Watch Prince’s Previously Unreleased SNL 40 Afterparty Performance Backed By Various Celebrities

Watch Prince’s Previously Unreleased SNL 40 Afterparty Performance Backed By Various Celebrities

Last year, after Saturday Night Live’s 40th anniversary special wrapped up, pretty much every famous person in existence congregated at NYC’s Plaza Hotel for the afterparty. The event had a stage with a full-band setup but no actual band, which led to an insanely star-studded jam session with a rotating cast of players including Dan Aykroyd, Paul McCartney, Jimmy Fallon, Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus, Ariana Grande, Debbie Harry, Michael Bolton, the B-52s, Bill Murray, Martin Short, Maya Rudolph, and Elvis Costello. The whole thing climaxed with Fallon daring Prince to come onstage — “All of a sudden, the crowd parts and there’s purple smoke and the dude, just floating towards the stage,” a hungover Fallon recalled the next day on The Tonight Show. Prince climbed on up, grabbed a guitar, and proceeded to bring the house down with an impromptu performance of “Let’s Go Crazy,” backed by a group of celebs including Emma Stone, Martin Short, Maya Rudolph, Bill Murray, Jim Carrey, Haim, Jimmy Fallon, and Chris Rock. “The whole place came alive,” as Questlove remembers it. “Jay Z, Rihanna, everybody ran to the stage. It was a mosh pit of celebrities.”

A few clips of Prince’s legendary performance have surfaced online since then, but we haven’t been able to see the whole thing — until now. Today, in memory of the late Purple One, former SNL cast member Tim Kazurinsky has shared footage of the complete performance, and yes, even just watching it through your computer screen, it seems like the most fun time experienced by anyone ever. Watch it and hear Jimmy Fallon’s infectiously star-struck account of the night below.

Later tonight, as Entertainment Weekly reports, SNL is airing a Prince-centric special entitled SNL Good Night Sweet Prince, which will be a clip show featuring all of the Purple One’s performances on the show over the years.

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