Musicians Stevie Wonder, Tori Kelly, The Roots and Jennifer Hudson honoured legendary singer Prince with a series of performances throughout the ceremony.
The first tribute to the singer, who died this April, came just 35 minutes into the show, as Dave Chappelle, wearing shades and a purple pocket square in his jacket, took the stage and spoke in a surprisingly husky voice.
"On April 21, we got that news, and literally our hearts were broken, he said as the camera flashed to Spike Lee (wearing a knit purple hat and a gold Prince symbol on his lapel) and Samuel L Jackson in the audience. I was 11 years old when 'Purple Rain' came out, and by the time I was 20, Prince had changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol. We miss him dearly. And tonight we celebrate the rich legacy of this remarkable genius, who we are all so proud of."
The show then introduced his "old friends" the Roots and their longtime friends and collaborators Erykah Badu and Bilal.
First up was Badu -- wearing a black beret, a white fake fur stole, leather pants and what seemed to be a giant purple paper arm corsage -- doing a flawless version of "The Ballad of Dorothy Parker" from 1987's classic "Sign O' the Times" LP.
Bilal, who goes so far back with the Roots and Prince tributes that he performed with them at one at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in 1999, was next with Purple Rain s "The Beautiful Ones".
The next tribute saw Wonder and Kelly teaming up for the Prince/Apollonia duet from "Purple Rain", "Take Me With U".
The pair played the song fairly straight, with Wonder (wearing a checkered purple and silver jacket) taking the lead while Kelly, clad in a pair of semi-transparent glittery high-waisted purple pants that were a Prince tribute on their own, brought a welcome heft to the high notes.
At the song's end, Wonder moved over to a conventional synthesizer, Kelly picked up a guitar, and Hudson soberly entered from stage right as the opening chords of "Purple Rain" rang out.
Roots guitarist Kirk Douglas, whose guitar Prince borrowed and broke on Jimmy Fallon in 2013, joined her at the front of the stage.
It was followed by Maxwell's performance on "Lake by the Ocean", the single from his forthcoming album "BlackSUMMERS'Night", segued suddenly into Prince's "Nothing Compares 2U".
Next up was Janelle Monae, whose classic style lent itself well to a medley that started with "Delirious," from 1999, before segueing into "Kiss."
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