Bruce Springsteen opened his Saturday night concert at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn with a special tribute to Prince.
Bathed in purple light, Springsteen and the E Street Band launched into "Purple Rain" without any preamble and delivered a gritty rendition of the anthem. Guitarist Nils Lofgren handled the intense guitar solo, while Springsteen led the band - and the crowd - through the song's signature coda.
"Prince...forever. God bless!" Springsteen shouted, before returning to the band's regularly scheduled programming of "The River" performance.
The Jersey rocker wasn't the only high-profile musician to publicly pay his respects.
Eric Clapton posted a moving message on his Facebook page that shared how Prince's "Purple Rain" movie inspired him to write "Holy Mother."
"I'm so sad about the death of Prince, he was a true genius, and a huge inspiration for me, in a very real way....
In the the eighties, I was out on the road in a massive downward spiral with drink and drugs, I saw Purple Rain in a cinema in Canada, I had no idea who he was, it was like a bolt of lightning!...
In the middle of my depression, and the dreadful state of the music culture at that time it gave me hope, he was like a light in the darkness...
I went back to my hotel, and surrounded by empty beer cans, wrote Holy Mother....
I can't believe he's gone...."
Earlier Saturday, Prince's publicist confirmed that the musician's body had been cremated, two days after his sudden death at the age of 57. The "final storage" of Prince's remains will be private. The cause of death is still unknown and autopsy results are expected to take about four weeks.
A private goodbye ceremony was held Saturday for the singer's close friends and family and a "musical celebration" will be held at a future date.
At the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival Friday night, Atlanta's Janelle Monae dedicated her set to the man who was her mentor and friend.
She opened her set with "Givin' Em What They Love," a song the pair wrote for Monae's 2013 album, "The Electric Lady," and ended it with "Take Me With U" and "Let's Go Crazy."
