Watch D’Angelo’s Devastating Prince Tribute On The Tonight Show

Watch D’Angelo’s Devastating Prince Tribute On The Tonight Show

We’ve seen a whole lot of Prince tributes since the man passed away last week. We’ll see plenty more. I don’t know if we’ll see a better one than this. A few Prince songs have taken on an extra totemic power since we lost the man, none more so than “Sometimes It Snows In April,” from Prince’s 1986 album Parade. It’s a heartsick piano ballad about accepting death, and it happens to take place in the month that Prince died. Last night, D’Angelo appeared on The Tonight Show, playing the song on piano with no backing band. Princess, the Prince tribute band made up of former SNL cast member Maya Rudolph and jazz singer Gretchen Lieberum, sang backing vocals. There’s a part near the end where D’Angelo sings, “I often dream of heaven now I know that Prince is there,” and then he loses his composure and has to stop singing for a line. It’s a rare moment of unguarded emotion coming through on TV, and it kicked me in the gut. It might do the same for you. Watch it below.

Has anyone done more with Prince’s inspiration than D’Angelo? Honest question.

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