It’s Tuesday, October 14. D’Angelo passed away. He was something else. I remember seeing the cover for Brown Sugar and wondering who this sexy young man was. I bought the CD on the strength of the cover and loved the music within. Hip hop with some soul. Neo Soul it was called eventually. Erykah Badu, Common, Maxwell, and a whole host of others moved to the forefront. I was interested in seeing him at Radio City, but was somehow diverted by some idiot that I worked with telling me that it was going to be all women screaming.

A few years after that, D’Angelo released Voodoo. I entered a contest back then and won a Rio MP3 player, which fit maybe 3 songs at the time. I still have it somewhere. I won a Levi’s Denim Jacket, which I still have and wear to this day, and also a laminated promo pass for the album. The cream of the whole thing was the video for Untitled (How Does It Feel). D’Angelo, possibly nude, staring into the camera and emoting somewhat erotically. It got my attention and pops up in some gay videos now and then.

Time passed, stories about D’Angelo recording, getting in trouble with the law. The trim physique from the Untitled video had proven to be too great to carry, and he lost it. It wasn’t really him, though it did get a lot of tongues wagging, literally and figuratively. In December of 2015, seemingly out of nowhere, D’Angelo released Black Messiah, credited to D’Angelo and the Vanguard, which included Jesse Johnson from The Time and a top-shelf bassist, Pino Palladino, who had played with The Who.

I played it constantly ten years ago, back when I wore headphones while walking down the street to the Path train. I worked with a guy named Neal Elevado, whose brother Russell was D’Angelo’s engineer. Deep discussions were held about Black Messiah. The next year, Bill and I went to Forest Hills Tennis Stadium to see the tour. Bill was not that familiar with D’Angelo’s catalogue.

We met up with Frankie Santangelo at the concert, an old friend from way back when, and also a fellow checkerboard chick. Today is Frankie’s birthday, now remembered as the day D’Angelo died. Frankie was the one who mentioned that in a phone call this afternoon. I called Frankie to discuss D’Angelo.

It was a shock to hear from Bill this morning about D’Angelo. Bill knew that I would be affected by this, and I certainly was. 51 years old, pancreatic cancer. Much too young. He kept it to himself, I guess, since it came over the wire and left everyone floored. I’ve been posting various clips and videos throughout the day, comisserating with other fans.

D’Angelo had a son, Michael Archer II, with Angie Stone. Angie passed away earlier this year. Michael posted his gratitude to everyone during this rough year.

A statement from D’Angelo & Angie Stone’s son, Michael, on the passing of his father:

“I am grateful for your thoughts and prayers during these very difficult times, as it has been a very rough and sad year for me.” “I ask that you please continue to keep me in your thoughts, as it will not be easy, but one thing that both my parents taught me was to be strong, and I intend to do just that.” -Michael Archer II