D’Angelo already had the world abuzz after GQ recently published his first interview in more than a decade. Now the legendary singer has given fans even more to clamor about after he hit the stage for the first time in 12 years and gave a surprise show with the Roots drummer, Questlove, at Bonnaroo in Manchester, Tenn.
According to MTV News, Questlove hyped up a Superjam Session hours before the show, billing it as “?uestlove with very special guests,” and inciting a frenzy of excitement.
Fans got everything they hoped for and more on June 9 after the Roots two-hour show, when Questlove welcomed R&B star D’Angelo to the stage.
“I’ve been waiting 12 years to say this: Ladies and gentleman, D’Angelo!” Questlove yelled to the crowd.
With the help of Questlove and frequent Roots collaborator James Poyser, D’Angelo started his more than hour-long show with covers of funk and rock classics like Jimi Hendrix’s “Have You Ever Been (to Electric Ladyland),” the Beatles’ “She Came in Through the Bathroom Window,” Parliament Funkadelic’s “Funky Dollar Bill,” and Led Zeppelin’s “What Is and What Should Never Be.”
“I wanted him to see that,” he told the The Associated Press. “That’s a greenlight. Me doing it wasn’t, like, running out of jam partners. Me doing it was basically showing him, ‘Look, you are so missed you don’t even realize how much you are missed,’ hoping that this will be the adrenaline boost that will finally get him to turn his record into the label. It’s done, it’s brilliant. I played on it. I know it’s brilliant. Now it’s just time to let his kids go and show it to the world. That’s what I’m here for.”
D’Angelo briefly toured Europe earlier this year, and unless he has any more surprise performances up his sleeve, D’Angelo is next scheduled to hit the stage at the Essence Music Festival in New Orleans on July 6.
And if you like D’Angelo’s stage return with Questlove, check out a list of some of his best collaborations. –nicholas robinson
