SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 22: Questlove attends the 2025 Film Independent Spirit Awards on February 22, 2025 in Santa Monica, California. (Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images)
D’Angelo died earlier this month after a battle with pancreatic cancer. The neo-soul legend left us with a relatively small discography — just three studio albums in 20 years — and his latter two albums, 2000’s Voodoo and 2014’s Black Messiah, both featured the Roots drummer Questlove. Along with fellow Roots member James Poyser and the late J Dilla, D’Angelo and Questlove also co-founded the Soulquarians, a collective of forward-thinking Black musicians that was active from 1999 to 2004. All of that is to say: Questlove has a lot to say about D’Angelo. Today he published a personal essay in Rolling Stone paying tribute to his frequent collaborator and longtime friend.
