There are countless instances of Prince taking the stage a tiny club unannounced, throwing on his guitar, and proceeding to give lucky onlookers one of the greatest nights of their lives. One such moment occurred in February 2015 when Prince crashed the afterparty celebrating SNL’s 40th anniversary.
The Purple One didn’t even plan on performing that evening, only deciding to hit the stage after Jimmy Fallon dared him to. “All of a sudden, the crowd parts and there’s purple smoke and the dude, just floating towards the stage,” Fallon recounted. “Dearly inebriated,” Prince proclaimed launching into “Let’s Go Crazy”.
Many A-listers rushed to the stage to accompany Prince, including Fallon, Chris Rock, Bill Murray, Martin Short, Emma Stone, members of HAIM, and Maya Rudolph, who fronts her own Prince tribute band called Princess.
Up until now, only a few short Instagram clips of Prince’s performance have made their way online. However, in the wake of the musician’s death, former SNL cast member Tim Kazurinsky has uploaded a full six-and-half-minute video of the special performance.
Update: SNL has shared even more footage from Prince’s SNL’s 40th anniversary.
Watch Fallon’s full recount of the evening:
This evening, Saturday Night Live will pay tribute to Prince will a 90-minute special dubbed Goodnight Sweet Prince, featuring various clips from his many appearances on the show over the years.
