Justin Timberlake has paid tribute to D’Angelo, whose three solo albums — his debut Brown Sugar , 2000’s Voodoo , and 2014’s Black Messiah — reshaped the landscape of soul music and helped ignite a new era. Following D’Angelo’s passing on Oct. 14 at 51, Timberlake shared how the visionary’s work impacted his own musical journey and how he had the opportunity to meet him backstage at Radio City Music Hall.

“I’ll never forget hearing Brown Sugar for the first time. It changed me. You changed me,” wrote Timberlake in his letter posted to Instagram Stories, calling the record the “most pivotal moment in establishing confidence in my own voice.”

“For the first time, I heard a sound that reflected the sounds I grew up with – early R&B but *now* it was intertwined with a mod

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