Jimmy Fallon remembers Prince on 'SNL' special: He's never not been cool

Jimmy Fallon was teary-eyed when he introduced the Saturday Night Live special "Goodnight Sweet Prince." The former SNL cast member remembered the musician, who died on Thursday, with a seemingly off-the-cuff tribute.

"Prince has been a special presence here at Saturday Night Live for the last four decades. From his debut on the show as a 22-year-old in 1981, to his surprise performance at the after party for the SNL 40th anniversary... tonight we wanted to pay tribute to him by looking back at his performances over the years and by remembering what he meant to us. It was a lot," said an emotional Fallon.

"Other people may have been on the show more times, or performed more frequently, but there was something different about a Prince performance. It was special. It was an event. It was Prince.

"Times have changed, styles have come and gone, but no matter what, Prince has never not been cool."

Fallon, who wore a purple tie, continued: "Larger than life, fashion, music, you couldn't take your eyes off him. I mean, he had his own color. Who has their own color? He owns purple... The guy was just amazing. He lived his music, and... it just came through him."

The show was filled with Prince SNL performances, Prince sketches (with Fred Armisen playing the singer) and a never-before-seen clip of Prince playing at the SNL 40 after party.

Fallon set up the latter clip of Prince, explaining it happened at about 4:30 a.m. Fallon had been encouraging musical guests including Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus to take the stage, and finally said, "Prince, if you're in the room, I dare you to come up and say something with us."

"The crowd parted (and) you see this little afro floating toward you," he said about the likes of Beyoncé and Jay Z clearing a path for the singer.

Fallon said Prince picked up the guitar that was on the stage, and played, with Chris Rock, Maya Rudolph and Fallon singing backup. "I held Prince's gloves," said Fallon. "It was the last time I saw him."