Alicia and Outkast to Induct Prince

This should be interesting.. I saw Alicia with Prince once before, at the aftershow he did last year after the Lincoln Center concert, and came away with a whole new fondness for her. Not from how good her performance was, cuz it really wasn't very good at all.. she came out while the band was rocking "777-9311" and had apparently never heard of the song(!!!), so she clumsily freestyled a verse over the groove. Then Prince stepped to the keyboard and accompanied her on "How Come You Don't Call Me Anymore", which was aiite but nothing to write home about.

But it was still such a strikingly unguarded moment, watching the hottest pop star in the world in this intimate setting, beaming like a little kid and singing to herself "ok, i need to calm down," leaning over and studying Prince's every move on the keyboard, hoping to pick up a few of his tricks while she sang along. I just found it so endearing how awestruck and humbled she was by the moment.. it made me feel like we had really shared something special with her. I say corny things sometimes. But hey I warned you before I was a sentimental guy.

But anyway like I was saying:

Stars Set To Induct Hall Of Famers

Bruce Springsteen, Alicia Keys and Tom Petty are among the artists who will be on hand to induct the 2004 class into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. A longtime supporter of the Hall and 1999 inductee into the elite group of honored musicians, Springsteen will introduce Jackson Browne at this year's event.

Dave Matthews will do the honors for Traffic, while Petty and Jeff Lynne will induct their Traveling Wilburys bandmate George Harrison. Keys will be joined by hip-hop duo OutKast to welcome Prince, while Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards, himself a Hall of Famer since 1989, will be on hand to enshrine ZZ Top.

Also don't forget Prince's acoustic jam with Wendy airs tonite on the Tavis Smiley show, here in NY it's on channel 21 (WLIW) at midnight.