Michael Eugene Archer[3] (born February 11, 1974), better known by his stage name D'Angelo (/diˈændʒəloʊ/), is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer.

[4] D'Angelo also contributed to the soundtrack for the 2018 video game Red Dead Redemption 2, performing the song "Unshaken".

[6] After the formation of his native-Richmond, Virginia musical group, he and Precise found success performing in the Amateur Night competition at Harlem, New York's Apollo Theater in 1991.

[8] The group previously enjoyed some notice in Richmond, evenly dividing their repertoire between soul covers and originals while D'Angelo accumulated compositions of his own and developed his songwriting skills.

[7] The group's turnout on Amateur Night resulted in three consecutive wins and cash prize,[9] and upon returning home to Richmond, D'Angelo was inspired to produce an album and began composing material.

[14] After signing, Cooper introduced D'Angelo to musicians Raphael Saadiq, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, and Angie Stone to collaborate as songwriters.

[17] D'Angelo composed the music for "U Will Know", while his brother, Luther Archer, Midnight Songs LLC writer, wrote the lyrics.

[17] That same year, he wrote and produced the song "Overjoyed" for the Boys Choir of Harlem,[20] which appeared on their studio album The Sound of Hope (1994).

[1][32][33][34][35][36] Following the success of his debut album Brown Sugar in 1995, D'Angelo became less active in the music scene and released limited solo work.

[38] Of the setback, D'Angelo later stated "The thing about writer's block is that you want to write so fucking bad, [but] the songs don't come out that way.

Voodoo received rave reviews from contemporary music critics,[39] who dubbed it a "masterpiece" and D'Angelo's greatest work.

[50][51] The latter was commercially aimed at R&B and hip hop-oriented radio stations due to the prominence of rappers Redman and Method Man on the track.

D'Angelo, muscularly cut and glistening, is shot from the hips up, naked, with just enough shown to prompt a slow burning desire in most any woman who sees it.

[57] Towards the end of his worldwide tour in support of the album that same year, D'Angelo's personal issues had worsened, affecting performances.

[58] He became more conscious of and uncomfortable with his status as a sex symbol, and after the tour D'Angelo returned to his home in Richmond, Virginia, disappearing from the public eye.

[59] After a car accident and an arrest on DUI and marijuana possession charges, D'Angelo left Virgin Records in 2005 and checked into the Crossroads Centre rehabilitation clinic in Antigua.

[63] D'Angelo attempted to play every instrument for the project, striving for complete creative control similar to that of Prince.

Various mugshots began circulating around the time, showing the singer looking overweight and unhealthy, in stark contrast to the muscular D'Angelo seen in promotion for Voodoo.

[64] In September 2005, a week after being sentenced on the drug charges, he was involved in a car accident, and was rumoured to be critically injured.

However, a week after the crash a statement was issued by D'Angelo's attorney stating that he was fine continuing to say "He is anxious to finish the recording of his soul masterpiece that the world has patiently awaited.

Around the same time, the compilation was released digitally without the Erykah Badu and Raphael Saadiq featured songs, under the title Ultimate D'Angelo.

With the shutdown, D'Angelo (and all other artists previously signed to those labels) would release his future material on RCA Records.

[76] Two days later, the track "Sugah Daddy", which had been part of D'Angelo's set list since 2012,[77] premiered at 3 am EST and 1,000 downloads were available on Red Bull's 20 Before 15 website.

[78] After an exclusive listening party in New York produced by Afropunk festival founder Matthew Morgan and Jocelyn Cooper, Black Messiah was released digitally on December 15 through iTunes, Google Play Music, and Spotify.

His band, once called "The Testimony" and later renamed "The Vanguard", includes drummer Chris Dave, bassist Pino Palladino, guitarists Jesse Johnson (The Time) and Isaiah Sharkey, vocalists Kendra Foster (sometimes replaced by Joi Gilliam), Jermaine Holmes, and Charles "Redd" Middleton, keyboardist Cleo "Pookie" Sample, jazz trumpeter Keyon Harrold, saxophonist Kenneth Whalum manning the horn section, and D'Angelo as the lead vocalist, playing the electric grand piano, electric guitar, and even the band's conductor at certain moments.

D'Angelo and The Vanguard's Second Coming Tour commenced in New York on February 7, 2015, and concluded in Austin on November 6, 2015, with a total of 57 shows in Europe, Asia and North America.

Black Messiah, Beyoncé's self-titled album (2013), Run the Jewels' Run the Jewels 2 (2014), and Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp a Butterfly (2015) were noted as laying the groundwork down for the politically charged releases that happened in 2016, which included Rihanna's Anti, Kanye West's The Life of Pablo, and Beyonce's "Formation".

[84] In June 2015, D'Angelo confirmed to Rolling Stone that he was working on more material for a new album, calling it "a companion piece" to Black Messiah.

On June 10, 2021, D'Angelo performed at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival in New York City for "The Songs of Red Dead Redemption 2".

"[18] According to D'Angelo, the hip hop influence present on the album "came from the Native Tongues movement – Tribe Called Quest, Gang Starr and Main Source.