By Sky Pinkett
Staff Writer
Iconic R&B musician D’Angelo has died at the age of 51 from pancreatic cancer.
“The shining star of our family has dimmed his light for us in this life," his family told People in a statement. “After a prolonged 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, has been called home, departing this life today, October 14th, 2025.”
The singer had previously canceled his headline performance at Roots Picnic, a Philadelphia music festival, back in May, citing an unforeseen delay due to a previous surgery. The details of this surgery and whether it was related to his cancer are unknown.
With an over 30-year career that included three critically acclaimed albums, multiple Grammys and an attribution of defining the neo-soul movement, D’Angelo has been a staple in R&B music since the ‘90s.
By the time D’Angelo was born in Richmond, Va., on Feb. 11, 1974, the music charts were being dominated by the likes of Marvin Gaye, the Isley Brothers, Stevie Wonder and many others. This, along with D’Angelo’s upbringing in his father’s Pentecostal church, inspired his musical sensibilities and nurtured his natural talents.
The young musician's big break into the music world came when he wrote and co-produced the 1994 single “U Will Know” for Black Men United, an R&B superstar group that included Boyz II Men, Usher, Gerald Levert, R. Kelly, Brian McKnight and more.
The single’s success helped catapult his solo career, eventually leading him to break out with his 1995 debut album “Brown Sugar.” As the ‘90s R&B landscape was dominated by hip-hop-laced instrumentals and heavy beats, “Brown Sugar” stuck out for its blend of old-school soul and contemporary sensibilities.
Songs like “Lady” and the title track “Brown Sugar” skyrocketed to the top of the charts and introduced the world to D’Angelo’s silky voice and high falsetto.
The album’s integration of traditional R&B with new-school style ushered in a fresh musical subgenre that critics would call “neo soul.” Other artists such as Erykah Badu, Maxwell, Jill Scott and Lauryn Hill would be labeled into this category, but they, as well as D’Angelo himself, expressed their distaste for the term.
"I think the main thing about the whole neo soul thing, not to put it down or it was a bad thing or anything, but you don't... You want to be in a position where you can grow as an artist,” D’Angelo expressed in a Red Bull Music Academy lecture in 2014. “You never want to be told, 'Hey, well, you don't do, you're not doing what you did on ‘Brown Sugar,’ you know? I never claimed I do neo soul... I make black music.”
Writer’s block and fears of following up the high standards “Brown Sugar” made D'Angelo take five years before finally releasing his Grammy-winning sophomore album “Voodoo” in 2000. The album became one of the few albums given a perfect score on Pitchfork, and its funk-inspired neo soul sound caused the record to be considered one of the greatest soul albums of all time.
This landmark album forever changed D’Angelo’s public image from a mere crooner to a sex symbol with the suggestive music video to the album’s hit “Untitled (How Does it Feel).” The singer showed off his vocal range with this song, winning a Grammy for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance.
According to NPR, D’Angelo would grow increasingly uncomfortable with his fame, and developed body issues from the pressure “Untitled (How Does it Feel)” put on him as an object of desire. He would disappear from the spotlight after briefly touring for “Voodoo,” only emerging back out with his third and final album, “Black Messiah” in 2014.
“Black Messiah” managed to earn the same critical and commercial success that “Brown Sugar” and “Voodoo” did. Its eclectic sound, created with the help of D’Angelo’s group, The Vanguard, called back to some of D’Angelo’s heroes such as Prince and Miles Davis.
Outside of his own solo success, D’Angelo collaborated with other artists such as Lauryn Hill on the love ballad “Nothing Even Matters,” Jay-Z on “I Want You Forever” and Angie Stone on “Everyday.” Stone and D’Angelo shared a close relationship that resulted in the birth of their son, Michael Archer Jr., but Stone passed away a few months prior to D’Angelo in a car crash at the age of 63.
“If I ever come to a point where I decide to stop doing videos and performing or whatever, if it ever comes to that point, that don't mean I've stopped doing music.” the artist told Interview Magazine in 2013. “Music is me. That's what I am, really. So, that's a part of me till the day I die.”
