Prince isn’t exactly the biggest fan of the Internet, what with keeping his music off of most streaming services (except for Tidal) and suing YouTube and eBay over unauthorized content. But perhaps his luddite tendencies are starting to wane?
Last night, Prince tweeted a link to his 8-minute cover of Radiohead’s “Creep,” which he performed way back in 2008, when he headlined Coachella. Though he later deleted the original tweet, he replaced it with a link to an NME article that linked to the video. So, it seems that maybe Prince is finally OK with his physical presence being viewed on YouTube, but only if he doesn’t link directly to it.
Uploaded by a user named Miles Harti, the video quality isn’t great, but the sound is rather decent—Prince’s guitar solos and signature falsetto manage to break through, crowd noise be damned.
Prince’s Radiohead cover has an interesting backstory: Prince originally tried to withhold all footage of the performance, citing copyright ownership, but Thom Yorke/Radiohead attempted to reverse Prince’s decision, since they were the actual owners of the song. And it appears Prince, like the rest of the world, has finally listened to Thom Yorke.
Watch Prince’s cover below: