I love this little story from an article about his dazzling 2004 Rock & Roll Hall of fame appearance on While My Guitar Gently Weeps. Prince shows that at heart, he was a musician--one of the boys, per say. He shows that he has a DEEP knowledge of music. And he makes a small but meanfingful gesture that I'm sure the storyteller will never forget.

STEVE FERRONE (drummer for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, who played at the 2004 ceremony) I had no idea that Prince was going to be there. Steve Winwood said, “Hey, Prince is over there.” And I said, “I guess he’s playing with us?”

So I said to Winwood, “I’m going to go over and say hello to him.” I wandered across the stage and I went up to him and I said, “Hi, Prince, it’s nice to meet you — Steve Ferrone.” And he said, “Oh, I know who you are!” Maybe because I’d played on Chaka Khan’s “I Feel for You,” which is a song that he wrote. I went back over and I sat down behind the drum kit, and Winwood was like: “What’s he like? What’d he say?”

Then I was sitting there, and I heard somebody playing a guitar riff from a song that I wrote with Average White Band. And I looked over and Prince was looking right at me and playing that song. And I thought, “Yeah, you actually do know who I am!”

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/28/arts/music/prince-guitar-rock-hall-of-fame.html?_r=0

Love this story, thanks for posting.

This part cracked me up, "Winwood was like: “What’s he like? What’d he say?”

Like they're all playing together, but the others are still too intimidated to go to talk the man.

Thank you for sharing. That is such a cool story.

Thanks you, I love this! I liked that Steve Winwood part too, Limoncello haha

Yea--he didn't have to do that. He could have hung back and been too cool. But he made that small, kind gesture of respect.

Stories like this remind me how isolating celebrity can be. And also that--sometimes, even celebrities like Prince, just want to be one of the fella's.

Also--I'll bet the Average White Band song in question was School Boy Crush (later sampled by Erik B & Rakim) as that song has a Ferrone song-writing credit. Any other songs it could be?

https://www.youtube.com/w...i5aS5LSrQM