Courtesy FoxWhen tragedies like this happen, people often gather together to tell stories of the person we've lost, to start a discussion about what made them so special and unique. But when it comes to Prince, who tragically passed yesterday at 57, the world has been doing that for decades.
We've all been enjoying the beauty of his music and the power of his live performances, but he's also been an integral part of our pop culture fabric. Movies and TV shows have been both borrowing from, and honoring in their own way, his genius. Whether it was dancing along to one of his hit songs or playfully making light of his famous elusiveness, Prince references have popped up all over pop culture. And then there was the time he himself did a cameo on New Girl, but we'll get to that later.
Because we can't stop thinking about all things Prince, let's take a look at some of the best moments you may have forgotten about.
Pretty Woman
"Don't you just love Prince?" "More than life itself."
Truer words have never been spoken. This scene may not have been a marquee moment among the likes of "I want the fairytale," but the image of Richard Gere holding back laughter as Julia Roberts rocks out to "Kiss" in the bathtub is simply priceless.
Muppets Tonight
Yes, you are looking at Prince wrangling a gaggle of crazed Muppets. The singer appeared on the live-action puppet show back in 1997 and brought, in addition to his signature style, a dose of comic relief to the episode. His hosting gig included such highlights as performing his kids song "Starfish and Coffee." Win.
Saturday Night Live
Fred Armisen, where is your Emmy? The SNL castmember took on the persona of our beloved Prince several times—most often for a running segment called The Prince Show—but our personal favorite is when "Prince" joined other "celebrities" to welcome baby Blue Ivy. True to form, Fred/Prince arrived to the party via the back entrance, accompanied by a plume of smoke. He also bestowed upon the brand new baby what is perhaps one of the greatest gifts of all: a smirk.
Glee
Is there a higher honor than having the great Gwyneth Paltrow cover one of your songs? Probably. But this one was pretty great. It may not go down in the annals of Glee cover history (those spots are reserved for "Don't Stop Believin'" and that a cappella "Teenage Dream"), but it's still legendary to us.
The Chappelle Show
Any excuse to see Dave Chappelle in a velvet tuxedo jacket and curly wig, right? Obviously nobody can don these duds the way that Prince could, but this was a pretty close second. Plus the basketball and pancakes bit was genius.
Batman
We can officially add "composer" to the long list of Prince's many talents. He created the score for Warner Brothers' original Batman movie back in 1989 (yes, the one starring Michael Keaton). As can be expected, the soundtrack was pretty funky.
Happy Feet
Prince's fingerprints were all over this adorable movie. He wrote the original tune "The Song of the Heart" for the soundtrack, and the movie's main characters (that would be the penguins, duh) performed their own rendition of "Kiss" during the flick's intro. There's really nothing cuter than watching freaking penguins sing a line like "You don't have to be beautiful to turn me on." Oh, and the original song scored Prince a pair of award nominations—for the Golden Globes and the Grammys.
Rush Hour 3
You heard it here first: Chris Tucker does not have the pipes that Prince did. He did his own version of "Do Me Baby" during the intro of this franchise's third installment and while we give him points for effort, it wasn't quite as...melodic?
New Girl
Prince is Magic. pic.twitter.com/dHB3n5hX2d
? Hannah Simone (@HannahSimone) April 21, 2016
Perhaps Prince's most recent brush with the big screen was on last season of New Girl. The singer was famously a huge fan of the show (he even shipped Nick and Jess) and requested a part on their post-Super Bowl special episode. And special it was. The whole episode was full of Prince-like gems, including an onstage duet with star Zooey Deschanel, but we think this clip (uploaded today by Hannah Simone) really puts our feelings into words.
Where do we go from here? How do we move on from this? We just go to work tomorrow?
The answer, cast of New Girl, is you jam the f--k out in the name of Prince.