R&B award-winning singer Michael Eugene Archer, known to fans as D’Angelo, died aged 51 after a battle with cancer, his family said in a statement. His family said on Tuesday that the singer was leaving behind a “legacy of extraordinarily moving music” and asked fans to celebrate “the gift of song that he has left for the world”.The influential singer was known for pioneering neo-soul, a genre blending R&B with other types of music, including hip-hop and jazz. His three albums won him four Grammy Awards. The music video for his hit song, Untitled (How Does it Feel), gained mainstream attention after he performed in the one-shot video, naked, belting the song.”The shining star of our family has dimmed his light for us in this life,” his family said in a statement obtained by CBS News, the BBC’s US news partner. D’Angelo began his career as a songwriter, and worked alongside big names in music like Lauryn Hill and The Roots. He rose to fame in the 1990s with his debut album Brown Sugar. His song, Lady, from that album reached the No. 10 spot on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart in 1996. That song earned him multiple Grammy nominations and secured his spot in the music scene.The son of a Pentecostal minister, D’Angelo was born in Richmond, Virginia, and taught himself to play piano at the age of three.Throughout his adolescence, he performed locally in groups including Three of a Kind, Michael Archer and Precise, and Intelligent, Deadly but Unique (I.D.U.).When he was 18, he won the amateur talent competition at Harlem’s Apollo Theater for three consecutive weeks; and was quickly signed to a publishing deal with EMI.He established himself as a commercial force with his 1995 debut album, also called Brown Sugar, and won two Grammys for the 2000 follow-up, Voodoo.However, he subsequently struggled with alcoh …
