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\n\tAcross three timeless studio albums, D\u2019Angelo found all the right words to sing in the smoothest, most affecting notes. Those who were influenced, inspired, and shaped by the neo-soul legend\u2019s work are searching for words of their own to honor and remember the musician, who died on Oct. 14<\/a> at the age of 51.<\/p>\n \n\tBeyonc\u00e9 honored D\u2019Angelo on her website<\/a>, writing: \u201cWe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cMy friend Gary Harris brought this musician named D\u2019Angelo over to my NYC apt,\u201d Nile Rodgers recalled on Instagram<\/a>; Rodgers and D\u2019Angelo later collaborated on Fela Kuti cover \u201cWater Get No Enemy<\/a>\u201d in 2002. \u201cHe was trying to figure out what to do with the music he\u2019d brought with him. I listened to every cut\u2026not 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, \u2018Put it out. It\u2019s perfect!\u2019 Being the #artist he is, I guess he had to explore some ways to make it better.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tRodgers recalled hearing one of those songs on the radio a year later. \u201cIt was #genius and it was exactly what he had played for me,\u201d he continued. \u201cI know\u2026I still have the original cassette.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tRed Hot Chili Peppers\u2019 Flea remembered D\u2019Angelo for his \u201cinimitable approach\u201d to songwriting and his voice. \u201cOne of my all time favorites whose records I went to again and again. Noone did anything funkier over the last 30 years. I never knew him but humbled myself before his music,\u201d the bassist wrote on Instagram<\/a>. \u201cWhat a rare and beautiful voice and an inimitable approach to songwriting. What a musician!!! He changed the course of popular music. Fly free with the angels D\u2019angelo, we will listen to you forever and always be moved. I drop to my knees and pray.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cRest Peacefully D\u2019Angelo,\u201d Missy Elliott wrote on social platform X<\/a>. \u201cNo parent want to see their children go but it\u2019s painful for children to see their parents go to so send prayers up for his son who also lost his mom this year for strength.\u201d D\u2019Angelo is survived by his son, Michael Archer, whom he welcomed with neo-soul singer Angie Stone in 1998. Stone died in March 2025.<\/p>\n \t\tEditor\u2019s picks<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n \n\tThe Roots\u2019 Black Thought, who was closely linked with D\u2019Angelo through the Soulquarians, wrote on Instagram<\/a>: \u201cWe came up together- young, gifted, Black, and full of fire. Today I lost a brother, a kindred spirit, a genius whose light changed music and changed me. Rest in power, D. This world will never sound the same.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tOn X, rapper Amin\u00e9 recalled his earliest encounter with D\u2019Angelo as a teenager during a drive. \u201cI was 15 when my older cousin took me on a roadtrip to the bay and played me all of Brown Sugar and Voodoo for the very first time,\u201d he wrote<\/a>. \u201cMy life changed that day and I was obsessed. Rest in paradise D\u2019angelo. U really meant so much to me and my family.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tTyler, the Creator was met with a flood of memories, one of which took him back to his ninth birthday, he recalled on Instagram<\/a>. \u201cMarch 6, 2000, I landed at Sam Goody at the South Bay Galleria. I had $20 in birthday money and my eyes set on leaving with one thing. VOODOO by D\u2019Angelo,\u201d he wrote. \u201d Citas World had \u2018Left&Right\u2019 on loop; Brown Sugar became a staple at home and nothing even matters by ms.hill was on repeat, so i had no doubt that Voodoo would deliver. I had no idea that would help shape my musical DNA.\u201d <\/p>\n \n\tRunning through his favorite tracks, the rapper recalled writing raps to \u201cBooty,\u201d mirroring D\u2019Angelo on \u201cSend It On,\u201d and more. \u201cONE MO\u2019GIN still puts me in the same trance as it did when i first heard it. That dragging sway of tempo that sounds like a porch sitting rocking chair. That grumpy but loose bassline,\u201d he said, noting that it inspired \u201cRing Ring Ring\u201d from his latest album. \u201cI couldn\u2019t understand how someone could write something so simple but personal but broad but genius. That\u2019s how special he was. A savant. A true alien. We are so lucky to have been alive to enjoy his art. My musical DNA was helped shaped by this man. Forever grateful. Safe travels.\u201d <\/p>\n \t\tRelated Content<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n \n\tBrown Sugar arrived in 1995 as a blazing debut that cemented D\u2019Angelo as a leading musical force. He\u2019d already built the foundation as a member of the Soulquarians (a loose musical collective that included Questlove, Erykah Badu, J Dilla, Q-Tip, and more) and as a songwriter penning records for other musicians and projects, such as Black Men United\u2019s \u201cU Will Know\u201d from the 1994 film Jason\u2019s Lyric. <\/p>\n \n\t\u201cRest in peace D\u2019angelo,\u201d Doja Cat wrote on X<\/a>. \u201cMy thoughts, love and prayers go out to his family and friends. A true voice of soul and inspiration to many brilliant artists of our generation and generations to come.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tWhile D\u2019Angelo\u2019s influence transcends genre, it cannot be understated how extensively R&B and neo-soul, in particular, were shaped by his music. \u201cTotally speechless,\u201d R&B musician Kehlani wrote in an Instagram Story, sharing an image of D\u2019Angelo. \u201cThank you for all you gave us. I don\u2019t even know what to say.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tOther artists have found themselves at a similar loss for words. Destin Conrad <\/a>and Flavor Flav<\/a> also shared photos, with captions that included \u201cNah I\u2019m so fucking sad\u201d and \u201cR.I.P. ICON,\u201d respectively. 6LACK praised D\u2019Angelo\u2019s discography, writing, <\/a>\u201cBrown Sugar, Voodoo, and Black Messiah forever & ever.\u201d Maxwell, another influential neo-soul figure, wrote on Instagram<\/a>, \u201cBecause u were, we are all because.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tVoodoo arrived in 2000, five years after Brown Sugar and 14 years before Black Messiah. The record dismantled the boundaries of genre for the young musician, who was only 26 at the time. The album expanded the horizon of sonic possibility, blending the influences of artists such as Prince, Lauryn Hill, and Marvin Gaye with Erykah Badu, Pink Floyd, and Stevie Wonder \u2014 and it was all filtered through the soul and spirit of D\u2019Angelo.<\/p>\n \n\tProducers Alchemist<\/a>, Kenny Beats, and DJ Premier paid tribute on social media with photos and notes. \u201cSuch a sad loss to the passing of D\u2019angelo,\u201d Premier wrote on X<\/a>. \u201cWe have so many great times. Gonna miss you so much. Sleep Peacefully D\u2019. Love You KING.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tJill Scott reacted to D\u2019Angelo\u2019s death on X just hours after she shared a post<\/a> that showed love to her favorite musicians. It coincidentally began with \u201cI love you D\u2019Angelo.\u201d \u201cI told you a long time ago \u2013 You ain\u2019t gon understand everything & everything ain\u2019t meant 4 U, nor I, to understand,\u201d she said<\/a>. \u201cI never met D\u2019Angelo but I love him, respect him, admire his gift. This loss HURTS!! Love to my family that are family to him. I\u2019m so sorry. R.I.P. GENIUS.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n \n\t\u201cThis really hurts! We lost a true original today,\u201d Jennifer Hudson wrote on X<\/a>. \u201cIt just doesn\u2019t seem real!! It can\u2019t be. D\u2019Angelo, your voice will live on forever. Rest well, King!!!\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cThere was no one like him,\u201d said James Poyser in a statement to Rolling Stone. The producer and musician featured in 2000\u2019s\u00a0Voodoo<\/a> and was part of the Soulquarians<\/a>, a collective that included the likes of D\u2019Angelo, Questlove, Erykah Badu, J Dilla, and Q-Tip, among others. \u201cI mean there\u2019s a lot of people inspired and influenced by him, but he was thee original, one of one.\u00a0 I\u2019m blessed that I was on this planet at the same time as him\u2026blessed to call him a friend, no: a brother\u2026blessed to have created with him, jammed in the studio & on stage with him\u2026blessed to have learned so much from him and be inspired by him also.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
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