D’Angelo, the Grammy-winning R&B artist with a silky voice and moves that entranced a generation, died Tuesday. He was 51.
D’Angelo died from pancreatic cancer in New York City, TMZ reported.
The “Really Love” artist, whose legal name was Michael Archer, won four Grammys despite a significant hiatus in his musical career.
A Virginia native, he burst onto the scene in 1995 with his debut album, “Brown Sugar,” which was followed by the tremendous success of his second album, “Voodoo,” in 2000.
That release included the smash-hit single “Untitled (How Does It Feel)” and its famously suggestive music video. The song peaked at No. 5 on the charts, and D’Angelo earned a Grammy for Best Male R&B Performance.
But shortly afterward, D’Angelo left his music career behind and retreated to a more private life. However, his talent never went away. When he returned in 2014 with “Black Messiah,” the album was hailed by critics as a masterpiece and earned him two more Grammys.
Prior to his death on Tuesday, D’Angelo’s pancreatic cancer diagnosis was not publicly known.
