Madonna was understandably met with controversy when it was announced that she is tasked to pay honors to Prince. The music legend's talent is greater than Madonna's musical abilities, a Prince fan might say.
Both Madonna and Prince defined the music during the 1980s, so it should be fitting that she heads the tribute at the 2016 Billboard Music Awards.
With musical arrangement from Questlove, musical director of "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" and drummer of "The Roots", the tribute started with Prince's single "Let's Go Crazy".
Madonna then entered the stage sitting on a purple throne. She was wearing a suit similarly to what Prince was wearing in the eighties. Then she performed "Nothing Compares 2 U".
For the last song "Purple Rain", Stevie Wonder joined her, ending the whole performance with an acappella rendition of the chorus. The performers and the audience were visibly in tears.
Madonna ended the tribute with a statement. "And most of all, thank you Prince Rogers Nelson, for all that you have given us," she said.
The Billboard Music Awards is an annual music award ceremony. The 2016 edition was held at the T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas. Ludacris and Ciara hosted the event.
Aside from the tribute, other night highlights were Adele's premiere of her music video for the song "Send My Love (To Your New Lover)", Britney Spear's acceptance of the Billboard Millennium Award, and Celine Dion's acceptance of the Billboard Icon Award.
Adele won the Top Artist award while Fetty Wap won the Top New Artist award. The Weeknd has the most nominations (20) and got the Top Hot 100 Artist award. Presenters of the show included Jessica Alba, Idina Menzel, Kristen Bell, Lauren Cohan, Ashton Kutcher, Wiz Khalifa, Rebecca Romjin, Steven Tyler, Priyanka Chopra, Pete Wentz, Halsey and Zendaya.
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