Ellen DeGeneres praised Prince as an “icon” and “genius” on Tuesday while recalling how grateful she was that he made a guest appearance on her daytime talk show’s first season in 2003.
“Of all the bands and artists that I’ve had on the show there was no one like Prince,” she said on her show Tuesday. “He was an artist, he was an icon, a genius and he was kind enough to appear on my show in the very first season, in 2003, which you have to understand is a big deal because most stars wait to see if a talk show is going to be successful.”
“They wait to see if it’s a cool thing to do before they say ‘yes,’ so he did it on the first season and it meant the world to me that he did that,” she continued. “So here’s a bit from the interview and the performance of his classic song ‘Kiss.’”
She flashed back to 2003, when Prince appeared on her show wearing all black. The crowd didn’t stop cheering, and they roared when Prince got up again to wave to the crowd.
“That’s how we all feel about you,” DeGeneres said in response to the crowd cheering. “You are just sexy, you are always dressed so well and I’ve never seen anything like this in Bloomingdales. Do you own shorts?”
Before Prince launched into his performance, he turned to the audience and said, “Can I just say, thank you all for the support.”
During his performance, he grabbed women from the audience to dance with him on stage. They did a much better job than Kim Kardashian did when he pulled her on stage during a concert in 2011. Kardashian awkwardly stood there until Prince told her to “get off my stage.”
Last Thursday, Prince was found dead at his Paisley Park compound in Minnesota. He was 57, and the cause of death remains unknown. An autopsy was conducted on Friday, but the results are pending.
Prince was celebrated in a private memorial service in Minnesota on Saturday shortly after his remains were cremated.
Watch the video above.