R&B and soul singer D’Angelo died on Tuesday, leaving behind a “legacy of extraordinarily moving music” following a “prolonged and courageous battle with cancer,” his family said.
The influential music star, born Michael D’Angelo Archer, was 51.
“The shining star of our family has dimmed his light for us in this life,” according to a family statement. “After a prolonged and courageous battle with cancer, we are heartbroken to announce that Michael D’Angelo Archer, known to his fans around the world as D’Angelo, has been called home, departing this life today.”
“We ask that you respect our privacy during this difficult time but invite you all join us in mourning his passing while also celebrating the gift of song that he has left for the world.”
The singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist is credited with helping to popularize neo-soul — a genre of modern R&B and soul flavored with hip hop, funk, rock and other influences — alongside artists such as Lauryn Hill, Maxwell and Erykah Badu.
D’Angelo came of age in the 1990s with his debut album “Brown Sugar.” “Lady,” from that debut album, topped out at No. 10 in March of 1996 and spent 20 weeks on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart.
But D’Angelo reached an even wider audience with the 2000 release of his second album, “Voodoo,” which debuted at Number 1 on the Billboard 200 and would go on to win Best R&B Album at the Grammys.
That album’s lead single, “Untitled (How Does It Feel),” won the Grammy for Best R&B Male Vocal Performance. The video for the track, which featured a topless D’Angelo filmed in a single take as he lip-synced the song, received heavy rotation on MTV and BET.
His third and final studio album, “Black Messiah,” was released in 2014 to critical acclaim and won D’Angelo another Grammy for Best R&B Album.
D’Angelo’s passing comes the same year as the death of his former girlfriend, Angie Stone, a Grammy-nominated R&B singer who was killed in a car crash near Montgomery, Alabama, in March.
The pair had a child together, Michael D’Angelo Archer II, a 27-year-old musical artist who goes by Swayvo Twain.
Four-time Grammy winner Missy Elliott paid tribute to D’Angelo saying “it’s painful for children to see their parents go” and she sent “prayers up for his son who also lost his mom this year.”
D’Angelo’s label, RCA, mourned his death.
“He was a peerless visionary who effortlessly blended the classic sounds of soul, funk, gospel, R&B, and jazz with a hip hop sensibility,” the company said in a statement to NBC News on Tuesday.
“D’Angelo’s songwriting, musicianship, and unmistakable vocal styling has endured and will continue to inspire generations of artists to come,” RCA said. “Our hearts are with his family and friends during this difficult time.”
Grammy winner Nile Rodgers recalled being in his New York City apartment, meeting D’Angelo for the first time and being blown away by the artist’s music.
“He was trying to figure out what to do with the music he’d brought with him. I listened to every cut … not just out of respect but because it was smoking,” Rodgers said in a statement on Tuesday.
“At the end of the encounter he asked me, ‘What should I do with it?’ I remember this as if it were yesterday. I said, ‘Put it out. It’s perfect!’”
Janhvi Bhojwani contributed.