He first gained attention after co-writing and co-producing the 1994 single “U Will Know” by the R&B supergroup Black Men United. His debut album, Brown Sugar (1995), was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and received widespread acclaim from music critics, who have credited the album with ushering in the neo-soul movement. It featured the title track, the Smokey Robinson cover “Cruisin”, and “Lady”, which peaked within the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100.
D’Angelo then collaborated with artists such as Angie Stone, Erykah Badu, and Lauryn Hill, with whom he performed on the 1998 song “Nothing Even Matters” from her album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. His next album, Voodoo (2000), debuted at number 1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 and received widespread critical acclaim. It was also certified platinum by RIAA. Its third single “Untitled (How Does It Feel)” was released alongside an impactful music video. The song earned him the Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance, while the album itself won Best R&B Album. Voodoo was listed as 28th on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
Afterwards, D’Angelo became increasingly uncomfortable with his growing status as a sex symbol. He then had numerous personal struggles, including depression, drug addiction and alcoholism, which resulted in limited musical output for several years. After over a decade spent mostly out of the public eye, he released his third and final album, Black Messiah (2014). The album debuted in the top five of the U.S. Billboard 200 and topped the year-end Pazz & Jop critics’ poll by The Village Voice. It won Best R&B Album at the 58th Grammy Awards, while the single “Really Love” won Best R&B Song and was nominated for Record of the Year. He also contributed the song “Unshaken” to the 2018 video game Red Dead Redemption 2. During the production of a fourth album, he died in 2025 of pancreatic cancer.