Musicians pay tribute to late pop icon Prince at BET Awards

The 2016 BET Awards honoured late pop icon Prince, who died in April, with a string of performances by musicians like Erykah Badu, Bilal and The Roots.

Stand-up comedian Dave Chappelle took to the stage and paid tribute to Prince before introducing his "old friends" The Roots and their long time collaborators Erykah Badu and Bilal at the awards gala held here on Sunday night, reports billboard.com.

Badu played his rendition of "The Ballad of Dorothy Parker" from 1987's "Sign O' the Times" album.

Bilal was next with "The Beautiful Ones", which he nailed in a near flawless falsetto.

The next tribute saw Stevie Wonder and Tori Kelly teaming up for the duet "Take me with u". The pair played the song fairly straight, with Wonder taking the lead while Kelly brought a welcome heft to the high notes.

The Roots guitarist Kirk Douglas also joined Wonder for a performance.

Maxwell and Janelle Monae also paid tributes to Prince with their performances of the late singer's songs.

The BET Awards, established in 2001 by the Black Entertainment Television network, celebrate African Americans and other minorities in music, acting, sports and other fields of entertainment over the past year.

--IANS

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