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NewsCut
Bob Collins

Clapton covers Prince

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A little bit of musical history is in the books.

At London’s Royal Albert Hall on Monday night, Eric Clapton did something he's never done before: he covered a Prince song.

Watch it while you can, because it's only a matter of time before Prince's estate has it pulled down.

Rolling Stone explains why Clapton might've gotten around to honoring Prince only now.

It’s unclear why Clapton decided to play “Purple Rain” at the show, but shortly after Prince died in April 2016, the guitarist wrote a moving tribute to him on Facebook. “I’m so sad about the death of Prince,” he wrote. “He was a true genius, and a huge inspiration for me, in a very real way..In the the eighties, I was out on the road in a massive downward spiral with drink and drugs, I saw Purple Rain in a cinema in Canada, I had no idea who he was, it was like a bolt of lightning! In the middle of my depression, and the dreadful state of the music culture at that time it gave me hope, he was like a light in the darkness.”

In the same set, Clapton played "Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)” as a tribute to Doris Day, and a rare electric version of “Layla”, Rolling Stone said.