The Weeknd Takes Home 8 Billboard Music Awards and Pays Homage to Prince

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Though The Weeknd did not know Prince personally, the pop/R&B star said he was very close to him during his acceptance speech for the Billboard Top 100 Artist award at the 2016 Billboard Music Awards.

He also won pretty big taking home eight awards all on his own.

It has been a very monumental couple of years for The Weeknd.

He dominated 2015 for what seemed like the majority of the year and hits like "Can't Feel My Face" and "In The Night" are still finding their way into radio rotations.

The Weeknd credited a lot of his success to Prince and they way he helped him break down the walls in terms of style and music. His music is quite reminiscent to the style of Prince, however, Prince still remains unmatched.

He became emotional as he cited Prince as an inspiration to him in his acceptance speech.

There is no telling what else The Weeknd has for the rest of his career but judging from his big success, there is plenty more to come.

During the show, Madonna and Stevie Wonder also paid tribute to Prince in a performance.

Madonna took the purple stage and performed "Nothing Compares To You," a song Prince wrote for Sinead O'Connor. She was later joined by Wonder as they sang the hit song "Purple Rain."