Grammy-winning R&B singer D’Angelo dies aged 51
D’Angelo, the Grammy-winning R&B singer who garnered mainstream attention with the shirtless Untitled (How Does It Feel) music video, has died. He was 51.
The singer, whose real name was Michael Eugene Archer, died on Tuesday, according to a statement from his family.
They confirmed in the statement that he died after a diagnosis of cancer.
His family called him a “shining star of our family and has dimmed his light for us in this life”, adding that they are “eternally grateful for the legacy of extraordinarily moving music he leaves behind”.
In his music, raspy-voiced D’Angelo blended hip-hop grit, emphatic soul and gospel-rooted emotion into a sound that helped spearhead the neo-soul movement of the 1990s.
Earlier this year, D’Angelo, from Virginia celebrated the 30th anniversary of his debut studio album Brown Sugar, a platinum-selling offering that produced signature hits such as Lady and the title track.
The 1995 album earned him multiple Grammy nominations and cemented him as one of R&B’s most original new voices.
D’Angelo’s sultry vocal style — a mix of raspy texture and church-bred fluidity — set him apart from his peers. That voice became inseparable from the striking visuals of his 2000 single Untitled (How Does It Feel).
The minimalist, shirtless music video became a cultural touchstone, igniting conversations around artistry, sexuality and vulnerability in black male representation.
The song earned him a Grammy for best male R&B vocal performance and propelled his album Voodoo to top the Billboard 200 chart and winning the Grammy for best R&&B album.
D’Angelo duetted with Lauryn Hill on the soulful ballad Nothing Even Matters, a highlight of her landmark 1998 album The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill.
He also contributed to The Roots’ 1996 album Illadelph Halflife and was part of the supergroup Black Men United, which yielded one song: U Will Know, which D’Angelo wrote and co-produced, for the film Jason’s Lyric in 1994.
D’Angelo’s partner was Grammy-nominated R&B singer Angie Stone. They met while he was finishing Brown Sugar. Stone worked on the album with D’Angelo and the two co-wrote the song Everyday for her 1999 debut album, Black Diamond.
Stone described D’Angelo as her “musical soulmate”, to The Associated Press in 1999, adding that their working relationship was “like milk and cereal … Musically, it was magic. It’s something that I have not been able to do with any other producer or musician”.
They had a son together, the artist Swayvo Twain, born Michael Archer Jr.
Stone died earlier this year in a car crash. She was 63.
D’Angelo also has a daughter, Imani Archer.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
