Madonna’s Planned Tribute To Prince Gets Wildly Mixed Reactions

Madonna and Prince were peers in the industry, and, judging by the fact that Prince played a private concert for Madonna when she played a show in Minneapolis last October, they had a lot of respect for each other. As Inquisitr reported a couple weeks back, both artists collaborated musically with each other as well. Billboard had a little article about a previously forgotten duet that soon started gaining traction after Prince’s tragic death.

“Prince and the Queen of Pop recorded ‘Love Song’ for Madonna’s Like a Prayer album (which was ruling the Billboard 200 on this date in 1989). Despite its blinding starpower, the collab was never released as a single. And, considering the strength of Like a Prayer, it’s hard to say that ‘Love Song’ should’ve been one.”

Columnist Gary Trust believed Madonna and Prince’s duet was driven more by its funky groove than a pure pop hook and noted the song took a back seat to Like a Prayer‘s five hit singles: “Like a Prayer,” “Express Yourself, ” “Cherish,” “Oh Father,” and “Keep it Together.” However, Prince did play guitar on both “Like a Prayer” and “Keep it Together,” so one would think Madonna would be the perfect choice to head a tribute to Prince at the 2016 Billboard Music Awards. Billboard made the announcement on Wednesday morning.

“The Queen of Pop will pay homage to another member of music royalty, Prince, at the 2016 Billboard Music Awards. Organizers today announced Madonna’s participation in what promises to be one of the highlights of this year’s BBMAs. The legendary pop singer will pay tribute to her good friend and fellow artist, who unexpectedly passed away April 21 at the age of 57. Details on her tribute to the late music great remain a closely-guarded secret.”

The comments after the article, which mirrored comments everywhere else, show a very mixed response.

“Initially, when i saw the headlines I was like wtf, but remembering that Madonna is the last living of the 80’s biggest pop icons and that she had a whole guitar phase with Ray of Light, Music and American Life, I think it is only fitting she do this tribute. Can’t wait,” says Truth Sayer.

“Please don’t. There are too many great musician that are deserving of that honor. People whose careers were inspired by this man. People who understood where he was coming from. She didn’t. She was just famous at the same time. Say they shortly dated but she’s not good enough for him,” claims Shannon Davis.

On Twitter, fans of different artists were upset that their favorite wasn’t doing the tribute.

Though Lady Gaga has the pipes and would certainly do her best, a tribute performance may not be such a good idea given that just five months ago, Prince tweeted an alleged letter from a Billboard employee claiming that Lady Gaga paid for her “Woman of the Year” award. He instantly received a sea of bullying tweets from her fans and deleted his tweet. It’s quite possible that he deleted the tweet for legal matters, especially because the legitimacy of the letter hasn’t been proven yet.

Beyoncé fans believe she would be a more legit person to pay a tribute to Prince than Madonna.

Beyoncé is currently on tour and already recently did her own tribute. Other names that have popped up are Miguel, Sheila E, and Lenny Kravitz. Since Madonna and her manager Guy Oseary are still friends with Lenny Kravitz, the possibility of him (and others) showing up for Madonna’s Prince tribute are very high. What do you think the Queen of Pop should do for her tribute? Should Madonna sing a song by Prince or sing one of her own songs? Let us know in the comments section.

[Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images]