The infectious sounds of purple pop, rock, and funk reigned supreme on Tuesday as an all-star line-up of artists paid tribute to the timeless music of the late Prince. The special, “Let’s Go Crazy: The Grammy Salute to Prince,” beat the “Empire” series finale, scoring 6.5 million viewers and a 1.0 in the coveted 18-49 demo, which was the best of the night on the broadcast networks. The tribute came in second only to lead-in “NCIS.” Now CBS is re-airing the show on Saturday.
The two-hour jam session featured a diverse array of stars from Usher to the Foo Fighters to Misty Copeland and Beck, along with Prince protégés like Morris Day and the Time. It was filmed after the Grammys in January and was organized by Prince collaborator Sheila E., and executive produced by Ken Ehrlich.
The trip down memory lane caused music lovers to seek out the Purple One’s catalog of music, as Billboard reported an 815% sales gain in the U.S. on April 21. The biggest-selling songs on Tuesday were the show-opener “Let’s Go Crazy,” which was performed by Gary Clark, Jr. and H.E.R., and the next to the last song on the show, “Purple Rain,” performed by Mavis Staples and The Revolution. Rounding out the top-selling hits were “Little Red Corvette” “I Would Die 4 U,” and “Kiss.”
In his lifetime, Prince won seven Grammy Awards and released nearly 40 studio albums. As show host Maya Rudolph noted, “In his wildly productive time here, Prince created a body of work that will truly outlive us all.”
“Let’s Go Crazy: The Grammy Salute to Prince” will re-air on CBS on April 25 at 7 pm CST.
