(NEXSTAR) -- R&B/soul icon D'Angelo, who rose to fame in the '90s with a series of critically acclaimed and platinum-selling albums, has died at 51 after a cancer struggle, the singer's family confirmed to Variety and People on Tuesday.

In a statement to Variety, the family said in part: "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."

The artist, whose birth name was Michael Eugene Archer, was a four-time Grammy Award winner, and though the private star only released three albums in his lifetime, he's widely considered among the best R&B artists of all time.

The Virginia native made his earliest splashes in the music industry as a writer and producer. In 1994, D'Angelo

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