Spanish
New York.- American R&B singer and Grammy winner D'Angelo died this Tuesday at the age of 51 after losing his battle against cancer, his family reported in a statement on social media.
"After a long and courageous battle against cancer, it breaks our hearts to announce that Michael D’Angelo Archer, known to his fans around the world as D’Angelo, has been called home and departed this life today," states a statement on Instagram, in which they express their pride in the legacy of "extraordinary music" left by the artist, who suffered from pancreatic cancer.
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His family refers to D'Angelo, recognized for his raspy yet smooth and natural Virginia voice, as "bright star of our family".Although the family does not specify, according to media, D'Angelo died in New York. "He was in palliative care for two weeks, but had been in the hospital for months," according to People magazine, which cites a source.
Earlier this year, the interpreter celebrated the three decades of the studio album with which he debuted in 1995, 'Brown Sugar', a platinum record that included hits like "Lady", the main theme of this project, which earned him several Grammy nominations. The interpreter and also composer, who in his childhood played the piano in a church alongside his father, a Pentecostal minister, was characterized by combining the rawness of hip-hop, emphatic soul, and the emotion rooted in gospel in a sound that helped spearhead the neo-soul movement of the 1990s. At the beginning of his career, he won the well-known Amateur Night contest at the famous Apollo Theater in New York, where the careers of many other famous African Americans also began, and with the money he won, he bought a recorder and began writing the songs for his successful 'Brown Sugar'. In 2000, he won a Grammy for the single 'Untitled (How it Feel)', whose minimalist video, in which he is shirtless, became a cultural reference point and sparked conversations around art, sexuality, and vulnerability in Black male representation, the media highlights. His third album didn't arrive until 2014, 'Black Messiah', which was also another success, taking the number one spot on the Billboard charts and considered one of the best R&B/Hip-Hop albums in the US, underlines People. With this song, he won the Grammy for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance and boosted his second album "Voodoo", topping the Billboard 200 chart and for which he won the Grammy for Best R&B Album. Throughout his career, collaborations with artists such as rapper Lauryn Hill stood out in the ballad "Nothing Even Matter" for the first solo album of the American singer and songwriter, in August 1998. He also contributed to the 1996 album 'Illadelph Halflife' by the alternative rap group The Roots and was part of the supergroup Black Men United, which produced a song: 'U Will Know', which D'Angelo wrote and co-produced, for the film 'Jason's Lyric' in 1994. D'angelo has a daughter, Imani Archer, and a son, Michael Archer, known by the stage name Swayvo Twain. The artist's family requested privacy during this difficult time they are facing. "We ask that you respect our privacy during this difficult time, but we invite everyone to join us in mourning his passing and, at the same time, celebrate the gift of song he left for the world," the statement also indicates.
