In a scene reminiscent of a family reunion, Ms. Lauryn Hill led an all-star special tribute to late music legends D’Angelo and Roberta Flack Sunday night at the 2026 Grammy Awards.
The nearly 12-minute music medley began with Hill singing her 1998 ballad “Nothing Even Matters,” which featured D’Angelo.
A legend in her own right, Hill welcomed a bare-chested Lucky Daye to the stage to perform “Brown Sugar.” Tony! Toni! Toné! frontman Raphael Saadiq followed with a soulful version of D’Angelo’s 1995 hit “Lady.”
Next up was best new artist Grammy nominee Leon Thomas, who performed D’Angelo’s 1998 single “Devil’s Pie.” Hill continued the mega-medley by calling on Anthony Hamilton and Jon Batiste.
Jazz and neo-soul singer Bilal brought the audience to its feet with a soul-stirring rendition of “Untitled (How Does It Feel).”
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The music continued with Hill transitioning into the Robert Flack portion of the tribute, by performing the singer’s 1969 hit, “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face.”
Leon Bridges joined Jon Batiste for “Compared to What.” Next, singer-songwriter October London and songstress Lalah Hathaway belted out “The Closer I Get to You.”
Chaka Khan and John Legend performed Flack’s 1972 song “Where Is The Love,” just before Hill returned to the mic for “Feel Like Makin’ Love.”
Pictures of other artists who died over the past year were shown on screen, including Angie Stone, Tony! Toni! Toné! co-founder D’Wayne Wiggins, and rapper-producer-composer John Forté.
Hill then called out for her Fugees bandmate Wyclef Jean to come to the stage for Flack’s 1973 hit “Killing Me Softly with His Song.” Jean walked up a set of stairs playing his guitar while Hill sang.
“You ready? You know we’ve gotta do the Fugees version!” Jean said as the audience inside the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles cheered. The arena erupted with applause as the Fugees stars closed out the special tribute.
Earlier in the evening, country music superstar Reba McEntire was joined by Brandy Clark and Lukas Nelson to perform the In Memoriam segment honoring other musical icons who recently passed away.
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