Questlove Defends Madonna's Tribute to Prince at Billboard Music Awards
The drummer said "everybody wants and deserves a chance to say goodbye."
— -- Social media was in an uproar last night after Madonna's tribute to Prince at the Billboard Music Awards. Madonna's biggest defender? Questlove.
Madonna performed two hits created by the late singer, who passed away April 21 at the age of 57, including "Nothing Compares 2 U," which was made famous by Sinead O'Connor, and "Purple Rain," where she was joined by Stevie Wonder.
Yet the criticism reached a fever pitch on Twitter with BET tweeting a teaser of the music channel's upcoming awards show on June 26 saying, "Yeah, we saw that. Don't worry. We Got You."
Questlove said today in a series of tweets that the criticism is unfounded since everyone deserves to pay tribute to Prince in their own way.
Questlove noted that he wasn't just defending Madonna and Wonder's performance on Sunday night. He added:
Madonna seemed like a likely choice for a tribute to "The Purple One." The two dated in 1985 and even came out with a duet, "Love Song," which was featured on Madonna's 1989 "Like a Prayer" album.
Still, fans also remember how their relationship soured for years although it did appear that Prince and Madonna reconciled before his death, according to Rolling Stone.
So what did Madonna think about her performance? She called it "an epic moment" on Twitter.