Announcements of the BET Awards’ Prince tributes made it seems as if it would be a single performance involving D’Angelo, The Roots and others. It was not clear if Drake would attend the BET Awards; his representative did not respond to an email asking if he would go to the show.
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He gave what the Washington Post called “one of the most memorable speeches in award show history”. Tributes poured in for the legends we lost this year, from Prince to Muhammad Ali, and dozens of performances wowed.
According to Billboard.com, Chappelle said in his introduction, “On April 21, we got that news (that Prince had died), and literally our hearts were broken”.
The evening’s program saw a number of musical tributes to the late great Prince.
The Roots later returned with Stevie Wonder, who celebrated Prince’s legacy by singing Take Me With U with Tori Kelly, and Jennifer Hudson also belted out an emotional version of Purple Rain.
That’s what happens when you take viewers and attendees by surprise to open the show, coming out to the stage as the words of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” are played throughout the auditorium.
She said, “I’m really not political but it’s serious out here, and for those who thiking that, you know, “Oh he’s not going to win” – think again”.
The show, hosted by Anthony Anderson and Tracee Ellis Ross, will also include performances by Alicia Keys and Maxwell.
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Rumors of Beyonce performing at the awards event started spreading like fire when her team of back up dancers from the Formation World Tour appeared at the red carpet of the event, Vanity Fair reported. She was soon joined by Kendrick Lamar, who guests on the song, and the pair worked the crowd up into an excited frenzy as they danced and sang together during their surprise appearance. Beyonce is nominated for five BET Awards, including best female R&B/pop artist. He died on June 3 after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease.
