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D’Angelo, Neo-Soul Visionary, Dies at 51
The elusive soul genius who changed the shape of modern R&B.
by RANGE
- Published on
Michael Eugene “D’Angelo” Archer, the R&B innovator whose velvety grooves and spiritual intensity helped define the neo-soul movement, has died after a battle with cancer. He was 51.
Emerging in the mid-’90s with his groundbreaking debut Brown Sugar, D’Angelo reshaped the sound of modern soul by blending classic funk and gospel warmth with hip-hop’s rhythmic sensibility. His follow-up, 2000’s Voodoo, recorded alongside Questlove, Roy Hargrove, and J Dilla as part of the fabled Soulquarians collective, deepened that vision into something raw, sensual, and deeply human. The album’s slow-burning single “Untitled (How Does It Feel)” turned him into a reluctant sex symbol and earned him two of his four Grammy Awards.
Born in Richmond, Virginia, D’Angelo was raised in the Pentecostal church, where he learned piano at age three and developed the gospel roots that would anchor his music. After writing “U Will Know” for Black Men United in 1993, he signed to EMI and released Brown Sugar two years later, igniting a new wave of artists including Erykah Badu, Maxwell, and Lauryn Hill — with whom he memorably duetted on “Nothing Even Matters.”
Following years of retreat from the public eye, D’Angelo re-emerged with 2014’s Black Messiah, a politically charged masterwork recorded with his band the Vanguard. The album cemented his legacy as one of the most meticulous and mysterious figures in contemporary music.
Often called the heir to Prince and Marvin Gaye, D’Angelo fused faith, desire, and vulnerability into timeless grooves that blurred the sacred and the sensual. His influence reverberates through every artist who ever tried to make soul music feel new again.
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