Cover Me: Purple Rain

“There’s never been anyone better. Bandleader, showman, arranger… Whenever I would catch one of [Prince’s] shows, I would always leave humbled. I’m going to miss that. We’re going to miss that.” — Bruce Springsteen, April 23, 2016

Has there ever been a song so loaded with feels than “Purple Rain?” (Answer: no.)

Prince’s signature song was a monster hit, riding the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 not once but twice: first upon its original release in the autumn of 1984 (when it was deprived of the #1 spot by Wham’s “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go”) and again following Prince’s death, when it reached #4 in April 2016.

Inspired by Bob Seger’s power ballads and intended as a country collaboration with Stevie Nicks, Prince first wrote “Purple Rain” as a ten-minute instrumental. He added lyrics when Nicks declined to contribute, overwhelmed by the power of the music.

The final version, which also gave name to Prince’s landmark album and film, is an alchemical combination of rock, country, and gospel that ranks among just about every “All Time Best” list, including Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time (#144) and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.

It was also the final song Prince ever performed, on April 14, 2016. He died a week later, on April 21st.

Two days later, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band took the stage at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, and fans immediately knew something was up.

It had already been a hard year for music fans, with both David Bowie and Glenn Frey passing in the early weeks of the year. It had become a somber feature of the River Tour for Bruce and the band to pay tribute to each departed artist at the first show following their death, but typically that salute was saved for the encores.

On this night, however, when the house lights came down at showtime, the stage was immediately flooded in purple lighting, and each band member took the stage wearing something purple as well–a remarkable exception for the almost-always-in-black E Street Band.

Max’s slow count-in was a giveaway, but when Bruce played the first chord of “Purple Rain,” the crowd roared with appreciation. The performance that followed ranks among the very best covers Bruce and the band have ever done.

Bruce had long admitted to being a huge Prince fan, and the love and respect with which he treated his source material was palpable.

The band’s performance was perfect, and Nils’ solo deserves to be remembered as one of his greatest moments on stage–if you’re not filled with love and loss during Nils’ recreation of Prince’s iconic guitar solo, I can’t imagine what else could possibly move you.

Bruce played “Purple Rain” twice more, once the following night and again a few weeks later in Barcelona, but while all three performances were wonderful, nothing could match the combination of power, surprise, and raw emotion in that debut.

Purple Rain
First performed: April 23, 2016* (Brooklyn, NY)
Last performed: May 14, 2016 (Barcelona, Spain)

*Brucebase cites one earlier performance of “Purple Rain,” a team-up with Prince and Madonna in 1985. However, I’ve listened to that recording, and I do not believe Bruce was on stage for it. There’s some confusion due to Prince seemingly calling out “Bruce!” during “America” that immediately preceded “Purple Rain,” but it was actually Prince just shouting “Peace!” (which is how “America” opens). Bruce had left the stage by that time, only joining Prince and Madonna for “Baby, I’m a Star.”

If anyone was at that show and remembers otherwise, I’d appreciate being corrected, but otherwise I’m fairly certain the Barclays performance above was Bruce’s true debut of “Purple Rain.”