Pink and purple have always gone well together.
Last night, ex-Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour performed a medley of “Comfortably Numb†and Prince’s “Purple Rain†in honor of the recently deceased of the pop legend. Gilmour was playing London’s Royal Albert Hall as a special benefit for the Teenage Cancer Trust. After about four minutes of the Pink Floyd standard, the pinkish orange haze that filled the arena changed to brilliant purple, and Gilmour transitioned into “Purple Rain†guitar riffs while his backup singers oohed and aahed.
Thirty seconds later, the guitarist reverted back to “Comfortably Numb,†leaving the solo as a seamless bridge to the Floyd piece—a brief unspoken tribute to the late Purple king. The brilliant eight-minute jam was a perfect way to close out the show; you can watch the whole thing above.
Gilmour’s wife and frequent collaborator Patty Samson shared additional footage via Instagram:
Gilmour has covered the Prince classic before, most notably in 1992 while backing a purple-clad Tom Jones—as Consequence of Sound remembers. (Jones’ face turned a little purple, too.) Gilmour crushed the guitar solo here as well, as you can see below:
Gilmour’s latest rendition is more meaningful, of course, and it serves as a nod of admiration from one guitar virtuoso to another. Among many, many other things, Prince was widely regarded as the greatest guitarist in the world—just ask Eric Clapton. May he linger on forever like a distant ship’s smoke on the horizon.
Let us know what you think of Gilmour’s tribute, and check out all of our other Prince coverage here.
IMAGE: David Gilmour
