BET Awards' Prince Tribute to Feature Sheila. E, The Roots, and D'Angelo

BET has announced that they will honor Prince at the upcoming 2016 BET Awards with a tribute performance featuring his former bandmate Sheila E., The Roots, D'Angelo, Janelle Monae, and more.

Condolences, celebrations, and tributes have been pouring in since Prince's sudden and tragic death in April at the age of 57 from an Opioid overdose. In May, Madonna closed the 2016 Billboard Awards with a Prince tribute performing his classics, "Nothing Compares 2 U" and "Purple Rain," with Stevie Wonder. BET commented on the performance in a since-deleted tweet, shading Madonna's tribute with the caption, “Yeah, we saw that. Don’t worry. We Got You.”

Questlove, who had introduced Madonna ahead of her performance, quickly came to the defense of her tribute. "Naturally there will be folded arms & shade thrown because the Purple Standard is hard boots to fill & a lot of us don't wanna come 2 grips," he tweeted. "So I know there is gonna be ALOT of 'feel a certain ways' about who you want to see do his music justice---but you gotta put that aside yall. Every Prince rendition will not be a life changing orgasmic xperience. Just to SING his work is brave enough."

Madonna also came to her own defense and told fans on Instagram, "Anyone who wants to do a tribute to Prince is welcome to. Whatever your age Gender or skin Color. If you loved him and he inspired you then show it!!!! I love Prince 4 ever 💜☔️👑🙏,"

BET's news arrives on what would have been Prince's 58th birthday. Many are making the most of the day, including Tidal, who has added 15 Prince albums to its library and the governor of Minnesota who has declared today "Prince Day." 2016 will clearly continue to be the year of Prince tributes as each network and show honors the iconic musician that gave everyone so much. The BET Awards will air live on Sunday June 26.