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Kai Z. FengBruno Mars is one of the performers on the Grammy Awards later this month, and now a new report says he’ll be part of a tribute to Prince, who died in April of 2016.
Sources tell Billboard that Bruno is in talks to take part in the tribute, during which he’d perform with the members of Prince proteges The Time.
Billboard reports that it’s unclear whether or not Bruno and The Time would be performing Prince songs, Time songs, Bruno Mars songs, or some combination of all three. It’s also not clear whether or not Time frontman Morris Day would be involved in the performance.
Billboard speculates that, despite rumors claiming The Weeknd and Rihanna would also be part of a Grammy Prince tribute, some artists may now be wary of paying tribute to The Purple One after Lady Gaga was slammed for her David Bowie tribute last year.
In addition, permission to use Prince’s songs might be difficult for the Grammys to obtain, considering the complicated question of who currently owns which aspects of those songs.
According to Billboard, performing songs by The Time might solve that problem, since for all intents and purposes, Prince created the band: he wrote or co-wrote their songs, and produced and played on most of their material. In addition, Billboard points out that Bruno’s own style seems to owe more to The Time than they do to Prince himself.
The Grammys air February 12. Stay tuned.
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