D'Angelo's Dazzling, Emotional Prince Cover with Maya Rudolph Might Bring You to Tears
The late soul icon sang "Sometimes It Snows in April" on The Tonight Show to honor the The Purple One's death in April 2016.
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A gorgeous musical tribute gained extra meaning on October 14, 2025, after news broke of neo-soul legend D'Angelo's death from pancreatic cancer at age 51. As fans of the "How Does It Feel" singer mourn his passing online, revisiting videos of the Grammy winner's live performances and recording sessions, the gems include D'Angelo's Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon cover of Prince's "Sometimes It Snows in April."
In April 2016, the famously reclusive singer visited Jimmy Fallon to perform the song as a tribute following Prince's death earlier that same week. And he was backed by two fellow fans of the icon: Maya Rudolph and Gretchen Lieberum, the duo otherwise known as Prince cover band Princess.
At one moment deep into the cover, D'Angelo choked up as he tweaked the lyrics: "I often dream of Heaven, and I know that Prince is there," he sang, pointing to the sky and pausing to hold back tears.
Watch D'Angelo and Maya Rudolph sing Prince's "Sometimes It Snows in April" on The Tonight Show here.
Maya Rudolph sang backup on D'Angelo's "Sometimes It Snows in April" cover
Rudolph — whose own soul music credentials began at birth, as the daughter of late singer Minnie Riperton — sang harmonies alongside Lieberum, as D'Angelo played the intro on a grand piano. Dressed in a black hat and snowy white fur vest, D'Angelo launched into the ballad, which was originally released on Prince's 1986 soundtrack to his Under the Cherry Moon film.
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"Sometimes I wish that life was never ending / And all good things, they say, never last," D'Angelo, Rudolph, and Lieberum harmonized. To say they did justice to the classic is an understatement.
"This has always been a hard song for me to listen to. D’ Angelo certainly captured the emotion," one fan commented on a Tonight Show Facebook post of the performance on October 15, adding, "I feel like Prince just gave him his purple wings…"
Questlove co-produced D'Angelo's famous Voodoo album
The late D'Angelo had one very strong connection to The Tonight Show: His friend, longtime collaborator, drummer, and creative champion, Questlove. The Roots member and Tonight Show house band leader produced the critically-acclaimed 2000 studio release Voodoo, which won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Album.
The making of Voodoo has become the stuff of legend (Def Jam co-founder Rick Rubin deemed it an "absolutely perfect" album), with people including Chris Rock and a mind-blown Eric Clapton bearing witness to its production at Electric Lady Studios. Questlove also worked with D'Angelo on his third and final album, 2014's Black Messiah, and D'Angelo appears in Questlove's 2025 Sly and the Family Stone documentary, Sly Lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius).
Watch D'Angelo and Questlove perform the Questlove-produced "Africa" live in 2013 here.
