Batman and Prince — surprisingly, the two icons go hand-in-hand. How much so? Well, the very first song Prince Rogers Nelson learned to play on the piano as a child was none other than the Batman ’66 theme song. And of course, Prince would write all the songs for Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman movie, leading to his #1 single “Batdance.”
Now, “Batdance” is a song that’s not the greatest in the Prince catalog, but has one hell of a music video, with the artist dancing around as a half Batman, half Joker hybrid, so you simply must watch it. Given these connections, it is only fitting that Gotham actor Corey Michael Smith, who plays legendary Bat-baddie the Riddler on the series, sang Prince’s signature hit “Purple Rain†at a Gotham convention in Chicago recently. You must watch is the one you can view down below:
And while I usually would not recommend that anyone step into the Purple One’s fashionable shoes and sing any of his songs, at the risk of coming off as totally inadequate, Corey Michael Smith actually acquits himself rather nicely. He doesn’t try to mimic Prince’s vocal style, so it comes off as genuine and not as a poor imitation.
Now some of you Gotham fans out there might be shocked at the Riddler’s formidable pipes in this video, but you should know that before getting the Gotham gig portraying Edward Nygma, Corey Michael Smith was no stranger to the Broadway stage, having performed in hit musicals like Assassins , where he played Lee Harvey Oswald. Once you’ve done that a little Prince karaoke for the fans ain’t no big thing.
What do you make of Corey Michael Smith’s rendition of the ’80s classic? Be sure to let us know what you think in the comments down below.
Images: Warner Brothers Television
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