Watch New Director’s Cut of Prince’s Legendary Solo In ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’

The Purple One’s amazing performance during a George Harrison tribute gets a new look.

Director’s cuts of anything can be a mixed bag. On one hand, they can present an entirely new vision of a work people thought they knew — see Zack Snyder’s Justice League. On the other hand, they can be excuses for the directors doing the cutting to just be self-indulgent and prioritize whatever they love about the work over story.

This is the good kind of director’s cut, recently posted to Youtube by Joel Gallen, who directed the 2004 special tribute to late Beatle George Harrison, featuring rock greats like Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne, and Prince. 

The video is a new look at the highlight of that concert, Prince’s astonishing guitar solo in a group performance of Harrison’s classic, “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.” 

It brings us a lot more Prince, which is only fitting since the original clip went viral after the Purple One passed away in 2016 at his home in Minnesota. 

The director posted an explanation beneath the video on Youtube:

17 years after this stunning performance by Prince, I finally had the chance to go in and re-edit it slightly – since there were several shots that were bothering me. I got rid of all the dissolves and made them all cuts, and added lots more close ups of Prince during his solo. I think it’s better now. Let me know what you think.

For comparison, watch the original video below. 

While other publications have wondered where the hell Prince’s guitar went after he finished at the end of the video, the answer seems obvious. 

Prince tossed the instrument it into the air before marching out. It was likely caught by a roadie waiting for the moment, but it’s a lot more fun to imagine the guitar knew it would never be part of a better performance and just rocketed through the roof and into space. 

If any musician could’ve pulled off a trick like that, it was Prince.