D’Angelo dies at 51
R&B singer Michael Eugene Archer, known to fans as D’Angelo, has died at the age of 51 after a battle with cancer, his family announced on Tuesday. They described him as leaving behind a “legacy of extraordinarily moving music” and asked fans to celebrate “the gift of song that he has left for the world.”D’Angelo was a pioneer of neo-soul, blending R&B with jazz and hip-hop. Over his career, he released three albums that won him four Grammy Awards. His music video for the hit song Untitled (How Does It Feel) gained worldwide attention for its intimate one-shot performance, where he sang naked on screen, reports BBC.D’Angelo was born in Richmond, Virginia, and was the son of a Pentecostal minister. D’Angelo taught himself piano at age three. He performed locally in several groups during his youth, including Three of a Kind and Intelligent, Deadly but Unique (I.D.U.). At 18, he won an amateur talent competition at Harlem’s Apollo Theater for three weeks in a row, earning a publishing deal with EMI.He rose to fame in the 1990s with his debut album Brown Sugar. The track Lady reached No. 10 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart in 1996, earning him multiple Grammy nominations. His second album, Voodoo (2000), won him two Grammys.D’Angelo later faced struggles with alcoholism and narrowly survived a serious car crash in 2005. He returned to music in 2014 with Black Messiah, an album influenced by national protests following the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner. The album won the Grammy for Best R&B Album in 2016.Throughout his career, D’Angelo collaborated with major artists, including Lauryn Hill and The Roots. Hip-hop legend DJ Premier, who produced D’Angelo’s Devil’s Pie, paid tribute on social media, writing: “Such a sad loss. We have so many great times. Gonna miss you so much. Sleep peacefully D’ Love you KING.”