UPDATE: Prince will perform one uninterrupted eight-minute long jam sessiononSaturday Night Live, according to a statement. It remains unknown which song hell be performing.
What better way to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Purple Rain than this:Saturday Night Liveannounced Tuesday that Princewill fill the role ofmusical guest on the shows November 1st episode. The rocker will be joined by his backing band 3rdEyeGirl, with whom Prince recorded his two new albums Art Official Age and PlectrumElectrum.Chris Rock will host the episode, which marks the comedians first SNL visit in 18 years.
The SNL gig is Princes third time performing on the long-running sketch series: He last played 3121s Fury and Beautiful, Loved and Blessed in 2006. That performance came 25 years after Prince made hisSaturday Night Livedebut, when he busted out Dirty Minds Party Up back in 1981 on an episode featuring guest host Charlene Tilton of Dallas fame.
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Rock served as an Saturday Night Live cast member from 1990 to 1993. Unlike other SNL ex-pats like Tina Fey, Jimmy Fallon and,most recently, Bill Hader,who routinely returnto guest host the show, Rock didnt stop by Studio 8H regularly after his SNL tenure ended. He did guest host an episode back in 1996 with musical guest the Wallflowers but that was the last chapter in his SNL history until his upcoming appearance. Rocks return after 18 years means that the comedian can finally resurrect one of his best SNL sketches, The Dark Side with Nat X.
While most people probably associate Prince more with Eddie Murphy and Dave Chappelle thanks to this skit, Rock alsohas some history with Prince: The comedian interviewed Prince back in 1997 during The Artist phase, with the two discussing rap lyrics, artistic freedom and Princes rivalry with Michael Jackson.
Saturday Night Live previously announced that Jim Carrey and Iggy Azalea would appear on its October 25th episode.