UPDATE: Madonna Weighs In, Defends Prince Tribute – You Won’t Believe What She Had To Say
hellobeautiful.com
“I Love Prince 4 Ever!”
By now, we’re sure you’ve heard all about Madonna’s salute to Prince at this weekend’s Billboard Music Awards. The Queen of Pop hit the stage Sunday evening in a paisley purple suit and with the help of special guest Stevie Wonder, delivered a performance of “Nothing Compares 2 U” followed by “Purple Rain” that left viewers more than a little confused and a little angry, wondering why Madonna was selected for such a tribute as opposed to, say, Sheila E. or Prince’s former band, The Revolution.
It’s been two days since the tribute aired, and Madonna has officially weighed in on the tribute controversy, defending both her performance and her right to pay tribute to Prince via an Instagram post:
“Anyone who wants to do a tribute to Prince is welcome to. Whatever your age Gender or skin Color. If you loved him and he inspired you then show it!!!! I love Prince 4 ever ?☔️???”
To be fair, the odds were stacked against Madonna long before she even took the stage; fans took to social media in the days leading up to the Billboard Music Awards, and even created a petition on change.org to have her removed and another, more suitable artist perform in her place. How does one perform a tribute to an artist as prolific and beloved as Prince without offending both the artist’s family and fans, and without also committing career suicide in the process?
Unfortunately, the jury’s still out on that one and hopefully, we won’t have to come up with an answer to that question for quite some time – we’ve been hit with that conundrum way too many times this year.
