Nationwide — Neo-soul icon D’Angelo — who shared a son with fellow singer Angie Stone — has died on the age of 51, simply months after Stone’s passing earlier this yr. Their baby, Michael D’Angelo Archer II, has now misplaced each mother and father in a brief span of time, a heartbreaking tragedy for his or her household and followers alike. The legendary “Brown Sugar” hitmaker died on Tuesday, October 14, in New York Metropolis after a battle with pancreatic most cancers, in response to Folks.
D’Angelo, born Michael Eugene Archer, had been in hospice care for 2 weeks and hospitalized for months, a supply shared. TMZ was first to report his passing. Information of his dying sparked an outpouring of grief throughout the music business. DJ Premier, who collaborated with D’Angelo on the 1998 traditional “Satan’s Pie,” posted on X: “Such a tragic loss to the passing of D’Angelo. We’ve got so many nice occasions. Gonna miss you a lot. Sleep Peacefully D’ Love You KING.”
A Richmond, Virginia native and the son of a Pentecostal minister, D’Angelo confirmed musical expertise from an early age. By age 3, he was taking part in piano, and by 5, he was performing in church alongside his father. As a teen, he fashioned teams like Three of a Type and Michael Archer and Exact earlier than making his mark at Beginner Evening on the Apollo, the place he received in 1991 after performing Johnny Gill’s “Rub You the Proper Method.”
Together with his Apollo prize cash, he returned dwelling to Richmond, purchased a four-track recorder, and commenced writing songs that will develop into his landmark 1995 debut album, Brown Sugar. The report went platinum inside a yr, peaking at No. 4 on the Billboard High R&B Albums chart and incomes 4 Grammy nominations. In 2000, his follow-up album Voodoo reached No. 1 on each the R&B and Billboard 200 charts and earned him two Grammy Awards, solidifying his place as a neo-soul pioneer.
As his fame grew, D’Angelo grew to become a intercourse image, particularly after the discharge of “Untitled (How Does It Really feel).” Nonetheless, fame additionally introduced private struggles. He battled drug and alcohol habit, was arrested in 2005 for possession and DUI, and survived a severe automobile crash shortly after. Although his challenges have been public, his inventive brilliance by no means dimmed.
In 2014, after years of anticipation, he launched Black Messiah, an album hailed as a contemporary soul masterpiece. It topped the U.S. High R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and earned one other Grammy Award. Over time, D’Angelo collaborated with a few of music’s most revered artists, together with Questlove, Lauryn Hill, Raphael Saadiq, Frequent, Q-Tip, J Dilla, and naturally, Angie Stone.
In 2024, D’Angelo collaborated with Jay-Z on “I Need You Without end” for The E-book of Clarence soundtrack, and in response to Raphael Saadiq, he was engaged on new music. His dying marks the top of a groundbreaking musical journey — however his affect on soul, R&B, and Black music tradition will stay on for generations.