David Gilmour Honors Prince: Watch "Comfortably Numb" Morph Into "Purple Rain"
On April 24, 2016, Pink Floyd legend David Gilmour performed a touching tribute to Prince during his show at London's Royal Albert Hall.
The show took place three days after Prince's death was announced.
Just as Gilmour was about to play the second guitar solo in Pink Floyd's “Comfortably Numb,” he suddenly shifted into Prince's “Purple Rain.”
Actually, he blended the solos from “Purple Rain" and “Comfortably Numb,” making it seem as though they were part of the same song.
As we've reported, this isn't Gilmour's first crack at "Purple Rain"; he performed it with Tom Jones in 1992. Good job on the spine-tingling, Mr. Gilmour!
Get The Pick Newsletter
All the latest guitar news, interviews, lessons, reviews, deals and more, direct to your inbox!
Thank you for reading 5 articles this month**
Join now for unlimited access
US pricing $3.99 per month or $39.00 per year
UK pricing £2.99 per month or £29.00 per year
Europe pricing €3.49 per month or €34.00 per year
*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription
Damian is Editor-in-Chief of Guitar World magazine. In past lives, he was GW’s managing editor and online managing editor. He's written liner notes for major-label releases, including Stevie Ray Vaughan's 'The Complete Epic Recordings Collection' (Sony Legacy) and has interviewed everyone from Yngwie Malmsteen to Kevin Bacon (with a few memorable Eric Clapton chats thrown into the mix). Damian, a former member of Brooklyn's The Gas House Gorillas, was the sole guitarist in Mister Neutron, a trio that toured the U.S. and released three albums. He now plays in two NYC-area bands.
“I was in full fear that I had just repeated someone else’s song – it was way too accomplished for the kind of stuff I had been writing”: Gavin Rossdale remembers the moment he wrote Bush’s biggest hit – and thought he’d stolen it
“Clapton’s manager says, ‘George Harrison wants you to do the tour and play all the slide parts – he doesn’t want to do it’”: When rhythm guitar hero Andy Fairweather Low was recruited by a Beatle to play slide – even though he’d never played slide before