Celebrity Tamron Hall Remembers a 'Magical' Night Out with Prince: 'There Was a Room Filled with Candles and Beautiful Flowers' Hall shares a special memory of the late singer exclusively with PEOPLE By Danielle Anderson and Janine Rubenstein Janine Rubenstein Instagram Twitter Janine Rubenstein is Editor-at-Large at PEOPLE and host of PEOPLE Every Day podcast, a daily dose of breaking news, pop culture and heartwarming human interest stories. Formerly Senior Editor of music content, she's also covered crime, human interest and television news throughout her many years with the brand. Prior to PEOPLE she's written for Essence, The Cape Times newspaper and Los Angeles Magazine among others. On-screen Rubenstein can be found featured on shows like Good Morning America and Entertainment Tonight and she routinely hosts PEOPLE and Entertainment Weekly's star-studded Red Carpet Live specials. Follow the San Francisco native, Black Barbie collector and proud mom of two on Instagram and Twitter @janinerube People Editorial Guidelines Published on May 3, 2016 05:00 PM Share Tweet Pin Email Photo: Cindy Ord/Getty; Eric Jamison/AP Tamron Hall holds many special memories of her dear friend Prince close to her heart. Now the MSNBC and Today anchor, who took more than a week off following the singer’s untimely death and returned to work on Monday, has opened up exclusively to PEOPLE about one of the moments most special to her. “One of my favorite memories was one time Prince picked me up and said we were going to Michael Jordan‘s birthday party,” Hall, 45, tells PEOPLE. “We get to this venue and enter in through a side door. There was this room filled with beautiful flowers,” she recalls. Confused, Hall asked Prince, where the party was. “Well, Prince laughs and turns to Damaris Lewis, a member of the band and a very close friend, smiles and says, ‘She has no idea where she is!'” recalls Hall. “So he takes my hand and leads me through a door that opens up to a stage and all of a sudden a guitar appears and his entire band is there.” Learn Fascinating Behind-the-Scenes Stories About Prince’s Most Iconic Performances • For more on Hall’s memories of Prince, pick up this week’s issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday. “It was a whirlwind, but I realized I was sitting on stage for a surprise Prince concert!” continued Hall. “It was truly amazing looking at the faces of the people in the audience – who were just as shocked as I was – as they realized that Prince was about to perform for them. It was really magical. He always loved to joke and do fun things like that.” While a source says Hall once had a romantic relationship with the singer, a rep says the pair simply remained “close friends” until he died.