Thundercat Performs “Walking on the Moon” on ‘The Tonight Show’
Thundercat, image via YouTube
Thundercat sustained the celebration of Distracted, his fifth studio album, on Monday with a live performance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. As the musical guest on NBC’s late-night talk show, the singer-songwriter and bassist sampled his new project with a dreamy, spaced-out performance of “Walking on the Moon,” leading with his bright falsetto vocals and nimble basslines and taking a ferocious solo at the track’s midpoint. Watch his full performance below.
Thundercat released Distracted on April 3, six years to the day after the arrival of 2020’s Grammy-winning It Is What It Is. His long-awaited follow-up turns his eclectic brand of leftfield funk and jazz fusion on the absurdity of the attention economy and its permeation throughout modern life. Through close collaboration with producer Greg Kurstin. The album strikes a balance between the lush freak-outs of 2017’s Drunk and the mournful overtones of It Is What It Is and features contributions from A$AP Rocky (with whom he appeared on Saturday Night Live in January), Lil Yachty, WILLOW, Tame Impala and Channel Tres, as well as a posthumous verse from his friend Mac Miller on “She Knows Too Much.”
Yesterday, Thundercat was announced as a performer at the 2026 Newport Jazz Festival. Check out the full lineup here.
