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D'Angelo (born Michael Eugene Archer on February 11, 1974 in Richmond,
Virginia) is an African-American soul singer, pianist, songwriter, and
record producer.
He began performing as a young child, and recorded his debut album, Brown
Sugar, in 1995. The album was eventually a hit, though sales were sluggish
at first, and helped kickstart the burgeoning nu soul singers of the 1990s (along
with Maxwell, Erykah Badu and others). The album was a critical success as
well, and appeared on many critics' "best of" lists for the year.
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In the five year gap between Brown Sugar and the follow-up, D'Angelo
appeared on several soundtracks, including Belly ("Devil's Pie"), frequently
singing covers like "Girl You Need a Change of Mind" (Eddie Kendricks, Get
on the Bus), "She's Always in My Hair" (Prince, Scream 2) and "Heaven Must
Be Like This" (The Ohio Players, Down in the Delta), as well as appearing on
Lauryn Hill's landmark The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.
The much-delayed follow-up to Brown Sugar, Voodoo, was finally released in
2000, it debuted at #1 and went on to win 2 Grammy Awards, for Best R&B
Album and Best R&B Male Vocal Performance. The lead single was "Untitled
(How Does It Feel)", a tribute to the legendary artist Prince. The song
became a huge R&B hit buoyed by an innovative video feature a nude D'Angelo
performing the song with no accompaniment or ornamentation, the video was
nominated for 4 MTV Video Music Awards and currently ranks #44 in VH1's list
of the 100 Greatest Videos . He also performed "Be Here" (with Raphael
Saadiq) from Saadiq's album Instant Vintage.
D'Angelo has a son, Michael Jr., with fellow neo-soul singer Angie Stone,
and a daughter Imani, born in October 1999.
In 2002, Q magazine named him in their list of the "50 Bands To See Before
You Die".
In January of 2005, D'Angelo was arrested and charged with possession of
marijuana, possession of a controlled substance, and driving while
intoxicated. He pleaded guilty to the DUI and marijuana charge and, on April
13, was given a fine and suspended sentence and his driver's license was
revoked. On September 12, he received a three-year suspended sentence on the
cocaine possession charge.
On September 19, 2005, just a week after being sentenced for cocaine
possession, D'Angelo was critically injured in Powhatan County, Virginia
when the SUV he was riding in hit a fence, ejecting him from the vehicle. He
was not wearing a seatbelt. He has now been released from the hospital and
is recovering at home from multiple rib injuries and bruises. |
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