Hollywood Popular Artists

Mar 8th 2013, 23:02

Would you expect D'Angelo, Maya Rudolph, Elvis Costello and The Roots to share a stage? Probz not as likely as hearing "Purple Rain," "Little Red Corvette," and "Raspberry Beret" at a Prince tribute. Last night, IT. ALL. WENT. DOWN.

"The Music of Prince" featured some of the industry's biggest Prince fans and most eclectic musicians together on one stage for an all-star tribute benefitting organizations that support music in schools. Since 1978 when he was only 21, Prince has "progressively challenged and enthralled fans with his erotically intense lyricism, flamboyant stage presence, and superlative artistry." I mean, did you not see the Super Bowl halftime show in 2007?!

And while last night's benefit falls quite short of that performance (pretty much everything does, let's be real), it proved Prince's overreaching impact across genres, industries, and communities. Among those who took the stage:

+ Elvis Costello

+ Princess (Prince cover band featuring Maya Rudolph)

+ Talib Kweli & house band The Roots

+ D'Angelo

+ and, even a youth choir!

The concert at NYC's Carnegie Hall raised over $100,000 for music education programs like The American Symphony Orchestra's Music Notes, FIKS (Fixing Instruments for Kids in Schools, and Little Kids Rock. It's the ninth benefit concert put on by businessman and philanthropist Michael Dorf. Over the years, his series has raised over $900,000 for music education non-profits and has featured the music of Joni Mitchell, Bruce Springsteen, and Elton John, among others.

Want to do more to support music in schools? Take action below to learn more.

Media files:
MusicOfPrince-Feature.jpg (image/jpeg)
MusicOfPrince-Post.jpg (image/jpeg)
Costello-InsertTall.jpg (image/jpeg)
Costello-InsertWide.jpg (image/jpeg)
MayaRudolph-Insert.jpg (image/jpeg)
Quest-Insert.jpg (image/jpeg)
Dangelo-Insert.jpg (image/jpeg)
KidsSinging-Insert.jpg (image/jpeg)
MusicOfPrince-Feature-70x53.jpg (image/jpeg)