June 7 would have been Prince’s 62nd birthday, and in tribute to the Artist, a variety of musicians who played alongside him over the course of his career collaborated on a new version of The Cross, from his classic 1987 album, Sign o’ the Times.
The video was conceived by Kirk Johnson, a long-time producer, dancer and drummer with Prince, and brought together members from backing bands The Revolution, New Power Generation and 3RDEYEGIRL.
Among the many musicians featured in the video include guitar players Donna Grantis, Levi Seacer and Mike Scott and bassists Sonny T, Ida Nielsen and MonoNeon.
A message included alongside the video performance reads: “In the midst of widespread unrest gripping Minneapolis and America, and the backdrop of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the performance is presented as a message of hope, love and peace.
“Prior to recording and producing the song, Johnson queried Prince’s fans via social media asking for song suggestions and the collective consensus was The Cross. Musicians then recorded parts individually within their homes, sending to Johnson who assembled the isolated parts into the unified performance.
Recently, we reported that Prince’s custom-made 1984 “blue angel” Cloud guitar, his main live instrument from 1984 until 1993, will be going up for auction at Julien’s on June 19.
