D'Angelo dies at 51 after private battle with pancreatic cancer

D Angelo, the Grammy Award winning singer and songwriter who helped define the neo soul movement, died Tuesday morning in New York after a private battle with pancreatic cancer, his family said. He was 51.

"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," the family said in a statement. They asked for privacy while inviting the public to mourn and celebrate his music.

Born Michael Eugene Archer on February 11, 1974, in Richmond, Virginia, D'Angelo rose to prominence with his 1995 debut album Brown Sugar, which helped bring neo soul into the mainstream and produced hits including Lady and Brown Sugar. His second album, Voodoo, debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 in 2000 and earned him a Grammy for Best R&B Album; its single Untitled How Does It Feel won Best Male R&B Vocal Performance. After a lengthy hiatus, he returned in 2014 with Black Messiah, an album that won a second Best R&B Album Grammy and was noted for its politically charged themes.

Across a career that produced three studio albums, D'Angelo was widely regarded for blending...