Molly Miller revels in Prince – The Village Voice

Molly Miller: I was in the midst of finals in my last semester at USC getting my bachelor’s in Studio/Jazz Guitar when Prince blew my mind. I saw him in May of 2011 during his Welcome 2 tour, which included 21 nights at The Forum in Inglewood, one of which I was lucky enough to see. 

I had spent four years, not to mention the decade before, studying guitar, but I had never really dug into Prince. I was in complete awe. I remember I kept saying, “Prince is the best guitarist in the world.” Not only was he a master of guitar, but also an impeccable singer, musician, songwriter, bandleader, and sensational on stage. There was a level of badassery that oozed out of him — he played perfect guitar solos in feathered heels and would then throw his guitar off stage into the abyss. I felt like a fool for never having spent time appreciating this superhuman. 

It was so inspiring for me as a guitarist and a performer to witness this. He held the power and I was at the mercy of it, in a really beautiful way. I still feel that show buzz when thinking about his performance. 

And to add a little extra to the evening, Whitney Houston jumped up and sang “Musicology” with Prince. While it was amazing, there was an awkwardness to it that made it seem like she was getting escorted off stage pretty quickly — check out the video online!  ❖ 

The Molly Miller Trio’s single “66 West” is out now. The album The Ballad of Hotspur is out May 3.

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