Bobo has a hard time understanding 
's name.
Photo used for the 1993 Muppet Trading Cards.
Prince: A Little Golden Book Biography
Prince Rogers Nelson (1958-2016) appeared as a guest star in episode 201 of Muppets Tonight on September 13, 1997. At the time, he was known as 
(dubbed by the media as the Artist Formerly Known as Prince). A Muppet caricature of the star appeared in the same episode.
Twelve years before, in 1985, Prince won the Academy Award for "Best Original Song Score" for the movie Purple Rain, defeating Jeff Moss, nominated for his work on The Muppets Take Manhattan.
When Prince first opened his Paisley Park studio on September 11, 1987 with a three-day gala event, Muppet Babies Live! would be the first act to perform there,[1] with VStar Entertainment Group booking the space for rehearsals for both the 1987 and 1988 tours.[2]
Mentions
- Random House's 2026 Prince: A Little Golden Book Biography by Nikki Shannon Smith includes a page focused on Prince's Muppets Tonight appearance. The illustration features Prince at the piano surrounded by Kermit the Frog, Rizzo the Rat, Clifford, and Seymour.
References
- In a Sesame Street insert, The Cosby Kids argue over what is sadder, not making the Football team, a best friend moving away, or losing a purple pen with a picture of Prince. (First: Episode 2127)
- In Sesame Street Episode 2222, Telly overhears that Leo the Party Monster is having a dance party. Leo hypes how exciting his party will be by saying "we're gonna party like it's 1999!"
- The cover of Purple Rain appears in the "Rechov Video" segment from the Shalom Sesame episode "The Land of Israel".
- The Sesame Street song "Nineteen" spoofs Prince's song "1999."
- Purple Rain was spoofed as "Piggy Reigns" by (Frog) Prince in the 1993 Muppet Trading Cards set.
- In a 1993 appearance on Friday Night Videos, Clifford jokes that he could've worked for the Muppets or the big purple dinosaur. Branford Marsalis thinks he means Barney, but Clifford clarifies that he meant Prince.
- Clifford attempts to answer a question about purple animals in the "Trivial But True" segment of The Muppet CD-ROM: Muppets Inside, asking if it's "the animal formerly known as Prince." Kermit says he doesn't want to "Purple Rain on your parade, but that's not one of the choices."
- Papa Bear can be heard at Baby Bear's birthday party in Sesame Street Episode 3539 saying that tonight he's "going to party like it's 1999."
- The book Sesame Street Unpaved lists "Let's Go Crazy" as one of Zoe's favorite songs.
- In Sesame Street Episode 4157, Abby Cadabby introduces her toy frog to Elmo as "Prince, formerly known as The Frog."
- When Abby imagines Oscar the Grouch is really an enchanted prince in Episode 4173 of Sesame Street, Oscar refers to himself as "Oscar, the Grouch formerly known as Prince" when a spell is cast upon him.
- In the Abby's Flying Fairy School segment, "Sleeping Bloggy," Gonnigan turns into a prince and back again, and then Mrs. Sparklenose tells him that he'll always be "the fairy formerly known as a prince."
- Near the end of The Muppets, Tex Richman refers the Muppets, having lost the telethon, as "You artists formerly known as The Muppets", whilst The Muppets: The Movie Junior Novel refers to Gonzo (now a plumbing magnate) as the artist formerly known as The Great Gonzo.
- On April 21, 2016, upon the news of Prince's death, the photo of Kermit as Prince from "Piggy Reigns" spoof was posted on Kermit the Frog's Facebook and Twitter accounts along with a message saying: "From Frog to Prince: We will always love your music and you. Our hearts are yours. Thanks for being a friend."[3]