Beyonce held back laughter during Grammys performance with Prince

Beyonce used all her strength to keep her "composure" when Prince made a funny comment during their performance at the 2004 Grammy Awards.

The 36-year-old singer took to the stage with the late musical legend, who passed away last April (16) aged 57, 13 years ago for a mash-up of several of their hit songs. And she recalled the memorable performance as part of her foreword for Prince: A Private View, a photographic retrospective of his life which is due out later this month (Oct17), and admits she almost burst out laughing due to Prince's witty words.

“Prince’s timing was genius and his sense of humor, spontaneous and unexpected," Beyonce writes in an extract from the tome obtained by Entertainment Tonight. "At the end of Purple Rain/Let’s Go Crazy/Crazy in Love medley, I had no idea he would say what he did. We did talk about making a face but when he blurted out, 'Don’t hate us ‘cause we fab,' it took everything I had to keep my composure."

Beyonce also touches upon how she and Prince prepared for the concert all those years ago, a collaboration which was agreed on right after she turned 22 in 2003.

Rehearsals began a week before the ceremony, during which Beyonce picked up five accolades including Best R&B Song for Crazy in Love featuring now husband JAY Z, with whom she has three children.

"Toward the end of January, I traveled to Los Angeles to settle in to a soundstage to prepare for our performance," Beyonce remembers. "When Prince walked into the rehearsals, dressed impeccably from head to toe, he greeted everyone with a shy, almost mischievous smile and a commanding presence.

“There were many teachable moments during those rehearsals and Prince proved to be a generous teacher."