I have a question for you all.

Some background first.. I was telling my nephew he looks a lot like George Harrison's son Dhani. I mentioned Prince's fantastic performance of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" on the R&R Hall of Fame induction was the first time I'd ever seen George Harrison's son while he was playing in the band.

I was looking up a clip of that performance to send him, and among some of the comments somebody wrote George Harrison's widow didn't want Prince to perform the song at all because he wasn't a fan. The person went on to say that Prince hadn't even heard the song before???

I was wondering if any of that was true?

All I know is Prince's performance was probably THE BEST tribute performances I've ever seen, and Dhani sure seemed to enjoy it. If he hadn't heard of the song before it's even more amazing he just played the hell out of it.

It looked like to me, Tom Petty and Prince were having fun playing together, too.

Anyone know the story?

deadmansbones said:

I have a question for you all.

Some background first.. I was telling my nephew he looks a lot like George Harrison's son Dhani. I mentioned Prince's fantastic performance of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" on the R&R Hall of Fame induction was the first time I'd ever seen George Harrison's son while he was playing in the band.

I was looking up a clip of that performance to send him, and among some of the comments somebody wrote George Harrison's widow didn't want Prince to perform the song at all because he wasn't a fan. The person went on to say that Prince hadn't even heard the song before???

I was wondering if any of that was true?

All I know is Prince's performance was probably THE BEST tribute performances I've ever seen, and Dhani sure seemed to enjoy it. If he hadn't heard of the song before it's even more amazing he just played the hell out of it.

It looked like to me, Tom Petty and Prince were having fun playing together, too.

Anyone know the story?

Well, I heard that at rehearsal Prince played a bit of that solo so the guys in the band knew what was comin. That's why right before he goes into it you see Dhani start smilin in his direction like, "Get 'em Prince" lol The other thing is that Prince is such a diverse musician let alone a guitarist, it'd be hard to figure that he wouldn't know that song. Especially being that The Beatles are one of the biggest of his many influences.

diamondpearl1 said:

deadmansbones said:

I have a question for you all.

Some background first.. I was telling my nephew he looks a lot like George Harrison's son Dhani. I mentioned Prince's fantastic performance of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" on the R&R Hall of Fame induction was the first time I'd ever seen George Harrison's son while he was playing in the band.

I was looking up a clip of that performance to send him, and among some of the comments somebody wrote George Harrison's widow didn't want Prince to perform the song at all because he wasn't a fan. The person went on to say that Prince hadn't even heard the song before???

I was wondering if any of that was true?

All I know is Prince's performance was probably THE BEST tribute performances I've ever seen, and Dhani sure seemed to enjoy it. If he hadn't heard of the song before it's even more amazing he just played the hell out of it.

It looked like to me, Tom Petty and Prince were having fun playing together, too.

Anyone know the story?

Well, I heard that at rehearsal Prince played a bit of that solo so the guys in the band knew what was comin. That's why right before he goes into it you see Dhani start smilin in his direction like, "Get 'em Prince" lol The other thing is that Prince is such a diverse musician let alone a guitarist, it'd be hard to figure that he wouldn't know that song. Especially being that The Beatles are one of the biggest of his many influences.

Thanks so much for answering the question.

Yeah, I couldn't believe Prince wouldn't have been a fan of the song. I was shocked when I read it.

When I was watching the clip again, I thought the rapport between Dhani and Prince was really sweet. I couldn't imagine any drama about Prince playing. Besides, I had forgotten Prince was also inducted that night, so it made sense for him to be asked to play.

It was really a great moment, I thought. I sent my nephew the clip. He's... let's see...15 years old--very good-looking kid. Unfortunately we all met for a funeral, but my nephew made a splash. He really looks like a rock star.

He plays guitar and writes poetry. I'm hoping to encourage him to write some music. I'm sure he'll enjoy watching Prince...just wail on that guitar. Wow.. I had forgotten how great that performance really was.

Plus, he hasn't seem Dhani before... but everybody was telling my nephew he could be George Harrison's son--and he could definitely be Dhani's brother. It's uncanny the resemblance.

Prince would be impressed with my nephew. He takes guitar lessons... and seems to be quite serious about playing. I think he's good, but he's my sweet nephew, so I'm a little biased.

I'm proud of him.

[Edited 3/21/11 11:49am]

There was an interview at the time where Prince claims he didn't know the song until he was sent the tape to prepare for the performance. I find that hard to believe, though...

It was at around the height of his "if it's black it's good, if it's not I don't wanna know" phase...

I absolutely love that version of the song. And love Prince's solo. It has so much emotion. I think that is why so many people have commented and liked that clip on YouTube.

His performance has cuts through right to my psyche. It touches an emotional nerve. And his showmanship and confidence is the icing on the cake.

After the performance, he went and gave Dhani a big hug - Dhani stated this on his blog at the time.

wasitgood4u said:

There was an interview at the time where Prince claims he didn't know the song until he was sent the tape to prepare for the performance. I find that hard to believe, though...

It was at around the height of his "if it's black it's good, if it's not I don't wanna know" phase...

I took "didn't know that song" to mean "didn't necessarily know how to play it" - or - "never took the time to figure it out" as opposed to "never heard of it".

When I'm jamming with friends, and trying to figure out what to play next, we'll often say something like - "do you know While My Guitar Gently Weeps?" - "nope, don't know it" - does not mean we haven't 'heard of it'

If anyone believes that Prince had never heard the song before, they're delusional. I don't care what he claims - he probably said that to make it seem even more impressive that he "learned" the song in a day.

There's no way of ever proving this, but I would bet that Prince already knew the hits of Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne, and George Harrison.

i am sure prince had heard of the song but maybe he hadnt played it before.