Prince Covers Cars, Jimmy Eat World at Oscar Party

Posted on Feb 23rd 2009 12:00PM by Steve Baltin
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This year's Oscars telecast saw a lot of tricks to improve sagging ratings, from keeping the presenters a surprise, to some additional musical numbers. But after attending Prince's post-Oscar bash at Hollywood's Avalon, we have a simple solution for the Academy -- make Prince and his group the house band.

Sure, there might be some nervous moments. Though doors were scheduled to open at 10 p.m., and the line down Vine St. was still there at midnight as Prince wrapped up his sound check. And as you'd imagine, the one a.m. scheduled start time actually became 1:45 before the Purple One took the stage. But as soon as he laid down the licks to the Edgar Winter Band classic 'Frankenstein,' the funkiest Oscar party in history was on.

Backed once again by a stellar group of musicians, Prince led the ensemble through a pastiche of surprising rock 'n' roll karakoe, from the Cars' 'Let's Go' to the Rolling Stones' 'Miss You' and 'Honky Tonk Woman.' To prove his ridiculous range, Prince asked the crowd -- a mixture of celebs, including Best Supporting Actress winner Penelope Cruz, and fans who paid $100 a ticket -- "Do you want jazz, funk, soul, reggae, rock 'n' roll?" The answer of rock 'n' roll prompted a little Jimmy Eat World's 'The Middle.'

Prince later invited several people from the audience onstage to dance and take over lead vocals during performances of the Sheila E. hit 'Glamorous Life,' and Wild Cherry's '70s hit, 'Play That Funky Music. And three a.m. or not, you can be sure when Prince says, "Everybody dance," that crowd was moving.

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