So I Honored Prince by Singing ‘Kiss’ for the ‘Voice’ Coaches

On Thursday, The Voice hosted a karaoke happy hour at Hyde Sunset Kitchen + Cocktail in West Hollywood, at which journalists sang with a live band for charity while the actual coaches – yes, Blake Shelton, Adam Levine, Christina Aguilera, and Pharrell Williams – looked on in amusement (or bemusement). It was supposed to be a celebratory event… but unfortunately, just hours earlier, the tragic news broke of Prince’s shocking death, casting a dark purple cloud over the party.

Shelton’s likened Prince’s passing to “some sort of horrible terrorist attack” when speaking to Us Weekly on the event’s red carpet. “I’m still really shocked, so I’m kind of processing everything, but I’m going to miss the guy so much,” added Levine. "There are many kings, queens, and princesses, but there will never be another Prince,” Williams told ET, while he elaborated to Billboard: "His death represents a big hole in the ether right now, especially the musical ether. But his music, his message, his movement – it was just super-powerful. His physical presence will definitely be missed. The essence of him survives along with the body of his work, the memories we all have of him, and the incredible impact and impression that he’s made with his songs.”

I wasn’t going to attend the party at all, to be perfectly honest, because I was feeling as dejected as the coaches themselves. But at the last minute, I donned a Prince Coachella 2008 T-shirt and a pair of glitter purple shoes, headed to Hyde… and belted an off-key, no-chair-turn-worthy, but emotionally connected rendition of Prince’s “Kiss” in front of Blake, Adam, Pharrell, and Xtina.

OK, so perhaps this wasn’t quite at the level of recent amazing onstage tributes by Stevie Wonder, Jennifer Hudson, or the cast of Hamilton. And yes, I am pretty sure if this had been an actual Blind Auditions episode of The Voice, no one would have hit their red buttons. The coaches would not have wanted my extra time or my kiss. Pharrell would not have called me “anointed.” But Blake may have called me “badass.”

As for what Prince might have thought, well, his lyrics did say, “You don’t have to be cool to rule my world,” and this performance was definitely uncool. And Prince was charity-minded, and he did teach the world to live fearlessly – so he may have appreciated my tone-deaf tribute, even if the coaches probably didn’t.

Side note: If you want to see an actually excellent Voice-related Prince cover, check out Adam Levine’s 2014 “Purple Rain” performance from Howard Stern’s 60th birthday party, which is making the viral rounds:

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