John Legend joined The Roots for a powerful performance of his new single, “Preach,” on the latest episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Friday (Feb. 22).
Before he took the stage, he talked about the single and the events that inspired it with Fallon.
“The message is, you know, a lot of times when we have these crazy tragedies happen in America, like the Parkland shooting, and all these things, you have people [going] ‘I give my thoughts and prayers to this,'” he said. “But a lot of times we’re missing action. We’re not really doing anything. This song is about that.”
He then sat down at the piano to sing through the empowering track, with The Roots and a heavenly-sounded trio of back-up singers further underscoring its intensity. Legend eventually grabbed the mic and moved toward the audience to further connect with them and the song’s moving message.
Watch Legend perform “Preach” with The Roots below.