Justin Timberlake Attempts to Clear the Air on Prince Controversy
- 6 years ago
The singer said he got the go-ahead from Prince’s friend Questlove before paying tribute to the Purple One during his Super Bowl halftime show.
During Sunday night’s Super Bowl halftime performance, Justin Timberlake gave a tribute to Prince, as he played in the late musician’s home state of Minnesota. With an image of Prince projected and lit up in purple, behind him, Timberlake sat at a piano and sang a few bars of “I Would Die 4 U.” The move sparked some controversy, especially from fans who remembered that Prince and Timberlake had a feud about 11 years ago and disapproved of Timberlake’s honoring Prince. But during his post-Super Bowl appearance on a live taping of The Tonight Show in Minneapolis, Timberlake attempted to clear the air on that one.
Timberlake said that he had asked the Roots drummer, Questlove, a friend of Prince’s, if the tribute would be appropriate: “Questlove is the encyclopedia on music, but I also feel like a gatekeeper on Prince, so if I got the thumbs-up from Questlove, I’m good,” he said. Questlove responded, “Yeah, it was good.”
Though Questlove gave the all-clear, some Prince fans remembered exactly what happened more than a decade ago. Timberlake, who had what Variety said was a controversial listening party for his new album, Man of the Woods, at Prince’s estate, Paisley Park, last Thursday, had some beef with the musician when he dissed Prince on Timbaland’s 2007 track, “Give It to Me.” .....
During Sunday night’s Super Bowl halftime performance, Justin Timberlake gave a tribute to Prince, as he played in the late musician’s home state of Minnesota. With an image of Prince projected and lit up in purple, behind him, Timberlake sat at a piano and sang a few bars of “I Would Die 4 U.” The move sparked some controversy, especially from fans who remembered that Prince and Timberlake had a feud about 11 years ago and disapproved of Timberlake’s honoring Prince. But during his post-Super Bowl appearance on a live taping of The Tonight Show in Minneapolis, Timberlake attempted to clear the air on that one.
Timberlake said that he had asked the Roots drummer, Questlove, a friend of Prince’s, if the tribute would be appropriate: “Questlove is the encyclopedia on music, but I also feel like a gatekeeper on Prince, so if I got the thumbs-up from Questlove, I’m good,” he said. Questlove responded, “Yeah, it was good.”
Though Questlove gave the all-clear, some Prince fans remembered exactly what happened more than a decade ago. Timberlake, who had what Variety said was a controversial listening party for his new album, Man of the Woods, at Prince’s estate, Paisley Park, last Thursday, had some beef with the musician when he dissed Prince on Timbaland’s 2007 track, “Give It to Me.” .....