He was just 51 years old. Michael D'Angelo Archer, professionally known by way of his stage name, D'Angelo, has died after a battle with pancreatic cancer. The Grammy Award-winning R&B artist is widely revered as one of the pioneers of the music industry's neo-soul movement.
"He gave us three incredible albums with no skips," said Foxy 107/104 radio host Karen Clark. "It's just you put it on and you just let it play."
Clark broke the news during her midday show Tuesday afternoon, moments after the singer's death was confirmed.
"I'm feeling very devastated. And I feel like I love my job, but I hate it on days when artists that are so much a part of our culture and the music that we play die. It's never a fun day," she said.
Archer's death also comes as pancreatic cancer is the 10th-most common cancer and the third leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States.
However, Duke Health associate professor of surgery Dr. Daniel Nussbaum said that patient outcomes are improving.
"I would say that the past three to five years have probably been the most exciting time we've had in terms of new therapies, making it to patients with pancreatic cancer across stages," said Nussbaum.
According to the medical community, pancreatic cancer is more difficult to detect because symptoms, such as abdominal pain, fatigue, jaundice, and weight loss, tend to show after the cancer has already spread.
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Nussbaum encouraged people to speak with a medical professional if the symptoms persist in tandem with other symptoms.
"That's a sign that something more serious might be going on and absolutely deserves a visit to your doctor or to the emergency department, someplace where you're going to be able to get evaluated quickly," he said.
Nussbaum told ABC11 that he's starting to see younger patients with the disease, where the average age of diagnosis is 71 and the median age of death is 73.
"If you look at the average age people are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, it's probably in the high 60s, early 70s, but more and more we are seeing younger patients being diagnosed," he said.
So far this year, nearly 52,000 people have died in the United States as a result of the disease.