D’Angelo, Grammy Award-winning R&B singer, dead at 51
By Lisa Respers France, CNN
(CNN) — D’Angelo, whose cool tunes and one hot music video turned him a legend of neo-soul, has died, according to a statement from his family. He was 51.
“The shining star of our family has dimmed his light for us in this life,” his family said in a statement provided to CNN by RCA, his longtime record company.
He died on Tuesday “after a prolonged and courageous battle with cancer,” his family said.
“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.”
RCA also released a statement saying they were “deeply saddened” by his passing.
“He was a peerless visionary who effortlessly blended the classic sounds of soul, funk, gospel, R&B, and jazz with a hip hop sensibility,” the statement read. “D’Angelo’s songwriting, musicianship and unmistakable vocal styling has endured and will continue to inspire generations of artists to come.”
Born Michael Eugene Archer in Richmond, Virginia, D’Angelo was the son of a Pentecostal preacher, according to a profile published in VIBE. Growing up in church, his musical talent was discovered early.
At the age of 16, he won the “Showtime at the Apollo” amateur night competition after he performed Johnny Gill’s hit single “Rub You the Right Way,” he recalled in 2014.
By the time he was 18, he headed to New York City in hopes of pursuing a professional singing career.
Given that his family was so deeply involved in the church, it was not a decision he took lightly.
In an interview with GQ published in 2014, he discussed feeling pulled between the sacred and the profane. Music was incredibly powerful to him.
“I learned at an early age that what we were doing in the choir was just as important as the preacher. It was a ministry in itself. We could stir the pot, you know?,” D’Angelo said. “The stage is our pulpit, and you can use all of that energy and that music and the lights and the colors and the sound. But you know, you’ve got to be careful.”
Singing wasn’t how he initially found his success.
In 1994, a single he co-wrote titled “U Will Know” was featured on the soundtrack of the film “Jason’s Lyric” and cracked the top 10 of the R&B charts.
The following year, his debut album, “Brown Sugar” debuted and established him as one of the rising stars of neo-soul – a sub genre of R&B that blends soul, jazz, hip-hop and rhythm and blues.
“Brown Sugar” would go on to be his first platinum selling album.
Five years later, he released “Voodoo,” an album that was almost overshadowed by the video for his single “Untitled (How Does It Feel?).”
In it, a seemingly nude and ripped D’Angelo sings sensually while looking directly into the camera lens – a performance that set fans aflame.
“We made this video for women,” Paul Hunter, who directed “Untitled” along with D’Angelo’s then-manager, Dominique Trenier, told Spin magazine in 2008. “The idea was, it would feel like he was one-on-one with whoever the woman was.”
The sexy video shot him into superstardom but also contributed to him leaving the music industry for an extended amount of time. The singer later said he was uncomfortable being a sex symbol.
“‘Untitled’ wasn’t supposed to be his mission statement for Voodoo,” Trenier told Spin. “I’m glad the video did what it did, but he and I were both disappointed because, to this day, in the general populace’s memory, he’s the naked dude.”
Both the album and that song won Grammy Awards.
D’Angelo would not release another album until 2014’s “Black Messiah,” which he recorded with the band The Vanguard.
A deeply private man, he was also a father and shared a now-adult son with fellow singer/songwriter, Angie Stone.
Stone died in March 2025 after a traffic accident following a performance in Mobile, Alabama.
In May, D’Angelo canceled a planned performance on Philadelphia, where he was set to headline the 2025 Roots Picnic, citing “an unforeseen medical delay” stemming from surgery he had earlier in the year. He said he was “advised by my team of specialists that the performance…could further complicate matters.”
“It is nearly impossible to express how disappointed (I am) not to be able to play with my Brothers ‘The Roots,’” D’Angelo wrote in a statement at the time. “And even more disappointed to not see all of you.”
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