D’Angelo, the visionary singer and musician who blended R&B and soul in landmark albums such as “Brown Sugar” and “Voodoo,” died Oct. 14. He was 51.
The cause was cancer, according to a statement from his family. In May, D’Angelo announced that he was canceling a performance at the annual Roots Picnic in Philadelphia because of complications from an unspecified surgery.
Born Michael Archer, D’Angelo helped launch a new era for R&B, nodding to an old-school soul sound while incorporating notes of funk, hip-hop and jazz. Dubbed “neo-soul” by his music manager, the subgenre became a mainstay of 1990s pop, associated with artists including Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill, Maxwell and Jill Scott.
Despite releasing only three studio albums, D’Angelo is considered by peers to be among the greatest R&