Stars deliver series of emotional Prince tributes at BET Awards

Stars including Janelle Monae, Erykah Badu and Sheila E. delivered a series of tributes to Prince through out the night at Sunday's (26Jun16) Bet Awards.

The heavily trailed celebration of the singer, who died in April (16), saw a number of top musicians performing the late musician's songs throughout the ceremony, hosted by Black Entertainment Television Network (BET) at Los Angeles' Microsoft Theater.

The first stars to honor the fallen musical idol were Erykah Badu and The Roots, who were introduced by Prince's close friend, the comedian Dave Chappelle.

According to Billboard.com, Chappelle said in his introduction, "On April 21, we got that news (that Prince had died), and literally our hearts were broken. I was 11 years old when Purple Rain came out, and by the time I was 20, Prince had changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol... We miss him dearly. And tonight we celebrate the rich legacy of this remarkable genius, who we are all so proud of."

After the funnyman's introduction, Erykah, backed by The Roots, performed a passionate version of Prince's song The Ballad of Dorothy Parker before R&B singer Bilal impressed the crowd with his passionate rendition of The Beautiful Ones.

However one star who was advertised as performing but did not make it on to stage was R&B star D'Angelo, who was reportedly scheduled to perform with Prince's former flame and collaborator Sheila E.

Instead, Sheila led a ten-minute medley of some the Purple Rain singer's most beloved songs including Sign O' the Times and Erotic City.

Others who performed their own tributes included Stevie Wonder, who celebrated Prince by singing Take Me With U alongside Tori Kelly and The Roots, and Jennifer Hudson who sang an emotional version of his iconic hit Purple Rain.

The pressure had been on bosses at the BET Network to deliver an epic tribute to Prince after they had been involved in a social media spat with Madonna over her celebration of Prince's legacy at the Billboard Music Awards last month (16).

A post on the network's Twitter feed mocking the Vogue singer's performance of Nothing Compares 2 U, which became a huge hit for Sinead O'Connor and trailing their own tribute caused her to react furiously.

"Wearing the jacket Prince gave me back in the day without permission from BET lol (laugh out loud)!" she quipped on Instagram.

The BET Awards bash also saw a surprise performance from Beyonce, who was the big winner of the night, taking home four awards including the coveted Best Female R&B/Pop Artist gong.