About Me
The son of a Virginian preacher, D'Angelo began performing as a young child. By his late teens he had signed a songwriting deal with EMI, and penned the hit song "U Will Know", performed by Black Men United for the Jason's Lyric motion picture soundtrack. Shortly after, he began recording his debut album, Brown Sugar, which was released in June of 1995. Though sales were sluggish at first, the album was eventually a hit, in large part to "Lady," a Top Ten hit on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, and helped kickstart the burgeoning neo 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. 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 on the duet "Nothing Even Matters". 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, one for Best R&B Album, and the other for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance. The lead single was "Left & Right" (featuring Method Man and Redman), but it was the album's second single, "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" (a tribute to the legendary artist Prince), that became a huge R&B hit buoyed by an innovative yet infamous video featuring a presumably nude D'Angelo (from his face to his hips). 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to the DUI and marijuana charge and, on April 13, was given a fine and suspended sentence and his driver's license was revoked.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. A follow-up to the Voodoo album has yet to be released; however, in recent months, D'Angelo is said to be hard at work on a third album, tentatively titled James River.[1] After a long period of inactivity, D'Angelo has made guest appearances on several albums, including releases by J Dilla, Common [2], Red Hot & Riot and The RH Factor. In August of 2006, D'Angelo is confirmed to have exited a rehabiltation stint on the island of Antigua and has begun collaborations with Common and Q-Tip. He also entered discussions with Jermaine Dupri on how to market what appears to be a forthcoming LP, though the official news of a release has not been made public yet. [3] Although music for his own album has yet to materialize, D'Angelo was recently featured on the song "Imagine", by Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre, which was released on November 21, 2006. On April 17, 2007 a new song called "Really Love" was leaked on Triple J Radio in Australia by ?uestlove.
on Nov. 26, 2007. An album "YODA The MonarchOf Neo-Soul" was released only in the U.K . with live tracks and new material by D..angelo
