Who could have imagined that a visit to a West Hollywood jazz club would include a surprise solo from his Purpleness, Prince.
During an early December performance by Ryan Edgar and Nikki Leonti, Prince, who has all but disappeared from social media, joined the duo on stage as they performed The Beatles’ 1967 song “With a Little Help From My Friends.” The various clips show the man once known as Prince Rogers Nelson playing his guitar with authority during a prolonged chorus. A rather moody chap, it’s great to see the musician grinning ear to ear during the song.
As legend has it, John Lennon and Paul McCartney carefully built the song to accommodate drummer Ringo Starr’s limited vocal range. “With a Little Help From My Friends” is only one of 11 songs from The Beatles in which Ringo had a major vocal role (“Yellow Submarine” perhaps the most popular of the lot). “Little Help” was featured on Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, the Grammy Award winner for album of the year.
USA Today and other outlets reported that in late November, Prince dropped out of the social media scene by deleting his Facebook and YouTube accounts. As with most events that relate to mercurial star, there was no explanation given.
Screengrab via Nikki Leonti/YouTube
