Justin Timberlake Lights Up Minneapolis In Purple For Prince Tribute During Halftime Of Super Bowl LII

For the past couple of days, there has been a lot of confusion as to how Prince would be represented during Justin Timberlake’s Super Bowl halftime show, and on Sunday, the world got its answer. JT started deep below the surface of the field and made his way to the 50-yard-line for a great performance that thrilled everyone. As he started to wind down, he paid tribute to the late rock star and he did it with Minneapolis drenched in the artist’s signature purple.

When it was revealed that Timberlake planned on paying tribute to Prince during his halftime show, there had been rumors of a hologram being used. Then, there were reports that a hologram was never even a thought and many of those close to Prince shot it down immediately.

As reported by CBS, Sheila E. tweeted out that while he was alive, Prince said he never wanted to be turned into a hologram. Shortly after that tweet, Timberlake reached out to her and said that there was not going to be a hologram used during halftime of the game between the Philadelphia Eagles and New England Patriots.

This all started after TMZ said Timberlake was planning on using the hologram of Prince, but it never ended up happening. JT did use some help in Minneapolis, though, as the area surrounding U.S. Bank Stadium not only turned purple but it turned into Prince’s iconic symbol.

Minnesota goes purple for Prince #SB52 pic.twitter.com/fW9EE7HcGI

— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) February 5, 2018

It was raining PURPLE in Minneapolis in honor of Prince and it was pur-fect #SuperBowl #HalftimeShow???????????? pic.twitter.com/KRs7PsSX9d

— Cosmopolitan (@Cosmopolitan) February 5, 2018

Timberlake gave a rather rejuvenating halftime show that didn’t include a ton of firepower or numerous guest stars, but Prince did make an appearance. Near the end of his performance, Timberlake sat at a piano in the middle of the field while Prince showed up as a projection on a huge screen.

Justin Timberlake then played a little of his own “End of Time” before moving into Prince‘s “I Would Die 4 U” as the artist almost sang along with him on the screen. The camera then went outside the stadium as the surrounding areas lit up in purple and showed Prince’s symbol to honor his memory. Super Bowl LII brought forth a lot of action and a great halftime show that was respectful, fun, and almost a duet between two gifted talents.