Stephen Colbert, James Corden and Trevor Noah pay tribute to Prince
Fans and celebrities the world over spent Thursday reacting to the shocking death of music legend Prince and remembering his extensive career and enduring legacy. Some of those fans also happened to have their own late-night shows -- like Stephen Colbert, James Corden and Trevor Noah -- giving them a more public platform to salute the fallen icon.
Colbert broke the news to members of the audience who might not have heard by the time the show taped, then recalled his own first introduction to Prince's music.
"I have been a fan since I was in high school. I remember a guy in my choir, Skipper Graham, brought in the very first Prince album into our choir room," Colbert reminisced. "There were so many things to love about it. One of the things, obviously, was the music was so powerful, and also we had to wear the headphones so the adults could not hear the lyrics to any of his songs."
As a tribute to the late "Purple Rain" artist, Colbert changed the color of his set to purple for the duration of the Thursday's show.
And Colbert's bandleader, Jon Baptiste -- who knew Prince -- shared one of his personal memories of the artist. "He had a huge aura. His energy and presence in the room kind of filled everybody's hearts," Batiste said. "He had a certain kind of way of knowing what was going on."
To illustrate that point, Baptiste recalled a backstage meeting during which Prince noticed someone nearby taping their conversation with a phone and calmly but persuasively got the man to stop and put it away, saying, simply, "courtesy."
On "The Late Late Show," James Corden faced a bit of a conundrum, as filming for Thursday night's show -- featuring the stars of "The Huntsman: Winter's War" -- had already been completed. But he couldn't let the show air without paying tribute to the late icon in a very straight-forward, heartfelt manner.
"I don't even know where to start when I talk about Prince as an artist, because to be unique in this world is impossible. Like, almost all art is taken or borrowed from somewhere else, and an artist like Prince stands alone. He is completely original," Corden said.
"At times like this, it's easy to feel incredibly sad. But I feel like today is about celebrating the incredible life that he led and the brilliant songs that he gave us," Corden continued. "What a thing to have been alive when Prince was making music. We are all incredibly lucky. We will miss you, Prince. You are truly one of a kind."
He concluded by citing lyrics from "Sometimes it Snows in April," a Prince hit: "Sometimes I wish life was never-ending, but all good things, they say, never last."
And on Comedy Central, "The Daily Show" host Trevor Noah closed Thursday's episode with a tribute to Prince. "Today, as you all know, we lost more than just a man. We lost an icon. We lost a leader. We lost in many aspects a genre in itself," he said.
"Prince, we'll always remember. We will always love you. Your music changed our lives and I think it will continue to do that. Today we would like to dedicate our Zen to you." He then turned it over to the show's Moment of Zen: Prince performing "Reflection" on "MTV Unplugged."