MIAMI – When "Purple Rain" was played in the pouring rain at Super Bowl XLI in the former Sun Life Stadium, it was a moment that went down in history.
Prince left the audience in awe that Feb. 4 night.
"It couldn't have been any better," David Saltz, an ABC Television executive producer said.
He said the idea to get Prince to perform at the show came eight months before the big game.
"Because we were coming to Miami and we wanted to do something a little bit more contemporary and Miami style so to speak," Saltz said.
Prince heard the request and invited Saltz to his Los Angeles home.
"He was up on stage with a band," Saltz said. "I guess he kept these guys around the house for most of the day, and went through from the stage, most of what the Super Bowl half time show was going to be."
But then the rain came.
"It was just this torrent," Saltz said. "This downpour that just didn't let up."
He went to Prince.
"We said you know, 'Prince, it's really wet and nasty out,'" Saltz said. "He turned to me and said 'Bring it on.'"
And Prince did bring it.
"In the pouring rain, he belted out song after song, and then came the finale.
"The ending was so poetic with 'Purple Rain' in the rain," Saltz said. "It was that day in Miami."
Just as Miami was a fan of Prince, he was a fan of Miami.
The super star owned a nightclub called the Glam Slam on South Beach in the 1990s.
"Make magic, and that's what he did in Miami," Saltz said. "I think that's what he's going to continue to do."