Sunday Music: RIP D'Angelo - An Attempt At Context For New Listeners
October 19, 2025·0 comments·zg
D’Angelo passed away this week. He was 51. F***ing cancer.
My wife and I had tickets to see him only a few months ago at Roots Picnic in Philly. We were so excited. But, he cancelled at the last second, citing health conditions, and - we understood, but we were both pretty let down. The revised plan to see him was, whenever he announced new dates, to look at wherever he was playing in the world and figure out how to get there.
He’d been on my “I have to see him live” list since the mid-90s. He famously didn’t do much state-side. We were ready to do Europe if necessary for it.
Time is a mother.
I want to spend some time on his music with you. I’ll assume you know of him but maybe haven’t been as… into him (aka obsessed, ok, fine) as I’ve been. I think it matters, because now we’re talking legacy.
D’Angelo is the artist I found/discovered/that found me, or my ears at least, starting in high school and then into my college years, who put a ribbon on everything I was listening to, turning it into a gift, and making me understand artistry in a completely new light.
The old blues. Soul and Motown. Gospel. Funk. Jazz. Hip hop. Even the punk.
I hear people talk about Prince this way, or Sly before him. D’Angelo deserves to be in that conversation.
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