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D'angelo music biography continued...

D'angelo was the son of a preacher and got his early start in music performing in church. At 17, D'Angelo rocked the crowd on Amateur Night at the Apollo with an energetic rendition of Johnny Gill's "Rub You the Right Way" and won $500 — most of which he used to purchase a four-track recorder, where he began writing and recording his own tunes. D'Angelo's first major move was writing and co-producing "U Will Know," the lead single from the movie soundtrack to Jason's Lyric. At the same time, he was working on his debut album, 1995's Brown Sugar, which would find him filling every significant role in the studio — composer, arranger, producer, performer. Brown Sugar ultimately zoomed to #4 on the R&B Chart and #27 on the Pop Chart. Singles including Brown Sugar," "Cruisin'" and "Lady" all enjoyed chart success and radio play. D'Angelo disappeared from the pop limelight for a few years in the late-1990s, making scattered cameos on albums by Lauryn Hill, the Roots, and Method Man. D'Angelo resurfaced with the highly anticipated Voodoo (#1 Pop and R&B, 2000), which Merged the worlds of hip-hop, jazz, and down-home funk, and spawned the hit "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" (# 25 pop, #2 R&B, 2000). In 2002, Q magazine named D'Angelo in their list of the "50 Bands To See Before You Die", and in 2003 Voodoo was ranked at number 488 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.



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. After a long period of inactivity, D'Angelo has also made guest appearances on several albums, including releases by J Dilla, Common, Red Hot & Riot and The RH Factor. In June 2008, Virgin EMI released an enhanced greatest hits CD/DVD which included top hits, rare tracks & seven previously unreleased music videos from soul star called The Best So Far... So far, we have gotten the best from D'Angelo, who critics have hailed as the "R&B Jesus." And perhaps rightfully so.