LOS ANGELES:

Variety

Madonna

Madonna is dismissing critics of her tribute to Prince at the Billboard Music Awards with style.

A day after her performance of “Nothing Compares 2 U” and duet with Stevie Wonder on “Purple Rain”, the pop singer took to social media Monday and posted a picture of herself in a purple boa with a flower in her teeth.

She wrote that 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.” She later posed a video of her dancing with a caption that indicated the criticism didn’t bother her.

The decision to have Madonna honor Prince sparked criticism online and sparked a Change.org petition in the days before the awards show, with some asking that other musicians more closely aligned to Prince be involved as well. Madonna and Prince collaborated on “Love Song” from Madonna’s 1989 album, “Like a Prayer”.

Madonna’s performance on Sunday was met by a flurry of tweets complaining about her version of “Nothing Compares 2 U”. Some were underwhelmed, others found it inappropriate.

BET responded to Madonna’s performance on Twitter by advertising its upcoming Prince tribute during their awards show next month, adding the caption “Yeah, we saw that. Don’t worry. We got you”. (AP)