PliablyPurple said:

I teared up a few times. A few were hits, a few misses, but I walked away thinking that Sheila E really needs to front The Revolution and hit the road. Continue the celebration, yo, that felt really good and I can't believe I am going to use this word but it felt like one of the most authentic performances of all the tributes I've seen so far. For, um, obvious reasons . But I think it was Sheila's performance that really captured that feeling for me. She embodied, as well as one can, Prince's frontperson spirit animal.

I was totally thinking when they started doing "America" that The Revolution was coming to the stage. If not the whole group, at the very least Wendy. That would have set it off (for me anyway) like nothing else imaginable. A seriously missed opportunity.

djThunderfunk said:

I don't like this song Alicia is doing but damn I'm still impressed with the performance.

That's how I felt. I didn't care for the song but her performance of it was on point.

HatrinaHaterwitz said:

PliablyPurple said:

I teared up a few times. A few were hits, a few misses, but I walked away thinking that Sheila E really needs to front The Revolution and hit the road. Continue the celebration, yo, that felt really good and I can't believe I am going to use this word but it felt like one of the most authentic performances of all the tributes I've seen so far. For, um, obvious reasons . But I think it was Sheila's performance that really captured that feeling for me. She embodied, as well as one can, Prince's frontperson spirit animal.

I was totally thinking when they started doing "America" that The Revolution was coming to the stage. If not the whole group, at the very least Wendy. That would have set it off (for me anyway) like nothing else imaginable. A seriously missed opportunity.

I wonder what happened?

endiadj said:

it's not just prince. i bet if they asked many in this generation to name some michael jackson, whitney, madonna, springteen songs, the majority of them would be stumped.

Hell, most of them in the audience were probably looking at Erykah, Maxwell, and Bilal and thinking, "Who day?" Any artist who's been out for more than ten years ago outside of Beyonce is a complete unkwown to most of them.

NinaB said:

I've never understood how a person can know his lyrics, life story, family background, interviews etc etc & not see he's a black man from North America

I truly believe they think it's the polite thing to do.

Right! I almost didnt believe my ears!!! I Love Sheila for doing that! His voice was seriously like an angel... Gosh, I loved all the tributes last night. I believe each artist who performed chose material that meant sometihng personally to them. Kudos to all!!!

HatrinaHaterwitz said:

tracyface said:

QUESTION: WAS THAT PRINCE'S VOICE INTRODUCING SHEILA E. LAST NIGHT? It sure sounded like him.

Loved the tribute folks!!!

Yes, it was him. I damn near lost my mind when I heard him.

CROWNS1 said:

Agree. While he was trying to find a way to make things balanced, he isolated his work. Reading the comments on the Youtube videos its amazing how many people are saying they never knew he did this song or that song, or they never knew he was so good. It was a double edged sword for him I think, the business of trying to be compensated for his work and still be heard on a wide scale. In the end though, he left all of his work for everyone forever. I hope the world doesn't turn so digital that no one has to actually learn to play an instrument though, that future generations won't experience the joy of watching someone play a guitar but yet will only hear what digital concoction someone comes up with in a studio. sigh.

It was his biggest mistake. True, he wouldn't have made much money from YouTube itself BUT opening his own channel would have made certain music available to all.

In this regard, he was pennywise and pound foolish. Imagine how his precious ALBUMS would have sold if one or two songs had been introduced to the digital audience.

But hey. What can we say? He did as he wanted and it made him happy.

babynoz said:

babynoz said:

HatrinaHaterwitz said:

I was totally thinking when they started doing "America" that The Revolution was coming to the stage. If not the whole group, at the very least Wendy. That would have set it off (for me anyway) like nothing else imaginable. A seriously missed opportunity.

I wonder what happened?

IDK? But I've asked on FB and Twitter. If I get an answer, I'll be sure to let you know.

NinaB said:

babynoz said:

I truly believe they think it's the polite thing to do.

Yeah, you've definitely got a point there. Brings 2 mind the scene in 'Do the right thing' with the celebrities up on Sal's wall.

HatrinaHaterwitz said:

babynoz said:

I wonder what happened?

IDK? But I've asked on FB and Twitter. If I get an answer, I'll be sure to let you know.

Thanks, please do.

Stevie and whoever Tori is were okay. Not great but not bad.

Jennifer Hudson is over rated. Her performance was better than Madonna's but otherwise unremarkable and whomever the guitarist was should have just stayed in the shadows cuz that solo was unimpressive.

1Sasha said:

Oh, boy, here we go ... Did anyone else think Prince's recent appearance from the natural hair (Afro-style) to the tunics and chains had him resembling African-American men of the 70s? It was as if he wanted to leave the image he had cultivated behind in favor of what he was comfortable with in the 70s as he started his career. But then there were the complaints that his women were usually light-skinned - where were the darker-skinned women in his life? I am white, and I never thought of him as a black artist. In fact, I never thought of him in terms of color. He always said he was "old school," loving the James Brown School of Entertainment. Or, as in a quip about Madonna (paraphrasing) that he could sing and dance at the same time. But his color never entered into it for me.

Actually I thought he was pulling from a lot of Middle Eastern-North African Berber looks.

But the other side of his outfits had a more futuristic Mad Max look, from the Welcome 2 tours -3rd Eye Girl - Piano shows

Old School, he also loved Joni Mitchell and I think her influence had more wide affect on Prince's music than James Brown

anangellooksdown said:

I thought some of the tributes were better than others. I thoroughly enjoyed Bilal's The Beautiful Ones. It was well-sung and performed and I delightedly laughed at watching him trying to unbutton his shirt. Sheila E was good and void be sung more Prince-sung songs than her own. I think what people really wanted was to hear Prince's songs sung like he sang them, but that is not what he always wanted, it seems. It's about what he would think of it all. By the way, Prince didn't see color. He just saw talent, beauty etc. He was married to two non-black women and mentored musicians and dancers of all races. And the reason he asked WB not to "make him black" was also because he wanted his music on "non-black radio stations" as well as "black radio stations".

If you think Prince didn't see color, you are delusional. Everybody with eyes "sees" color. But only idiots think that the colors that they see are bad or negative in some way.

As an aside.....what makes you think Mani is not black? Have you seen her parents? How could you possibly know that?

tracyface said:

Right! I almost didnt believe my ears!!! I Love Sheila for doing that! His voice was seriously like an angel... Gosh, I loved all the tributes last night. I believe each artist who performed chose material that meant sometihng personally to them. Kudos to all!!!

HatrinaHaterwitz said:

Yes, it was him. I damn near lost my mind when I heard him.

When I heard it, I screamed "That was Prince!!!!" My hubby and my daughter both smiled and gave me a "There...there...poor thing look." Fortunately, I was DVRing it, so I just grabbed the remote, went back a few seconds and said, "Do not look at me like that! I KNOW Prince when I hear Prince, damn it!" and went right back to dancing. They just shook their heads, laughing.

suomynona said:

GeniusLuv said:

Ohhh they just showed VANITY while jamie foxx was talking bout prince

That's awesome that she was able to attend. Wonder why we haven't heard from her since he passed away... ?

did you forget that vanity died in feb of this year?

kapo74 said:

Finally found some decent vids of the tributes. To bad the BET site is a mess... http://www.gossipcop.com/...ces-watch/

Wow. Just watched the Bilal performance. Five stars!

To think that I've actually walked out from this guy's gig once when I felt he wasn't giving enough attention to his vocals! The Roots did a great job as a backing band too. Don't overlook the great sound choices on the synths and the great guitar solo at the end.

I didn't much care for Maxwell's song but his rendition of NC2U just killed me. The new lyrics were on point and his performance was powerful. Love it.

Should have brought 2 boxes of tissues for this...

Redayh said:

anangellooksdown said:

I thought some of the tributes were better than others. I thoroughly enjoyed Bilal's The Beautiful Ones. It was well-sung and performed and I delightedly laughed at watching him trying to unbutton his shirt. Sheila E was good and void be sung more Prince-sung songs than her own. I think what people really wanted was to hear Prince's songs sung like he sang them, but that is not what he always wanted, it seems. It's about what he would think of it all. By the way, Prince didn't see color. He just saw talent, beauty etc. He was married to two non-black women and mentored musicians and dancers of all races. And the reason he asked WB not to "make him black" was also because he wanted his music on "non-black radio stations" as well as "black radio stations".

If you think Prince didn't see color, you are delusional. Everybody with eyes "sees" color. But only idiots think that the colors that they see are bad or negative in some way.

As an aside.....what makes you think Mani is not black? Have you seen her parents? How could you possibly know that?

Mani is half Italian and half Egyptian. Maybe she fit in with P's middle eastern thingy he had going on. But to the topic..P definitely saw color and seemed to be acutely aware of disparages. I think his goal was to spread love and acceptance for ALL in a world that eventually wouldn't see color. He was engaged to a white woman and a black woman, married a puerto rican, and then an italinan/egyptian. He embraced ALL people, loved ALLl people and had a heart for his own people. That is part of what made him so magical.

[Edited 6/27/16 9:42am]

OldFriends4Sale said:

loveandkindness said:

Am I the only one offended by mama Tina's comment re smelling the flowers while they are still here and appreciating the living artists ...as if we don't?I mean really??? Imagine if her daughter Beyoncé had passed ya think she would be saying that? This was a Prince tribute...

that saying is an age old 'proverb' of it's own heard in different languages and different cultures around the world

I don't see anything wrong with what she said. It's true

was the passing of Natalie Cole acknowledged or Vanity @ this show?

Did they mention Bernie Worrell, the funkiest keyboardist on the planet, who died last week? I could have missed a photo or acknowledgement. I was multitasking during the non-Prince segments.

As for Tina, isn't the BET Awards show a way of giving flowers to artists who are still alive, especially the Lifetime Achievement Award?

Watching the whole show now at long last. It feels really final, especially seeing recent pics of him being used :-(This is surreal.

No more reaction gifs either.

Bunsterdk said:

[img:$uid]http://i1206.ph.../img:$uid]

MY FEELINGS ABOUT SHEILA'S PERFORMANCE IN ONE MEME!! HOLY CRAP! I love that man.

CROWNS1 said:

leslievette said:

These photos bring me to tears. I think this is what i've been missing these past 2 months. Not closure, but just for someone to acknowledge him. This was it. This gesture right here. My eyes will be puffy until morning after all this crying.

I loved the way Mayte held on to Sheila E at the end. Sheila looked so tired and so emotionally wrought. It is a testimony and another part of the mystry of how both of these women who worked with him, befriended him, loved him and shared his bed would be there at the end, sharing his guitar and holding each other up.

[Edited 6/27/16 2:41am]

This. All of it. I think Sheila left it all on the stage for him, and there's nothing more he, or we, could've asked for!

Grog said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

that saying is an age old 'proverb' of it's own heard in different languages and different cultures around the world

I don't see anything wrong with what she said. It's true

was the passing of Natalie Cole acknowledged or Vanity @ this show?

Did they mention Bernie Worrell, the funkiest keyboardist on the planet, who died last week? I could have missed a photo or acknowledgement. I was multitasking during the non-Prince segments.

As for Tina, isn't the BET Awards show a way of giving flowers to artists who are still alive, especially the Lifetime Achievement Award?

I don't know, I didn't watch it through just near the end when Sheila E was going to perform

I only saw Janelle prior

lol Right

Um - can you please keep this on topic for a change for fuck sake??

----Beyonce was terrific. I loved her performance. Eryka and Bilal were awesome! Stevie and Tory were ok. At least the band was right on! Jennifer was fantastic as always. Sheila and the rest of those doing the tribute were awesome! Thank you for such a great tribute. As for the rest of the show, not very impressive.

CROWNS1 said:

Redayh said:

If you think Prince didn't see color, you are delusional. Everybody with eyes "sees" color. But only idiots think that the colors that they see are bad or negative in some way.

As an aside.....what makes you think Mani is not black? Have you seen her parents? How could you possibly know that?

Mani is half Italian and half Egyptian. Maybe she fit in with P's middle eastern thingy he had going on. But to the topic..P definitely saw color and seemed to be acutely aware of disparages. I think his goal was to spread love and acceptance for ALL in a world that eventually wouldn't see color. He was engaged to a white woman and a black woman, married a puerto rican, and then an italinan/egyptian. He embraced ALL people, loved ALLl people and had a heart for his own people. That is part of what made him so magical.

[Edited 6/27/16 9:42am]

who was the other woman he was engaged to?