Purple Rain: When Tom Jones paired up with Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour for emotional Prince cover

7 June 2024, 17:02

They shared more in common than just a birthday.

Yes, both Tom Jones and Prince were born on the 7th of June, and both were remarkable talents in their own right.

There was another link between the two - it can safely be said that Prince was largely responsible for the revival of Tom Jones' music career in the mid-eighties.

When Tom covered Prince's raunchy 1986 funk classic 'Kiss' two years later, it revitalised his popularity when he was very nearly consigned to the doldrums of pop success.

Now, it wasn't the first cover that Tom made his own - the Welsh dragon has famously covered the likes of Bob Dylan, Otis Redding, Chuck Berry, Cat Stevens, and many more of his own favourite artists.

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Taking on 'Kiss' was an altogether different beast, as the 'Delilah' singer had resigned himself to only singing country-pop songs from yesteryear.

That was until avant-garde electronic group Art Of Noise encouraged him to take on the Prince song, to which he did more than justice.

It wasn't the only song of Prince's that Tom transformed - he also covered the classic ballad 'Purple Rain', recruiting Pink Floyd's pioneering guitarist David Gilmour for the performance.

Tom Jones The Right Time David Gilmour Purple Rain.

Certainly an unlikely match-up - I doubt anybody's 1992 bingo cards would've put Tom Jones together with Pink Floyd.

But for his short-lived television special, Tom Jones: The Right Time, he managed to convince Gilmour to join him on stage.

Of course, Tom can bend any song to his singular vocal, and each episode of the series had a focus on a particular genre of music, delving into their respective histories and cultural significance.

With Tom back in the public consciousness, he leveraged his talent to get a roster of respected guests on to perform with him.

Across the series, the likes of Stevie Wonder, Cyndi Lauper, Bob Geldof and Joe Cocker all performed alongside Tom/

But for the episode that celebrated gospel music, Tom performed a powerful version of Prince's 'Purple Rain', with Gilmour taking on the epic guitar solo.

So, not once but twice did lighting strike when it came to Jones singing a Prince song - it's just a shame this soul-searching performance has largely been forgotten about.

In his 2015 autobiography, Over the Top and Back, Tom recalled hearing the finished mix for his version of 'Kiss', to which he said: "If this isn’t a hit, then I may as well pack up and leave."

Thankfully that wasn't the case, as 'Kiss' reached number five in the UK charts, catapulting Tom back into relevancy at the same time.

Though, as he details in his autobiography, Jones couldn't bear hearing the opinion of the man whose songwriting helped him get back on his feet.

Bumping into one another in a glitzy London nightclub one night, Tom wrote how Prince "was dressed like some kind of 18th-century fop braided coat, teetering heels, huge frilled sleeves, silk handkerchief waving."

"I paused to shake his hand and said, 'Thanks for the song'. He replied, 'Thanks for recording it' – surprising me with his voice, which was by no means falsetto," Tom continued.

"It turns out the guy has a fathoms-deep speaking voice. And then I excused myself and walked on into the party as rapidly as I possibly could - not having anything at all against the thought of hanging out with Prince."

Bolting before Prince got a chance to offer up his true opinion of Tom's 'Kiss' cover, he was reportedly fond of it, it seemed.

"It would have devastated me to hear that he didn’t like my version of ‘Kiss’. The best approach in the circumstances seemed to be: right-turn and into the room. Don’t give him the option," Tom added.

It begs to be seen how Prince would've felt about Tom's cover of 'Purple Rain', but the famously tempestuous star might've been convinced by David Gilmour's contribution. Possibly.