D’Angelo Performs Emotional Prince Tribute On ‘The Tonight Show’

Ever since music legend Prince died last Thursday, tributes to his music have poured in. But D’Angelo’s rendition of the Purple One’s hit “Sometimes it Snows in April” on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on April 26 may be the best. MTV even dubbed it, “the Prince tribute to end all Prince tributes.”

D’Angelo was accompanied by Princess, the Prince cover band, made up by actress and comedian Maya Rudolph and Gretchen Lieberum. Princess also performed another tribute last Saturday in Austin, Tex.

“Hold on to your teardrops. Me, Maya and D’Angelo sing ‘Sometimes It Snows In April’ on the Tonight Show this evening. I somehow made it through without balling,” Lieberum posted on Facebook after performing their version of the hit on Tuesday.

Their tribute was eerily similar to the original 1986 ballad, but D’Angelo broke down toward the end, unable to continue. Rudolph and Lieberum, however, provided stellar back-up vocals. The mood was solemn, yet moving, with the purple backdrop. D’Angelo honored the late musician by donning a white fur vest and a black fedora. He even improvised this lyric, “I often dream of heaven and I know that Prince’s there.”

D’Angelo’s love for Prince runs deeper than his tribute. The R&B singer-songwriter began listening to Prince’s music when he was five years-old. “I remember we had the album [Prince], and my brothers were just enamored by this guy. They told me, “He plays everything, he writes everything, he’s singing everything,” so I was hooked from then on,” D’Angelo said in an interview with Red Bull Academy Daily. “I learned how to play every song on that album, note for note, at five years old.”