D’Angelo, the Grammy-winning R&B singer and musician who helped usher in the neo-soul movement, died Tuesday after a private battle with cancer, his family announced. He was 51.
“The shining star of our family has dimmed his light for us in this life,” his family said in a statement to multiple news outlets. “After a prolonged and courageous battle with cancer, we are heartbroken to announce that Michael D’Angelo Archer, known to his fans around the world as D’Angelo, has been called home, departing this life today.
“We are saddened that he can only leave dear memories with his family, but we are eternally grateful for the legacy of extraordinarily moving music he leaves behind,” the statement added. “We ask that you respect our privacy during this difficult time but invite you all join us in mourning his passing while also celebrating the gift of song that he has left for the world.”
D’Angelo performs in Chicago on April 4, 2000. (Paul Natkin/Getty Images)
Born Michael Archer in Richmond, Va., D’Angelo was the youngest of three sons of a Pentecostal preacher. He grew up playing music with his older brother, Luther Archer. In 1994, they wrote and coproduced the single “U Will Know” for the R&B supergroup Black Men United, which featured Brian McKnight, Usher, R. Kelly, Boyz II Men and Raphael Saadiq, among others.
D’Angelo released his critically acclaimed debut album, Brown Sugar, the following year. His sophomore album, Voodoo, was released in 2000 and is considered a genre-bending landmark.
It won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Album. And the sultry single “United (How Does It Feel)” earned D’Angelo a Grammy for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance, while the song’s music video — featuring a nude, slow-jam crooning D’Angelo — turned him into an unwitting sex symbol. (Critic Robert Christgau once dubbed D’Angelo “R&B Jesus” and a better performer than Marvin Gaye.)
It also drove him away from the public eye, to alcohol abuse and eventually rehab. In 2008, his former manager, Dominique Trenier, told Spin magazine that D’Angelo was entirely uncomfortable with his sex symbol status.
“I’m glad the video did what it did,” Trenier recalled. “But he and I were both disappointed because, to this day, in the general populace’s memory, he’s the naked dude.”
After Voodoo, he did not release another studio album until 2014’s politically charged Black Messiah, which also won the Grammy for Best R&B Album.
“We are deeply saddened by the passing of D’Angelo,” RCA Records, his longtime label, said in a statement. “He was a peerless visionary who effortlessly blended the classic sounds of soul, funk, gospel, R&B, and jazz with a hip hop sensibility.”
D’Angelo performing in Byron Bay, Australia on March 24, 2016. (Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)
D’Angelo collaborated with numerous R&B and hip-hop artists as part of a loose collective known as the Soulquarians, including the Roots, Common, J.Dilla, Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill and his then-girlfriend Angie Stone, with whom he shared a son, Michael Archer Jr., a hip-hop artist who performs as Swayvo Twain.
Stone died in a car crash earlier this year.
“I am grateful for your thoughts and prayers during these very difficult times, as it has been a very rough and sad year for me,” Michael Archer Jr. said in a statement to People magazine on Tuesday. “I ask that you please continue to keep me in your thoughts as it will not be easy, but one thing that both my parents taught me was to be strong, and I intend to do just that.”
D’Angelo also has another son, Morocco Archer, and a daughter, Imani Archer, who is a singer.
In May, D’Angelo abruptly canceled a scheduled headlining performance at the Roots Picnic in Philadelphia, citing “an unforeseen” medical issue stemming from a recent surgery.
“It is with the deepest of regrets that [I] must cancel my performance at the Roots Picnic in Philadelphia,” D’Angelo wrote in a statement posted on the event’s Instagram page. “But, due to an unforeseen medical delay regarding surgery [I] had earlier this year, [I’ve] been advised by my team of specialist that the performance this weekend could further complicate matters.”
He thanked his fans for their “continued support” and added: “[I’m] currently in the Lab & can’t wait to serve Up what’s in the Pot! LOVE U All and will see you very soon!”
‘A true original’
As news of his death spread, fellow artists and musicians took to social media to post tributes.
Beyoncé posted a note on the front page of her official website:
Rest in peace, Michael Eugene Archer, known to the world of music as the inimitable D’Angelo. We thank you for your beautiful music, your voice, your proficiency on the piano, your artistry. You were the pioneer of neo-soul and that changed and transformed rhythm & blues forever. We will never forget you.
“Gonna miss you so much,” DJ Premier wrote on X. “Sleep Peacefully D’ Love You KING.”
New York City’s Electric Lady studios, where D’Angelo recorded Voodoo, posted a captionless image of the singer to Instagram.
Flea, bassist for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, posted a heartfelt Instagram tribute, saying, “I never knew him but humbled myself before his music.”
“This really hurts,” Jennifer Hudson wrote on X. “We lost a true original today. It just doesn’t seem real!! It can’t be. D’Angelo, your voice will live on forever. Rest well, King!!!”
Actor Jamie Foxx posted a lengthy remembrance of D’Angelo to Instagram.
John Legend also posted a lengthy tribute, recalling how Brown Sugar changed his life.
Hip-hop legend Missy Elliott asked for prayers for D’Angelo’s son, Michael Archer Jr.
Neo-soul singer Jill Scott said that while she never met D’Angelo, she loved and admired him.
