On April 21, 2016, the day Prince's death was announced, a YouTube user uploaded a rarely seen pro-shot clip of Prince performing Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love."
Prince's impressive guitar solo kicks off at the 57-second mark (00:57), immediately after he screams "no format tonight!" into the mic.
The solo pays tribute to the more psychedelic, late-Yardbirds-era playing of Jimmy Page—before veering off into several other thrilling directions.
Like all the videos that have cropped up in the wake of Prince's death, it's a testament to what a well-rounded performer he was. Although he did not "market" himself as a guitar god, it was a skill that was always there, tucked away convenientlly in a front pocket should he ever need it.
Be sure to stick with the video—or at least jump ahead to the song's feedback-drenched breakdown section, which kicks off at 3:23. It ends with Prince laying his guitar on the stage and covering it with a handkerchief before walking away.
The following weekend, guitar legend Eric Clapton posted a touching tribute to Prince. You can check it out below:
"I'm so sad about the death of Prince, he was a true genius, and a huge inspiration for me, in a very real way.... In the the Eighties, I was out on the road in a massive downward spiral with drink and drugs, I saw Purple Rain in a cinema in Canada, I had no idea who he was, it was like a bolt of lightning!...
In the middle of my depression, and the dreadful state of the music culture at that time it gave me hope, he was like a light in the darkness...
"I went back to my hotel, and surrounded by empty beer cans, wrote 'Holy Mother'.... I can't believe he's gone...."
"Holy Mother," which Clapton co-wrote with Stephen Bishop, appeared on Clapton's August album in 1986. Be sure to check out a live version of the song from 1996 in the bottom YouTube player.
