D’Angelo, the elusive R&B singer who recently released an album to acclaim after a 15-year wait, has scheduled a single US show before leaving for a European tour.
The Apollo Theatre — the historic music venue in New York’s Harlem neighbourhood that has showcased generations of African American performers — announced on Friday that D’Angelo would perform there on February 7.
D’Angelo first made a name for himself in 1991 as a 16-year-old performer at The Apollo’s amateur night.
He used his earnings from three straight nights of victories to buy recording equipment.
After well-regarded albums in 1995 and 2000, D’Angelo vanished until last month, when he suddenly released the funk-infused Black Messiah, a hard-charging R&B work that delves into the issue of racial injustice and has won wide critical praise.
D’Angelo released Black Messiah with very little publicity other than posters displayed around New York with excerpts of the recording’s lyrics.
In November, he announced a tour of Europe entitled The Second Coming.
The tour starts February 11 in Zurich and closes March 7 in Brussels. The Apollo is his only scheduled US date.
