As the world mourns the tragic passing of superstar performer Prince, it also gives everyone the time to reflect on the awesome moments in the legendary artist’s career. While his music will go on forever, it’s been Prince’s involvement to the sports world on more than one occasion that brought him into a whole new eye of spectators.
It was in 2004 that people first got a inkling of the ‘Purple Rain’ singers ties with sports when Charlie Murphy told a story on Chappelle’s Show about a time that Prince played him in a game of basketball and the ending didn’t go quite as planned. From private performances for champions to appearances at a basketball game that shock the world to even new fight songs for a franchise, the superstar performer has a recent influence on some great sports moments.
5. Purple & Gold song for the Vikings
In 2010, with the Minnesota Vikings looking to repeat as NFC north division champions with a legendary quarterback in Brett Favre looking to show the world he still had something to prove, the ‘purple people eaters’ had a brand new fight song performed by a historic artist from the Minnesota area. Prince gave the Vikings the ‘purple and gold’ fight song but it didn’t put much fight into the Vikings as they went 6-10 in the 2010 campaign.
Listen to Prince’s ‘Purple & Gold’ song for the Minnesota Vikings here.
4. Prince makes a special appearance at Oracle Arena for Thunder-Warriors.
When Prince arrived to Oracle arena on March 3rd, the sports world and music world once again combined and marveled at his appearance. The legendary artist almost never came to games but it appears that he wanted to be in attendance for a highly anticipated matchup on Golden State’s road to history. The Warriors and Thunder were fresh off quite possibly the best game of the season and all the hype was around how the two teams could possibly repeat their performance. It ended in a dominant Warriors home win but the big star of the night was clearly Prince and his eye-grabbing surprise appearance courtside at Oracle Arena.
Even Prince is in attendance for #Thunder vs #warriors!#OKCatGSW pic.twitter.com/f3Kc7Sgfp3
— NBA On Def Pen (@NBAOnDefPen) March 4, 2016
The next night, Prince had a concert at oracle and he even shouted out Stephen Curry, much to the delight of the Bay Area fans.
3. Charlie Murphy’s story.
Chappelle’s Show came and went but one thing the series was known for was the hilarious stories from Charlie Murphy, brother of legendary comedian Eddie Murphy. Charlie had told stories before to the cast and crew about his run-ins with celebrities alongside Eddie in the late 80’s and two of those stories told involved Charlie getting physical with two of music’s most famous performers. While he might have gotten beaten up by Rick James, it was his story about Prince and his basketball skills that might resonate most with people. If you have never seen this story before, please do yourself a favor and enjoy.
You still don’t believe him? Check out this awesome photo of Prince from his high school basketball days.
2. Minnesota Lynx celebrate the WNBA Title with a private concert.
Once again an immense amount of love was shown to a hometown team from Prince, this time it was the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx. Fresh off their WNBA title win in 2015, which actually saw Prince in attendance for a game, the Lynx were treated to a special surprise after their victory. Maya Moore and company were given a once in a lifetime opportunity as they got a private concert from the legend as he showed his appreciation for the ladies’ hard work.
1. Prince Performs Purple Rain in the Rain at Super Bowl XLI
Quite possibly the best Super Bowl halftime performance ever happened in 2007 during Super Bowl XLI. As rain showered over NFL fans in attendance for the classic between the Indianapolis Colts and Chicago Bears, they were also treated to an overwhelmingly fantastic show from a legend.
BONUS:
Not to be outdone but LeBron James also did a rendition of Prince’s ‘Purple Rain’ not too long ago during a Cleveland Cavaliers Halloween party.
With all that being said, there are no words that can properly give Prince the honor and recognition he deserves. The man made an undeniable impact on the music world, changed performing for the better and forced artists like Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson and many others to be on their A-game whenever he came out with new music. The legend is one of the most mysterious yet loved in all of entertainment and the music world isn’t the only one to mourn his loss, the sports world also lost a man who interacted with their world for some memorable moments. Rest in Peace to the legend, ‘the artist formerly known as’ and the man who was known by only one symbol, Prince.
