A politically charged BET Awards delivered an exciting night of tributes for Prince and Muhammad Ali between calls for action over gun violence, civil rights and presidential politics. These are the top moments from Sunday’s awards show held at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.

PRINCE PARTY

After BET dissed the Billboard Music Awards for their Prince tribute in May, the cable network lived up to that challenge by honoring Price in a show-long tribute.

The first of many performances was introduced by comedian Dave Chapelle, who said “that literally our hearts were broken” over the death of Prince on April 21.

Artists such as the Roots, Erykah Badu, Bilal, Maxwell, Stevie Wonder and more gave a multifaceted reflection on the late artist’s musical gifts.

Highlights included Bilal’s falsetto singing and his wild, rolling on the floor performance, Jennifer Hudson’s emotionally arresting rendition of “Purple Rain” with Wonder and Janelle Monae’s rocking medley and Princeinspired outfits.

But BET ended on a high note when drummer Sheila E., Prince’s longtime friend, collaborator and onetime fiance, took the stage to close out the show. She wailed on the drums in between singing a medley of songs featuring a full band, with horn section and dancers that got the crowd dancing.

A DAUGHTER’S TRIBUTE

The BET Awards also paid tribute to another cultural icon – the late Muhammad Ali – with a heartfelt speech by his daughter, Laila Ali.

Known as the “Greatest of All Time,” Ali had a huge influence on hip-hop artists either through his pre-fight speeches or through his personal struggles and spiritual convictions. He died on June 3 after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease.

His daughter, also a retired boxer, got choked up as she stood in front of a photo of her father holding her as an infant.

She closed her speech with a simple, but important request, saying, “If he was here today, he would ask you to pray not just for our family, but for all of mankind.”