Following Stevie Wonder onstage seems like the kind of offer you should always, always, always refuse, but at Sunday night’s BET Awards, Jennifer Hudson said yes and somehow came out looking great. First Stevie Wonder performed Prince’s duet “Take Me with U,” from Purple Rain, with Tori Kelly handling Apollonia Kotero’s part. There was nothing in the world wrong with Stevie Wonder or Tori Kelly’s performances, but then Hudson came out and absolutely slayed “Purple Rain.”
Hudson performed a slightly shortened version of Prince’s classic, skipping the second verse to roll straight into “Honey, I know times are changing,” with a spine-tingling growl. The problem with compressing a song that’s a slow build into something faster is the danger of peaking too early and leaving the singer with nowhere left to go. But Hudson pulls it off by using the guitar solo to back off, making room for a second crescendo of vocal runs over the audience singalong that closes the song. By the end, it’s hard to remember the show started with Stevie Wonder: There’s nothing but Hudson—and Prince.
