Rolling up to the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Halloween party bedecked in the trappings of venerable rock icon Prince circa Purple Rain, basketball champion LeBron James proceeded to delight friends by performing a string of hits from the seminal 80’s album.
Coming in at 6 feet and 8 inches tall, it’s safe to say Lebron’s costume was a faithful recreation of Prince’s iconic getup – as opposed to an original from the 5 foot 2 singer’s own wardrobe.
While LeBron’s guitar miming finesse may not equal his abilities on the court, his spirited vocals more than made up for any lack of technical ability. “I only want to see you bathing in the purple rain,” LeBron croons, leaning forward with an emotively graceful lurch. Other numbers included such Purple Rain classics as When Doves Cry and the timeless I Would Die 4 U.
Prince people A video posted by Mo Williams (@mogotti25) on Oct 31, 2015 at 9:23pm PDT
Prince himself was quick to endorse Lebron’s parodies by reposting videos of the performance on his own recently launched ‘PRINSTAGRAM’ account.
It seems that James wasn’t the only one rocking the Prince regalia with manager and long-time friend Maverick Carter also emulating the likeness and imagery of the iconic performer.
For those looking to delve a little deeper into Lebron’s musical influences the Cleveland player compiled an official playlist for the NBA 2k14 video game which can be found here.