The centerpiece of Sunday night’s 2016 BET Awards was the massive Prince tribute the network has been promising since the influential artist died in April. The tribute was so big, several performances from a slew of artists including The Roots, Erykah Badu, Bilal, Janelle Monae, Stevie Wonder, Tori Kelly, Jennifer Hudson and Sheila E.
First up were The Roots joined Erykah Badu to sing “The Ballad of Dorothy Parker” from 1987’s Sign o’ the Times. Bilal joined them next for “The Beautiful Ones” from 1984’s Purple Rain.
Janelle Monae took on a medley of tunes including 1999’s “Delirious,” Under the Cherry Moon’s “Don’t Have to be Rich,” 1985’s “Pop Life,” and Purple Rain’s “I Would Die 4 U.”
Stevie Wonder and Tori Kelly joined forces on Prince’s “Take Me With U,” followed by Jennifer Hudson’s powerful “Purple Rain.”
Sheila E. closed out the show with a showstopping medley, including “Housequake,” “Let’s Work,” “U Got the Look,” “America the Beautiful,” “Baby I’m a Star,” and more.