In 2004 at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, a team of music legends, including Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne, Steve Winwood, and Prince performed "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" in honor of Beatles' George Harrison. Their performance was so amazing, that it will forever be cemented in rock history.
The ceremony's producer Joel Gallen, later shared that what ultimately happened on stage that night wasn't rehearsed. Regardless, when Prince stepped into the spotlight for his solo, he blew the roof off and shocked everyone in attendance. After Prince's death in April 2016, Tom Petty talked about the performance and said he was basically in awe. "You see me nodding at him, to say "Go on, go on. I remember I leaned out at him at one point and gave him a "This is going great' kind of look. He just burned it up," Petty recalled. "You could feel the electricity of something really big's going down here."
Not only is this 2004 performance legendary because of the incredible talent displayed by its participants, it also has an intriguing mystery...apparently no one knows what happened to the guitar Prince was playing that night! You notice in the video (above), that he lifts it and throws it away after his solo, then departs the stage without it.
In an article published by UltimateClassicRock.com, Petty's drummer Steve Ferrone said, "I didn't even see who caught it. I just saw it go up, and I was astonished that it didn't come back down again. Ferrone added, "Everybody wonders where that guitar went, and I gotta tell you, I was on the stage, and I wonder where it went, too".
The mystery of Prince's missing guitar may never be solved, but one thing is for sure, Prince and Tom Petty left us with an unforgettable collaboration in "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," and two lifetimes of the greatest music ever.
Photo: Getty Images / Video: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame