Watch a new director’s cut of Prince’s jaw-dropping ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’ Guitar Solo
There are guitar solos and then there’s the solo that Prince unleashed upon George Harrison’s While My Guitar Gently Weeps at the 2004 Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony. The clip of Prince, Tom Petty, Steve Winwood, Jeff Lynne and George Harrison’s son, Dhani, performing the classic from The Beatles’ ‘The White Album‘ is often cited as proof of Prince‘s awe-inspiring musical talent and showmanship and has been watched over 100 million times on YouTube.
Now there’s a whole new way to enjoy it. Director Joel Gallen has released a new edit of the clip, featuring more Prince than ever before, as he told YouTube, “17 years after this stunning performance by Prince, I finally had the chance to go in and re-edit it slightly – since there were several shots that were bothering me. I got rid of all the dissolves and made them all cuts, and added lots more close ups of Prince during his solo. I think it’s better now.”
The latest version brings a whole new dimension to the electric performance but some things remain a mystery – it’s still unclear exactly what happened to Prince’s guitar once he triumphantly throws it in the air at the end of his solo. Perhaps some things are best left a mystery.
The 15 March 2004 performance was to honour George Harrison as he was posthumously inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. Harrison’s fellow Travelling Wilbury, Tom Petty, told The New York Times in 2016 that the ex-Beatle would have approved: “Look, we got Prince here willing to play lead guitar. Why should we give him an eight-bar solo? Over a solo that — the Beatles solo, everyone knows it by heart and would be disappointed if you didn’t play that particular solo there. And Prince was a great fan of George’s, and the Beatles in general, but I think he particularly admired George. I think George would have liked it a lot.”