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Prince kicked off his 'Welcome to America' tour on Dec.15 at New Jersey's Izod Center to great praise. But, his return to New York's Madison Square Garden proved a star-studded affair and a full-out party.
The Minnesota native has enlisted some of his favorite artists to include Esperanza Spaulding, Cassandra Wilson, Lalah Hathaway and Janelle Monae to join him for his latest trek.
And, although none of the aforementioned ladies turned up at the Dec.18 show, from the start fans of The Purple One were in for a treat.
Comedian Sinbad introduced Larry Graham and Graham Central Station who opened the show. Graham, the founder and frontman of the group, is best known for being the bass guitar player in the psychedelic funk outfit Sly & the Family Stone.
The 'Purple Rain' singer sampled their infectious hit 'Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Again)' for the title track to his 'Musicology' album. As the group exited the guitar-shaped stage singing that song they went through the crowd and Prince surfaced with his band in an all-black get-up playing guitar. It was only 8:30pm and fans went wild as Graham and the Graham Central Station returned to the stage for a jam session with Prince, his band and background singers. 
After a brief intermission, a new song 'Welcome to America' played for a few minutes. Then, Prince made his grand entrance in a silver glitter vest, long-sleeved black top and black and white tuxedo pant running through a string of hits to include 'Let's Go Crazy,' 'Delirious,' '1999' and 'Cream.' Fans on the floor broke out into the electric side when he played 'Cool.'
And, Misty Copeland, who is the first black female soloist for the American Ballet Theatre and appears in the advertisements for the 'Welcome to America' tour, performed ballet moves during the performance of 'Beautiful Ones.'
Prince's protégé, Sheila E, appeared on stage for 'You Got the Look' and then performed her breakout single 'Glamorous Life.' Despite her upscale gown, Sheila E showed she still knows how to get down and broke down the song on the drums.
To close, Prince, who made a quick costume change to a red sequenced number, invited out all of the celebrities in the audience to join him on stage. After she professed her love for him on 'The View,' Sherri Shepherd was one of the first names that he called up. Then, Alicia Keys, Sinbad, Cornell West, Spike Lee and family, Whoopi Goldberg, John Leguizamo, Tavis Smiley, Jamie Foxx, and Naomi Campbell grabbed tambourines and danced around the stage to 'Love Bizarre.'
Prince's 'Welcome to America' tour will return to Madison Square Garden on Dec.29.