D’Angelo, the Grammy-winning artist who pioneered neo-soul with his songwriting skills but against his own will became better known for his sex appeal, died Tuesday. He was 51.
D’Angelo died from pancreatic cancer in New York City, according to publicist Ra-Fael Blanco. He had battled the disease privately, as he lived much of his life.
“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 said in a statement.
In May, D’Angelo pulled out of a scheduled gig as a headliner for the Roots Picnic 2025, citing medical issues.
“Due to a longer-than-expected surgical recovery, D’Angelo won’t be able to join us at Roots Picnic this year,” organizers of the annual Philadelphia music festival spearheaded by The Roots shared on Instagram. “We’re sending love and keeping him in our thoughts as he continues to heal!”
His last high-profile performance was during a surprise show at the 2022 Netflix Is a Joke festival at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles.
The Richmond, Va., native released only three albums in 20 years — “Brown Sugar,” “Voodoo” and “Black Messiah” — but all three were critically acclaimed, and the first two helped create a new sound later dubbed neo-soul. D’Angelo earned four Grammys from the three releases.
“It was important for me to just live life — to breathe. That’s where the songs come from,” he told the Daily News following the 2000 release of “Voodoo,” five years after “Brown Sugar.”
“[The record company] kept giving me deadlines, and I was, like, ‘Yo, Man. It’ll be done when I’m done.’ ”
Born Feb. 11, 1974, Michael “D’Angelo” Archer showed talent from a young age and was discovered as a teenager during Amateur Night at the Apollo. He moved to New York shortly afterward.
D’Angelo made an immediate impression on the music industry when he debuted with “Brown Sugar.” The album beautifully combined old school R&B with new school hip-hop trends and slowly worked its way up the charts. Its biggest hit, “Lady,” reached No. 10.
” ‘Brown Sugar’ is the kind of soundtrack that plays behind every shy glance, every first kiss and every awkward slow dance we went through as preteens,” BET wrote on the album’s 20th anniversary in 2015.
Even more impressively, D’Angelo produced or co-produced every song on the album, and all the demos were recorded in his bedroom. Though people had to wait five long years for “Voodoo,” they were not disappointed when it arrived.
The second album was less polished — D’Angelo told The News he wanted a freer, more live sound — but even more memorable. It won a Grammy for Best R&B Album, and the hit single “Untitled (How Does It Feel)” won for Best Male R&B Performance.
” ‘Voodoo,’ I think, stands on its own: It’s really a soul and funk album, versus an R&B album,” producer Russell Elevado told NPR in 2020. “It’s an actual album, where you can put it on from start to finish and it’s one piece of art, like it was back in the day.”
Though true D’Angelo fans recognized his artistry, many mainstream consumers recognized his body in the famously suggestive “Untitled (How Does It Feel)” music video. When the album came out, D’Angelo told The News that sex appeal was “part of the gig,” and “If I’m there and I’ve got to do it, I might as well get into it.”
But as “Untitled” soared to massive heights, he grew uncomfortable with his role as a sex symbol and retreated from the spotlight.
“We thought, OK, we’re going to build the perfect art machine, and people are going to love and appreciate it,” Questlove, who led the “Voodoo” tour with D’Angelo, told GQ in 2012. “And then by midtour it just became, what can we do to stop the ‘Take it off’ stuff?”
After more than a decade away from the music business, D’Angelo returned with a live performance in 2012, then released “Black Messiah” in 2014 and won two more Grammys.
“In the same way Marvin Gaye’s ‘What’s Goin’ On’ abstracted soul, D’Angelo’s ‘Messiah’ finds new textures and a fresh scale for funk,” Daily News music critic Jim Farber wrote at the time. “It’s a striking mix of sensuality and abrasion, giving a long-missing star a fresh claim on what’s current.”
D’Angelo is survived by two sons and a daughter. He was predeceased earlier this year by the mother of his first child, Angie Stone, who died in a car crash in Alabama at 63.
Originally Published: October 14, 2025 at 12:30 PM EDT
