Ever See The Time Prince Surprised Q-Tip On Stage & Started Jamming? (Video)

In addition to his mind-blowing talent and off the charts charisma, part of what made Prince so legendary was his mysteriousness. Even in a world where every millisecond is documented by a share, a photo or a video, he fiercely guarded his privacy, rarely granting interviews and simply letting his music and image do the talking for him. Prince also was infamous for doing surprise performances. It was almost an unspoken rule, for those in the know, that after he performed at a big arena, he would pick an exclusive and intimate spot where he and friends would jam into the wee hours of the morning. Besides his own secret shows, Prince often would join artists, whom he respected and admired, for unannounced performances during their sets. One such beneficiary was Q-Tip.

The setting was the House of Blues, in 2008. Q-Tip was on the stage performing his solo hit “Vivrant Thing,” and he was rocking. Instead of performing with a DJ or to a track, he was accompanied by a full band that night, and they were in the zone. The signature rhythm guitar from the song was in full effect and his guitarist was going hard. But then, something magical happened.

At close to a minute into the performance, the crowd starts roaring. As the camera pans to the right, a small, mysterious figure, dressed in black, glides onto the stage, jacks the guitarist for his axe, without even asking, and effortlessly falls into the groove. It is Prince. He says nothing to anyone, and just starts jamming. The entire energy of the room diverts to him, as even Q-Tip starts performing for him. Prince ratchets up the guitar arrangement, not making it a solo performance, but damn sure expanding the notion of what rhythm guitar can sound like. He shreds for little over a moment, then hands the guitar back over, as easily as he obtained it, and vanishes. The performance continues, but nothing is the same.

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