D'Angelo, a neo-soul pioneer and modern visionary whose three albums were widely recognized as masterful works of art, died today. He was 51.
“Our family's shining star has dimmed its light for us in this life… After a long and courageous battle with cancer, we are heartbroken to announce that Michael D'Angelo Archer, known to his fans around the world as D'Angelo, was called home and departed this life today, October 14, 2025,” his family said in a statement. “We are sad that he can leave only cherished memories for his family, but we are eternally grateful for the legacy of extraordinarily moving music he leaves behind. We ask that you respect our privacy during this difficult time, but invite you all to join us in mourning his passing, and also in celebrating the gift of song he left to the world.”
DJ Premier mourned the singer Xwriting, “Such a sad loss with the passing of D'Angelo. We shared so many wonderful times. I will miss you so much. Sleep well, I love you KING.”
Bob Power, who worked closely with D'Angelo on Brown sugartells Rolling Stone: “There are very few times in history when a true innovator comes along with a truly original way of constructing his art and an undeniable depth that everyone can hear: Marvin Gaye, Joni Mitchell, Prince… and Dee.”
D'Angelo has been one of the most revered artists of the last 30 years. He began his career as a songwriter for other artists, but quickly established himself as a solo star, debuting in 1995. Brown sugar. Key part Soulquarians, free collective musicians, singers and producers – Questlove, Erykah Badu, J Dilla, Q-Tip and many more – he was at the forefront of a movement that forged new paths in soul, R&B and hip-hop while maintaining a deep admiration for the past.
His three solo albums are Brown sugar2000s Voodooand 2014 Black Messiah – all of them received critical acclaim and entered the top ten. Billboard 200 albums chart, with Voodoo reaching number one. His biggest charting hit on the Hot 100 was “Lady,” but that was “Untitled (What It Feels Like)” with him memorable one-frame video a naked D'Angelo performing what may have become his signature song.
During his career, D'Angelo was nominated for 14 Grammy Awards and won four awards, including twice for Best R&B Album. Voodoo And Black Messiah. He also won awards for Best R&B Vocal Performance for “Untitled (How Does It Feel)” and Best R&B Song for “Untitled (How Does It Feel).” Black Messiah“Love indeed.”
D'Angelo's small but mesmerizing output was the result of a process rooted in committed perfectionism. Talking to Rolling Stone in 2000Questlove, D'Angelo's key collaborator Voodoojoked that they could have finished the album two years earlier if the drummer hadn't “brought treats every week”—a reference to the copious concert videos and bootleg tapes they watched and studied while working on the album. In the 14 years between Voodoo And Black MessiahD'Angelo decided to master the electric guitar, and the results of all this hard work were embodied in the famous album.
But D'Angelo was also frequently dogged by label problems, writer's block and struggles with cocaine and alcohol. He was charged with drug possession in early 2005, and leaked photographs raised concerns about his health. Later that year, shortly after he was sentenced to three years probation on a cocaine possession charge, D'Angelo was arrested. injured in a car accident.
Talking to Rolling Stone in 2015 after the long-awaited release Black MessiahD'Angelo admitted that “the shit that happened in my personal life” didn't help his creative process, but changes in the industry didn't help either.
“The music business is a crazy game, especially for someone like me who really is a purist in the art,” he said. “Trying to balance the pressures of commercialism is a tightrope. It's a fine line between sticking to your guns and being crazy.”
Michael Eugene Archer was born on February 11, 1974 in Richmond, Virginia and discovered his musical talents at an early age. His older brother, Luther, recalled coming home one day to find 3-year-old Mike playing the piano—“not tapping,” he recalled. RSbut playing “a full song, with a melody and a bass line.” D'Angelo soon began playing music in the churches where his father and grandfather preached, and won school talent competitions so convincingly that he was not allowed to participate in them in the future.
“It’s really the only thing I could ever imagine,” D’Angelo said. RS in 2000. “I knew when I was three years old. My brothers knew. They prepared me for this. I always knew this was what I was supposed to be, what I was going to do.”
Guided by Prince, D'Angelo soon began playing local shows with two of his cousins under the moniker Three of a Kind. When he was 16, he made his debut on Amateur night at Apollofinishing fourth with a nervous rendition of Peabo Bryson's “Feel the Fire.” (D'Angelo joked that his fear was so obvious that the crowd was “booting before I even got on stage.”) A year later, however, he returned and won with a stirring performance of Johnny Gill's “Rub You the Right Way.” With his $500 prize money, he bought a four-track recording machine and began writing songs.
Around the same time, D'Angelo signed his first publishing deal through his high school hip-hop group IDU (Intelligent, Deadly But Unique). He soon landed his own recording contract, but his first success was co-writing and producing 1994's “U Will Know,” the only hit for R&B supergroup Black Men United (Raphael Saadiq, Lenny Kravitz, Boyz II Men and a 16-year-old Usher were among those who contributed to the track).
Regarding his own music, D'Angelo wrote and recorded most of Brown sugar at his mother's house in Richmond, Virginia, although he completed his label's heyday in a professional studio. D'Angelo wrote, arranged and performed almost the entire album himself, with some additional contributions from Saadiq, Q-Tip and his main collaborator, A Tribe Called Quest engineer Bob Power. Although D'Angelo is happy with the album, he admitted in 2014. Conversation at the Red Bull Academy he felt that he “lost something between the demo and all the production that went into it… like it became a little homogeneous, in my opinion, for me at the time.”
Brown sugar had modest success upon its initial release in July 1995, but its singles “Brown Sugar”, a cover of Smokey Robinson's “Cruisin'” and “Lady” helped turn the album into a hit. He reached 22nd place in the ranking Billboard 200 in March 1996, spent 65 weeks on the chart and was eventually certified platinum.
D'Angelo spent two years touring in support of Brown sugarafter which he suffered from writer's block. Meanwhile, he covered Prince's “She's Always in My Hair” for Scream 2 soundtrack and teamed up with Erykah Badu to record a version of Marvin Gaye and Tammy Terrell's “Your Precious Love” for High school soundtrack. The only new song he released was “I Found My Smile Again”, written for the film. Space Jam.
It was through his collaboration with Badu that D'Angelo eventually connected with Questlove. The couple soon settled into Electric Lady Studios in New York, where they, along with the rest of the Soulquarians, began sessions that would eventually lead to Voodoo (as well as other albums by The Roots, Badu, Common and others). Prolific late-night jams with various Electric Lady musicians coming and going, coupled with D'Angelo and Questlove's intense study of their predecessors, made the long-term experience feel like going to school in the best way possible.
“I never went to college, so this was my equivalent,” D’Angelo said. Rolling Stone. “It was a return to what we love about music. Brown sugarI lost the enthusiasm to do all this. I could do without going to 7-Eleven at three o'clock to pick up a pack of cigarettes and be in the crowd signing autographs. I had to reiterate why I did this in the first place, and the reason was the love of music. I'm already tired of looking at what's happening in business. But I had to say that even if I didn't, I would still be fucking with the music. So, I am cursed and will be cursed until I die. That's what I'm going to do.”
This story is developing…
