Dulé Hill Channels Nat King Cole in Stunning Performance That'll Shock Psych Fans
From a Psych musical to The Kennedy Center, the talented actor reveals hidden abilities.
When Dulé Hill recently dazzled audiences playing Nat King Cole in the off-Broadway musical “Lights Out,” he reminded the world about a little-known fact: The Psych star can really belt out a tune! But it’s not the first time the public has heard his incredible voice. The multi-talented actor once showed off his singing ability — and fierce tap-dancing skills — in a tribute to Nat King Cole at The Kennedy Center in New York.
To celebrate the late jazz legend’s centennial, what would have been his 100th birthday, Dulé took to the stage accompanied by the National Symphony Orchestra Pops and performed Cole’s 1962 hit cover of “Let There Be Love.” The audience was enamored with Hill's powerful vocals, but also his fancy footwork. His tap-dancing on stage was nothing short of electric, and it’s a skill he's been perfecting since the age of three. In fact, a young Dulé Hill toured the country in the 1986 Broadway show, “The Tap Dance Kid,” kicking off his show biz career when he was just ten years old.
Now, in 2025, he performed Nat King Cole classics once more in “Lights Out: Nat 'King' Cole,” a musical about the last broadcast of the legendary crooner's variety show. It was co-written by Colman Domingo (The Color Purple) and Patricia McGregor of the New York Theatre Workshop, who also directed. The 50-year-old had the chance to sing more of Cole’s iconic songs, including “Unforgettable” and “The Christmas Song.” Described by Ebony as “a masterclass in embodiment,” Hill’s vocals were so “eerily accurate and emotionally generous,” the outlet said he “channels Cole in a way that feels spiritual.”
If you couldn’t get to the theatre for the off Broadway show before it closed last month, you can watch his Kennedy Center performance online or enjoy his singing in an entirely different realm: as Burton “Gus” Guster on Psych.
Psych's epic two-part musical
Fans of the USA Network comedy detective series will no doubt remember the musical special that originally aired in 2013 and immediately became a favorite. In place of the 15th and 16th episodes in Season 7, the show creators pressed pause on regular programming and gifted the world a hilarious and charming two-part musical. Hill and co-star James Roday Rodriquez (Shawn Spencer), who is not a professional singer by the way, carried most of the songs, but the entire cast got into the spirit and danced their way through two hours of musical mayhem.
It's worth a watch as it features original songs written just for Psych along with Dulé’s endearing voice. You can expect clever lyrics and many laugh-out-loud moments, not to mention a glimpse of that fancy footwork.
You can find The Musical Part 1 and The Musical Part 2 on Peacock, along with every episode of Psych.
