Prince Remembered On Sunday Night Football And The Emmys

Prince Remembered By Minnesota Vikings And The Emmys

Prince received two more emotional tributes Sunday night before national audiences.The Minnesota Vikings and the 68th annual Emmy Awards each had moments paying homage to the music legend, who passed away in April. The NFL team actually had two moments – one planned, the other unplanned, courtesy of their opponent the Green Bay Packers.Before the rumored Prince tribute at halftime, the very first touchdown at the Vikings’ new U.S. Bank Stadium, (unfortunately for the hometown fans) was a pass from Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers to receiver Jordy Nelson.

Twitter user Ryan Henning was among the first to pick up on the uncanny “Rodgers-Nelson” connection to Prince’s full name, Prince Rogers Nelson.That freaky moment was followed by the halftime tribute, which started with Prince’s “1999” and ended with the Minnesota Orchestra playing “Purple Rain,” fronted by the gospel group The Steeles.With all of the lights off, except for a few purple spotlights, thousands of lit cell phones were raised across the new stadium as the crowd swayed from side to side. The Vikings then held on to beat the Vikings 17-14.

Watch clips from the halftime show below: (Prince tribute starts at 4:03)

And sure enough, the In Memoriam segment of the Emmy Awards Sunday night ended with a clip of Prince waving goodbye from his own halftime concert during the 2007 Super Bowl.

Tori Kelly, who is on the bill for Prince’s official tribute concert on Oct. 13 in St. Paul, performed Jeff Buckley’s “Hallelujah” for the show’s annual segment honoring those from the industry who have passed. The 23-year-old told ETOnline that she got a little bit choked up during rehearsal when Prince’s image appeared on the screen.

“It was just very moving for me,” she told ET’s Kevin Frazier on the red carpet. “I tried not to look at the screen because that’s where they are showing everybody, [but] I did catch Prince at the end … I was like, ‘Aw, dang it!’ I’m going to try and keep my composure and pay my respect.”