The crowd wanted a party and His Purpleness delivered. With a nostalgic salute to the 1980s, the Afro-shaking, guitar-riffing Prince showed up in New Orleans and showed out for the 20th anniversary of the Essence Music Festival. He tore up the Mercedes-Benz Superdome with hit after hit, and the capacity crowd of 50,000 sang along to Little Red Corvette, 1999, Kiss and When Doves Cry.
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The finale was his megahit and signature song, Purple Rain.
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