Simply because there are other things worth talking about, and that I’d much rather talk about. Not to ignore or dismiss, because that is not an affordable option. Just to acknowledge that life is bigger – even in death. We don’t always have to succumb to the purposeful distraction.
Which brings me to the loss of D’Angelo.
For those unfamiliar, D’Angelo was a brilliant musician and artist who died just two days ago at the all-too-young age of 51 after battling pancreatic cancer. He only released three albums during his lifetime, the last one, Black Messiah, being released over a decade ago in 2014. His first album, Brown Sugar, was released in 1995, nearly two decades earlier. Suffice to say, he was not trying in any way to replicate the manic pace of Prince, who created so much music (because he couldn’t help himself) that he had to store much of it away in a vault.
And yet, what D’Angelo failed to produce in volume he easily made up for by sheer impact. He is credited as one of the primary pioneers of the musical genre known as neo soul, and all three of his albums changed the game, which explains the four Grammys. Similar to Prince, he was an electric performer with a powerfully unique style, appearance, and vibe all his own, and you could always count on him to be backed by a powerhouse band, always well-rehearsed and tight as a fist. D’Angelo was an original, and that is something increasingly hard to find in today’s music landscape, at least among the more celebrated pop stars.
Without a doubt, 51 seems much too young to leave this earth. Whenever someone with so much talent departs so soon, it is almost automatic to consider how much more they could have accomplished, if only.
Jimi Hendrix, if only. Janis Jopli,n if only. Prince, if only. Freddy Mercury, if only. Michael Jackson, if only. The list is so long.
And although it is hard to even imagine the sheer size of artistic horizons that were lost by the falling of so many stars too soon, perhaps it is better to celebrate what we know than mourn what we don’t. And what we know is that D’Angelo, like all those stars who shone before him, has left us with a legacy that will continue to shine long into the dawn and beyond.
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