Michael “D’Angelo” Archer has passed away at 51 years old per BallerAlert.. He is survived by three children.
The neo-soul artist, who emerged in music in the late 90s, has passed away after a private battle with pancreatic cancer.
D’Angelo shares a son with late singer Angie Stone. The former couple dated in the 1990s for four years. The two collaborated on each other’s debut albums.
Stone known for her hit,“Wish I Didn’t Miss You,” was killed in a car crash in March of 2025. She was 63.
His daughter, Imani Archer, was born in 1999. Later, in 2010, he welcomed another son, named Morocco Archer. However, the mothers of his two other kids are not publicly known.
Tributes
Following the news of his death, fans and colleagues poured out tributes honoring the singer. Entertainment report NJera wrote on X:
“I don’t even have the words… D’Angelo’s music is the soundtrack to my writing. My place of peace. Brown Sugar, Voodoo, Black Messiah – that trifecta has gotten me through so many times. I don’t know how to even begin to process losing a giant like him… This one hurts.”
Marc Lamont Hill, shocked from the news, wrote, “I have no words.”
Biography
D’Angelo pursued his musical talent at a teenager, playing the piano and eventually starting a band. At 16, his talent was recognized after winning awards three consecutive nights at the well-known Amateur Night contest at the Apollo Theater in Harlem.
Afterward, “Brown Sugar,” D’Angelo’s first album release in 1995, grabbed national attention. Every song on the album made the billboard top 100 list over the following year. The album’s R&B sounds influenced the spark of the neo-soul movement of the late 1990s and gained him recognition as an artist who was restoring music to its former glory. Despite the success of his initial release, D’Angelo spent five years working on music before releasing his 2000 album Voodoo.
Voodoo was an even bigger hit than its predecessor because of the others involved in the creation and recording of the music, as well as the unique story behind it. The album was recorded at Greenwich Village’s Electric Lady Studios, the same studio where some of D’Angelo’s inspirations themselves had recorded. The studios had been relatively inactive since the days of Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Wonder, and the Rolling Stones, but D’Angelo and his friends brought it back to life. Voodoo was the result of several late-night jam sessions involving big names such as J Dilla and Questlove. The album came about at a leisurely pace reflected in the style of the music, which features relaxed rhythms and slow vibes reminiscent of Prince and Jimi Hendrix.