by Kyle Anderson


One thing you can safely say about Prince: dude is unpredictable. Sometimes he’ll invite Kim Kardashian on stage with him, only to throw her off moments later (when royalty commands you to dance, you dance, woman).

Other times he’ll record collections of absurdly politicized lit- jazz tunes. And just when you think he has retired to Paisley Park to hide from the world and do whatever it is guys in those houses do, he appears like a magical sprite to announce another big event.

On last night’s episode of Lopez Tonight, the Purple One suddenly appeared out of nowhere to reveal not only that he was going to be playing the show next Wednesday (April 13) but that he was also launching a 21-night residency in Los Angeles. Witness the phone call here:

Prince always seems to show up unexpected and in the most curious places (not unlike Bigfoot, or a Christopher Walken cameo). His appearance on Lopez’s show next week is probably the biggest booking in the show’s brief history, and Lopez is actually becoming quite a force for after-hours music performances on TV (who else would think to book 2010 viral hitmaker Antoine Dodson?). Prince very rarely finds himself on the sets of late night shows, though he did do a residency on The Tonight Show at the end of Jay Leno’s first run.

As for the big announcement, it’s certainly good news for residents of Southern California. Prince’s shows in the New York area in December and January provided incredible entertainment, and though His Tinyness is getting up there in years, he can still grind it out. And he also knows that people mostly don’t care about anything he has recorded since 1992, which is why most of the set lists in New York were less Lotusflow3r and more 1999.

So what song—or songs—should Prince bust out on Lopez Tonight next week? We’re always happy to hear a little “Let’s Go Crazy” or “Little Red Corvette,” but maybe he’ll reach deeper into the back catalog for a hidden gem. Is it too much to hope for “Let’s Pretend We’re Married”?