Neo Soul Legend D'Angelo Dies at 51
Legendary soul singer D’Angelo has passed away.
The news was confirmed in a statement issued by the late musician’s family.
“The shining star of our family has dimmed his light for us in this life…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 statement reads.
“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,” the statement continued. “We ask that you respect our privacy during this difficult time but invite you all join us in mourning his passing while also celebrating the gift of song that he has left for the world.”
Born in Richmond to a Pentecostal minister, he was a musical prodigy from the start, playing piano by age three and accompanying his father in church just two years later. His adoration for gospel roots deepened when he began performing at his grandfather’s Pentecostal church. Alongside his two cousins, D’Angelo formed the group Three of a Kind, lighting up local talent shows. By 16, he was leading a new band, Michael Archer and Precise, with his brother Luther.
By his late teens, D’Angelo had moved to New York City to pursue music full-time after a winning streak at the Apollo Theater’s Amateur Night. In 1994, he co-wrote and produced “U Will Know” for Black Men United, which cemented him as a formidable songwriter.
With the release of Brown Sugar in 1995, D’Angelo reshaped R&B.
Brown Sugar became an instant sensation, climbing to No. 4 on Billboard’s Top R&B Albums chart and achieving platinum status within a year. The breakthrough record cemented his place in the neo-soul movement and earned him four Grammy nominations.
“As a stirring cycle of songs ripe with raw romanticism, funky sensuality, haunting lyricism, dirty grooves, and laid-back attitude, Brown Sugar was arguably the last great soul album of the millennium. Blending Southern vocal phrasings with big-city cool, D’Angelo’s music possessed a similar rhythmic spirit as his yesteryear FM radio heroes who once made records for Stax, Motown, and Atlantic,” Wax Poetics wrote of this music offering.
The follow-up, Voodoo (2000), arrived after a lengthy hiatus and earned him a Grammy for Best R&B Album and near-universal acclaim for its raw, organic sound. The record’s standout single, “Untitled (How Does It Feel),” became an instant classic.
After a decade of silence, D’Angelo reemerged with Black Messiah in 2014, a politically charged opus that fused funk, gospel and his unapologetic defiance. He credited Robert Blair, Eddie Hazel of Parliament-Funkadelic, The Ohio Players' frontman Sugarfoot, and even Prince as his inspirations.
“I was five years old. “I Wanna Be Your Lover” had come out, and it was a big hit. When that album came out, it was just huge. He really, literally, was the talk of the town. Everybody was wondering, “Who is this guy? Is he a guy? Is it a girl?” No one really knew who it was. I remember we had the album, and my brothers were just enamored by this guy. They told me, “He plays everything, he writes everything, he’s singing everything”, so I was hooked from then on. I learned how to play every song on that album, note for note, at five years old,” he told Chairman Mao for RBMA Radio, of the reason why Prince was such a huge influence on his music.
Rest in power, D’Angelo.