After taking the world by storm in the mid-to-late 90s/early 2000s, the artist known as D’Angelo essentially disappeared from sight, choosing a reclusive lifestyle that featured brushes with addiction and a brush with the law. At the 2012 BET Music Awards show, D’Angelo made his first televised performance in over a decade, and the reaction was as swift as it was excited about having an exceptionally talented artist back on the scene.

Before his appearance on BET, D’Angelo’s comeback was being discussed thanks to appearances in Amsterdam, and more recently, at a Bonnaroo jam session with Questlove. However, his appearance on last night’s BET Music Awards waas the first time D’Angelo performed for the television in 12 years. Naturally, the performance, which featured D’Angelo singing “Untitled” (How Does It Feel)” and a new song called “Sugar Daddy,” has been rebroadcast around the web, and with good reason.

When someone as talented as D’Angelo performs, it’s appointment-worthy entertainment:

D’Angelo’s performance absolutely blew up on Twitter; so much so, in fact, it’s still trending today. For a service filled to the brim with Bielibers and music “fans” who have no idea who Paul McCartney is, seeing such reaction to a “real” artist is somewhat refreshing:

Aside for a second: that following tweet was retweeted over 1000 times, as she was apparently the first one to show such wit… Oh look, people all over the world are nothing but a bunch of copycats:

Sigh. Just enjoy the freaking performance and quit tripping over yourselves fishing for retweets.

Zing!

Absolutely agreed, Brian. If you’re wondering where the smooth soul singer has been all this time, as pointed out by Gawker, GQ has an incredibly revealing article that details D’Angelo’s path. It’s a great read, especially if you’re interested about learning more about the man behind the music.