Late Show Comedians Mourned, Gave Tribute to Prince’s Legacy
The death of Prince shook the world to its core yesterday, and it prompted the hosts of all the big late night comedy shows to give their own mentions and tributes to honor his legendary career.
Trevor Noah ended last night’s episode of The Daily Show by giving up their “moment of zen” to offer some words and show a clip from the song, “Reflections.” “We’ll always remember you. We will always love you. Your music changed our lives and I think it will continue to do that,” Noah said with great somber.
Larry Wilmore had Russell Simmons on his Nightly Show panel for the episode’s discussion. He decided to forego his original plan and instead talked about the effect Prince had on music in the 80’s. The discussion particularly noted how Prince’s flamboyant style changed the nature of expression and show business, on top of his musical talent being in the same league as Michael Jackson.
“Prince was the guy that the women loved and the men loved, too,” actress Robin Thede said. “How many dudes are like, ‘I’m not gay, but Prince, though, like, be real.’ He merged everything feminine and masculine and he just did something that no one else especially a black artist…that nobody will be able to replace.”
For The Late Show, Stephen Colbert opened things up by talking about the communal experiences Prince gave him and his friends as they listened to him during choir practice in high school. Colbert also had Stay Human’s band leader Jon Batiste tell a story about a backstage experience he had with Prince, and recounted how the icon could change the nature of his environment through sheer charisma.
“He had a huge aura,” Batiste said. “His energy and presence in a room just filled everybody’s hearts.”
Jimmy Kimmel‘s tribute came as he had the house band play Prince’s music throughout the show. His opening monologue also addressed the media’s universal decision to take a break from politics to honor his artistry.
“The cable news channels gave Donald Trump a rest for a minute and paid attention to Prince all day,” Kimmel said. Of course, Kimmel noted that some media figures might have been a bit out of their element talking about pop culture, noting Wolf Blitzer‘s mess-up during CNN’s coverage of the story yesterday.
For The Late Late Show, James Corden gave a message before the show explaining that they filmed the episode before they heard about the news. Nonetheless, his introduction praised Prince’s unique place in the music world, and the transformative effect he had on his audience.
“I don’t even know where to start when I talk about Prince as an artist, because to be unique in this world is impossible,” Corden said. “Almost all art is taken or borrowed from somewhere else, and yet an artist like Prince stands alone. He is completely original.”
[Image via screengrab]
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