Among a long list of musicians who paid tribute to Prince on Sunday night’s BET Awards, Jennifer Hudson sang an emotional rendition of Purple Rain.
She also shared some touching words on Instagram after the performance, adding: “back in my sweats and by the pool ! I hope yal felt my heart tonight in my tribute to Prince ! One of the things prince told me that I will never forget he said “take it to church Jennifer ” I can only hope he’s pleased !”
The tributes included songs from Stevie Wonder, Maxwell, as well as his former fiancé Sheila E. playing and singing a collection of Prince’s hits. Before the show, she said, “It’s about his legacy. Those songs, he left them for us forever. They are forever embedded in all of us, and I think we’re going to have a wonderful time.”
Judith Hill, who was Prince’s prodigy and friend, recently opened up to the New York Times regarding the flight she shared with Prince when it made an emergency landing and how he wanted to get better.
“We knew it was only a matter of time; we had to get down. We didn’t have anything on the plane to help him. [When we arrived at the hospital], he was awake, which was such a relief to me, because I thought he was gone … He wasn’t dreary or drowsy, or anything. He wanted to watch ‘Zootopia’. He loved those films. I was going to pull it up on my phone. He said, ‘No, no, no, not here. We’re going to pick a special time and place to watch that.’ He was very cooperative that whole night, serious about getting help.”