Tennessee’s annual peace-and-love celebration–a cooler version of Woodstock–hosted some huge names this year, including The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Childish Gambino (otherwise known as Donald Glover from “Community”), Radiohead, Alice Cooper, and Skrillex. But perhaps the most surprising performance was given by a man who hasn’t been around for over a decade, and was still shown mega-love when he came onstage.
Members of The Roots were jamming in their tent on Saturday night when all of a sudden, drummer ?uestlove said, “I’ve been waiting 12 years to say this. Ladies and gentlemen…D’ANGELO!” Much to the crowd’s shock, he wasn’t kidding.
D’Angelo–who hasn’t been seen much since his very public arrest in 2010 and hasn’t been onstage at all since 2000–gave fans the story of a lifetime when he took over the tent and jammed for over an hour with ?uestlove and various other performers, doing several covers of classic funk and rock songs. Rumors about his upcoming album have been floating around online for a while now, and if his performance reviews at Bonnaroo are anything to go by, the man sounds as amazing as he ever did.
Not jealous of those Bonnaroo hangovers, but I am jealous about seeing D’Angelo.
“I don’t know you, but can I hug you?” – guy next to me at D’angelo overcome with emotion. Yes. Yes you can. #bonnaroo
Did that just f**kin happen? 75-minute surprise D’angelo set with @questlove backing him. Thank you, Quest! #bonnaroo
D’Angelo, back in the day. If you’re not comfortable looking at man parts, you probably don’t want to view this in its entirety.