<\/p>\n
D\u2019Angelo, the Grammy-winning R&B icon who helped launch neo soul in the \u201990s, died Tuesday after a battle with cancer, his family announced. He was 51.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe shining star of our family has dimmed his light for us in this life,\u201d they said in a statement. \u201cAfter a prolonged and courageous battle with cancer, we are heartbroken to announce that Michael D\u2019Angelo Archer,\u00a0known to his fans around the world as D\u2019Angelo, has been called home, departing this life\u00a0today, October 14, 2025.\u201d<\/p>\n
More from The Hollywood Reporter<\/strong><\/p>\n D\u2019Angelo was born in South Richmond, Virginia, in 1974 and started singing as a child. He first came to prominence in 1994 for producing the song \u201cU Will Know\u201d for Black Men United in 1994. He broke through as an artist with the release of his debut album Brown Sugar in 1995. That album is regarded among critics as a seminal record in the development of the neo soul movement and launched his first top-10 single \u201cLady.\u201d Brown Sugar itself went platinum. D\u2019Angelo followed that up with the classic Voodoo in 2000, which debuted at No. 1 on Billboard\u2019s 200 albums chart and won best R&B album at the 2001 Grammy Awards. The album\u2019s single \u201cUntitled (How Does It Feel)\u201d won for best R&B performance.<\/p>\n Along with his solo works, D\u2019Angelo collaborated with fellow pioneers like Erykah Badu, Questlove and Lauryn Hill, duetting with Hill on \u201cNothing Even Matters\u201d off her all-time classic The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. That song earned them both a Grammy nomination for best R&B performance by a duo or group with vocal.<\/p>\n After Voodoo, D\u2019Angelo went over a decade without releasing music, finally ending that long hiatus at the end of 2014 with Black Messiah.<\/a> The album would also go on to win best R&B album at the Grammys in 2016, while lead single \u201cReally Love\u201d won best R&B song and was nominated for record of the year. His most-recent release was with Jay-Z on \u201cI Want You Forever\u201d for the movie The Book of Clarence. <\/p>\n RCA, which distributed Black Messiah, issued a statement Tuesday calling the singer \u201ca peerless visionary who effortlessly blended the classic sounds of soul, funk, gospel, R&B, and jazz with a hip-hop sensibility.<\/p>\n \u201cA known perfectionist, D\u2019Angelo released three albums that were widely celebrated as masterpieces by both the music community and his beloved fans around the world,\u201d RCA said. \u201cHe was heavily awarded and critically acclaimed for his talents.\u00a0D\u2019Angelo\u2019s songwriting, musicianship, and unmistakable vocal styling has endured and will continue to inspire generations of artists to come. Our hearts are with his family and friends during this difficult time.\u201d<\/p>\n D\u2019Angelo\u2019s death has already started a wider outpouring from the music community, with Flavor Flav, DJ Premier posting tributes soon after his death.<\/p>\n \u201cSuch a sad loss to the passing of D\u2019angelo,\u201d Premier wrote on X on Tuesday. \u201cWe have so many great times. Gonna miss you so much. Sleep Peacefully D\u2019 Love You KING.\u201d<\/p>\n Nile Rogers posted a tribute on Instagram Tuesday, recalling the early days when record executive Gary Harris \u2014 who signed D\u2019Angelo \u2014 had brought him over to Rogers\u2019 apartment in New York to show him music.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was trying to figure out what to do with the music he\u2019d brought with him,\u201d Rogers wrote. \u201cI listened to every cut \u2026 not just out of respect but because it was smoking. At the end of the encounter he asked me, \u2018What should I do with it?\u2019 I remember this as if it were yesterday. I said, \u201cput it out. It\u2019s perfect!\u2019 Being the\u00a0artist he is, I guess he had to explore some ways to make it better. About a year later I heard one of those songs on the radio. It was\u00a0genius and it was exactly what he had played for me. I know\u2026 I still have the original cassette.\u201d<\/p>\n D\u2019Angelo never married, but he famously dated singer Angie Stone, who frequently collaborated with him and co-wrote many songs on Voodoo. They had a son togetherbefore Stone died in March at age 63. He has two other children as well.<\/p>\n D\u2019angelo\u2019s family wrote that they \u201care saddened that he can only leave dear memories with his family,\u00a0but we are eternally grateful for the legacy of extraordinarily moving music\u00a0he leaves behind.<\/p>\n \u201cWe 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,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n Best of The Hollywood Reporter<\/strong><\/p>\n Sign up for THR’s Newsletter<\/a>. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook<\/a>, Twitter<\/a>, and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" D\u2019Angelo, the Grammy-winning R&B icon who helped launch neo soul in the \u201990s, died Tuesday after a battle with cancer, his family announced. He was 51. \u201cThe shining star of our family has dimmed his light for us in this life,\u201d they said in a statement. \u201cAfter a prolonged and courageous battle with cancer, we […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2091130,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25173],"tags":[394369,394334,394303,394041,354745,363300,394368],"class_list":["post-2091129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-artists","tag-black-men-united","tag-black-messiah","tag-gary-harris","tag-grammy-nomination","tag-lauryn-hill","tag-michael-dangelo-archer","tag-miseducation-of-lauryn-hill"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/DAngelo-Grammy-Winning-RB-Icon-Dies-at-51.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2091129","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2091129"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2091129\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2091131,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2091129\/revisions\/2091131"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2091130"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2091129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2091129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2091129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}