Official video featuring Prince‘s performance of “The Bird” from an April 28, 2011 show at The Forum in Inglewood, California has been uploaded to the late musician’s YouTube channel. The footage comes from a Blu-Ray of the entire concert included in deluxe editions of Welcome 2 America, an album Prince recorded in 2010 that was finally released last month.
Prince was joined by the New Power Generation on April 28, 2011 and the rest of his Welcome 2 America tour which spanned 2010 – 2012. “The Bird” was filmed during a run of 21 concerts at the Los Angeles-area venue.
“The Bird” kicked off Prince’s second of five encores at The Forum on April 28, 2011. Credited as Jamie Starr, Prince co-wrote the song with Morris Day. Jesse Johnson also claims he came up with an “embryonic version” of “The Bird” but had his name removed from the credits as per PrinceVault.com. The Time released a live version featuring overdubs from Prince on their Ice Cream Castle album in 1984.
Prince shows off his dynamic stage presence throughout the funky number and welcomes audience members to dance on the stage towards the end of “The Bird.” Check out the rendition below:
