And Prince just stops and lets him do it and plays the rhythm, strums along. When we get to the middle solo, where Prince is supposed to do it, Jeff LynneвЂ™s guitar player just starts playing the solo. He says hello to Tom and Jeff and the band. And at the time IвЂ™d asked him to come back, there was Prince heвЂ™d shown up on the side of the stage with his guitar. After that he went back to his hotel, and I said, вЂњYouвЂ™re going to come back at 10 oвЂ™clock tonight, thatвЂ™s when weвЂ™re going to rehearse the finale,вЂќ and he says, вЂњIвЂ™ll see.вЂќ He didnвЂ™t give me any guarantees, he just said, вЂњIвЂ™ll see.вЂќ The Petty rehearsal was later that night. He was having all kinds of audio problems, I remember he had his own monitor engineer that his camp had hired, and I think Prince fired him during the rehearsal because he couldnвЂ™t get the sound right. PrinceвЂ™s rehearsal was actually earlier - he rehearsed his big 10-, 12-minute medley that opened the show. GALLEN We get to the rehearsal the night before the show at the Waldorf Astoria. On a purely musical level, a technical level as far as musicianship, that performance seems like the most impressive one. CRAIG INCIARDI (Curator at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum) IвЂ™ve seen every induction performance from вЂ™92 to the present, so thatвЂ™s like 24 shows. I think George would have liked it a lot. And Prince was a great fan of GeorgeвЂ™s, and the Beatles in general, but I think he particularly admired George. Why should we give him an eight-bar solo? Over a solo that - the Beatles solo, everyone knows it by heart and would be disappointed if you didnвЂ™t play that particular solo there. I was told, вЂњWell, Prince is going to play too,вЂќ and I was like, вЂњWow, thatвЂ™s fantastic.вЂќ Look, we got Prince here willing to play lead guitar. TOM PETTY (shared lead vocals with Jeff Lynne on вЂњWhile My Guitar Gently WeepsвЂќ) Olivia Harrison asked me if I would come along and induct George. Both in the initial meeting and the second meeting, he did talk a lot about what weвЂ™re going to do with the music, whoвЂ™s going to own the music - he was concerned like, if he does this, whoвЂ™s going to own the performance? He wanted to make sure that his performance was not exploited without his knowledge. He said, вЂњYou know, I got your letter, I liked the idea, IвЂ™m going to listen to the song a few times, and IвЂ™ll get back to you.вЂќ A couple weeks later his security guy called me again, and said, вЂњPrince would like to meet with you again.вЂќ He said he definitely wants to do the song, heвЂ™s definitely going to do it. I got a call from one of PrinceвЂ™s guys, a week or two later, saying that Prince was in L.A. I wrote basically a personal letter to Prince, care of his lawyer. JOEL GALLEN (producer and director of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony) My dream right from the start was, imagine if I can get everybody up onstage at the end of the night to do вЂњWhile My Guitar Gently Weeps,вЂќ and Prince comes out and does the guitar solos. These are edited excerpts from the conversations about what is regarded as the greatest moment in Rock & Roll Hall of Fame history. Several people who were onstage or at the ceremony that night recalled PrinceвЂ™s involvement and performance. After which he casually threw his guitar into the air and it seemed to disappear. But Prince, who essentially stood in the dark for most of the performance, burned the stage to the ground at the songвЂ™s end. LynneвЂ™s band, played Eric ClaptonвЂ™s memorable solo from the album version of the song. The group featured Tom Petty and two other members of the Heartbreakers, as well as Jeff Lynne, Steve Winwood, Dhani Harrison (GeorgeвЂ™s son) and Prince, himself an inductee that year. As part of the ceremony, an all-star band performed вЂWhile My Guitar Gently Weeps,вЂ™ Mr. On March 15, 2004, George Harrison was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

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