While My Guitar Gently Weeps

Watch the video. Tom Petty is grinning like a kid on Christmas. Dhani Harrison—George’s son, standing where his father should be—looks like he’s seeing a miracle. The band is playing “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” at the 2004 Rock Hall induction, and Prince is doing something no one expected.

He was supposed to be a guest. A cameo. Another famous face in a sea of famous faces honoring George Harrison’s legacy. For the first half of the song, that’s what he delivered—tasteful rhythm guitar, standing slightly off to the side, letting Petty and Lynne handle the spotlight.

Then came the solo.

There’s a moment when Prince steps forward that the air changes. You can see it on the other musicians’ faces. They expected something good. They got something transcendent. He starts restrained, almost reverent—a few exploratory runs paying respect to Harrison’s melody. Then he opens up. The notes start bending further, sustaining longer, climbing higher until he’s playing things that shouldn’t be possible on that tiny custom guitar.

The finale is famous now: Prince leans back into the crowd, falls backward into the darkness, still playing—and his guitar keeps wailing as roadies catch him. When the shot cuts, he’s gone. Vanished. Like he was never there at all.

Eric Clapton played the original solo on the Beatles recording. He’s one of the greatest guitarists who ever lived. Prince made you forget that for six minutes. Not by showing off—well, not just by showing off—but by finding something in the song that nobody knew was there.

Some performances honor the past. This one redefined what honoring could mean.