D’Angelo, Grammy-Winning Soul Singer, Dead at 51
The singer was known for an updated take on 1970s R&B and a provocative music video
D’Angelo, the soul savant whose sensual hit “Untitled (How Does It Feel)” was both his greatest triumph and his biggest frustration, has died. He was 51 years old.
“Untitled (How Does It Feel)” appeared on “Voodoo,” which topped the albums chart for two weeks in 2000 and is widely viewed as a masterpiece. The video for the single showcased D’Angelo’s washboard abs, transforming him into a sex symbol. This new status became a source of distress—he believed the interest in his body took the focus away from his music—and he did not put out a new album for more than a decade.
D’Angelo’s family confirmed his death in a statement, saying it was due to cancer. “We are saddened that he can only leave dear memories with his family, but we are eternally grateful for the legacy of extraordinarily moving music he leaves behind,” his family added.
Michael D’Angelo Archer, known professionally as D’Angelo, was hailed as a singular talent when he debuted in 1995 with “Brown Sugar,” which helped introduce a generation to the tender yet savage style that became known as neo-soul.
The son of a preacher, D’Angelo was steeped in gospel along with Prince and George Clinton, Marvin Gaye and Roberta Flack. “Brown Sugar” showcased his vocal virtuosity and knack for lush harmony, but the drums hit with the same ferocity as the rap that was ascendant on radio at the time. “To me, it’s not melding the two worlds so much as it is exposing where they meet in the middle,” he told Rolling Stone. The album’s title track, all falsetto swagger and oozing keyboards, reached No. 27 on the Hot 100, while “Lady” climbed to No. 10.
D’Angelo spent years working on the follow-up, bingeing videos of Prince and episodes of “Soul Train” for inspiration and leading late-night jam sessions at Electric Lady Studios with a remarkable collection of gifted musicians: the drummer Questlove, the bassist Pino Palladino, the trumpeter Roy Hargrove, the beat-maker J. Dilla, and more. “I knew instantly that whatever album we were making was going to be a historical moment,” Questlove recalled in 2015.
While the great soul men often led with a single, potent lead vocal, D’Angelo split his voice into myriad lines on “Voodoo,” stacking lavish parts like pieces in a Jenga tower. The rhythm section remained taut and rigid—live musicians mimicking the curt slap of hip-hop.
“Voodoo” sold more than 1 million copies, and D’Angelo’s tour in support of the album became the stuff of legend among soul aficionados. The longtime critic Robert Christgau called the singer’s live ensemble “the best funk band in the universe” and said his show at Radio City Music Hall in New York was superior to Gaye’s many years before.
But D’Angelo was haunted by his video for “Untitled (How Does It Feel),” as some fans yelled for him to strip off his shirt during his performance. “By mid-tour it just became, what can we do to stop the ‘Take it off’ stuff?” Questlove said in 2014. After D’Angelo finished the tour, he faded from view. D’Angelo later spoke about struggling with addiction, and he was arrested in New York in 2010, accused of soliciting sex from an undercover police officer.
He mounted a comeback in 2012 and released his third and final album, “Black Messiah,” two years later. By this time, D’Angelo had become a formidable guitar player, and some of his new songs bristled with snarled riffs. “Black Messiah” did not match the commercial success of D’Angelo’ first two albums, but the record won the Best R&B Album Grammy, and the single “Really Love” was awarded Best R&B Song.
In an interview with Rolling Stone following “Black Messiah,” D’Angelo sounded energized and suggested more music was on the way. “I do want to put a lot of music out there,” he said at the time. “I feel like, in a lot of respects, that I’m just getting started.”