Prince's sister thinks the late singer wouldn't have held a grudge against Justin Timberlake for his tribute at the Super Bowl.

Justin Timberlake

Justin Timberlake

The 37-year-old singer-songwriter originally planned to perform with a hologram version of the music icon during his half-time show on Sunday night (04.02.18), but following a discussion with Sheila E - one of Prince's best known collaborators - Justin decided to downsize his ambitions.

Instead, Justin settled for performing 'I Would Die 4 U' while images of Prince - who died in April 2016, aged 57 - were projected onto a screen behind him.

But despite criticism of the performance, Tyka Nelson told TMZ that she and the rest of her family knew that Justin intended to sing the track, and that she enjoyed the image projections.

She also said that it's impossible for anyone to know whether her brother would have enjoyed the tribute, but she stressed that Prince wasn't the type of person who would hold a grudge.

Meanwhile, Justin has revealed he sought the opinion of Roots drummer Questlove before he decided to include the tribute in his performance.

He explained: "Questlove is the encyclopedia on music, but I also feel like a gatekeeper on Prince, so if I got the thumbs-up from Questlove, I'm good."

But fans of the late singer also blasted the tribute on account to a feud between the musicians dating back to 2006.

During a post-Emmy Awards party, speaking in reference to Justin's hit single 'SexyBack', Prince is reported to have said: "For whoever is claiming that they are bringing sexy back, sexy never left!"

Then, during a performance of 'Give It to Me', Justin snapped back: "We missed you on the charts last week.

"Damn, that's right, you wasn't there. Now if se-sexy never left, then why is everybody on my s**t? Don't hate on me just because you didn't come up with it."

Tagged in