Posted under mtv
It’s surreal to think that three of the men most responsible for reinventing funk and R&B and dancing into the mainstream with it all could have shared the same stage at the same time. But it happened at least once during a James Brown concert. In the video below (which isn’t dated but must be from right around 1980), the Godfather of Soul invites Michael Jackson up on stage to do a little freestyling and dancing, and then brings up Prince just for good measure. Prince’s appearance is fantastically surreal: He gets a piggyback ride, strips, dances and growls like a velociraptor (not necessarily in that order).
Of course, Jackson did have a mini-rivalry with Prince, so this may be the only time the two shared a stage. Add Brown to the mix and you get a truly memorable few minutes. The video below isn’t the greatest quality, but you can tell it’s amazing regardless of the camera work.