The boy used to run the stage. With the way he carried himself to the realness in the song. The reclusive R&B singer made his first live U.S. appearance in 12 years at the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival early Sunday morning, surprising a few thousand fans during Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson’s Superjam session.
“I’ve been waiting 12 years to say this — ladies and gentlemen, D’Angelo!,” Thompson said as the crowd roared.
It was his first U.S. show since 2000 and a prelude to an appearance at July’s Essence Music Festival and a European tour with many of the same players who backed him Sunday morning. D’Angelo played live in Europe earlier this year.
D’Angelo and his all-star band powered through a 90-minute jam session Sunday morning that included Jimi Hendrix’s “Have You Ever Been to Electric Ladyland,” Parliament Funkadelic’s “Funky Dollar Bill,” Led Zeppelin’s “What Is and What Should Never Be” and The Beatles’ “She Came in Through the Bathroom Window,” but no new music.
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