley's CeeLo Green joins Prince (2011)

CeeLo Green joined Prince on stage to perform 'Crazy' during an encore in New York at Madison Square Gardens.

9) Prince performs on Saturday Night Live (2014)

Prince stole the show by performing an 8-minute medley of his songs. Sadly, the original video has been taken down, but you can see Jimmy Fallon pay tribute to Prince when he passed.

He also returned to the programme for the 40th anniversary performing at the After Party with Jimmy Fallon.