D’Angelo (1974-2025)
Legendary neo-soul artist D’Angelo (Michael Eugene Archer) died on Oct. 14, at 51, after a battle with most cancers, broadly reported as pancreatic most cancers. The music icon gave followers timeless hits like “Untitled (How Does It Really feel),” “Girl,” and “Brown Sugar,” fusing uncooked, susceptible, and spiritually rooted lyrics that moved.
D’Angelo was identified for merging genres like gospel, jazz, funk, and hip-hop into one thing uniquely his personal. His passing despatched shockwaves by way of the music world. His household launched a press release expressing heartbreak and gratitude for his “legacy of terribly transferring music,” whereas followers and fellow artists shared tributes throughout social platforms.
Angie Stone (1951-2025)
Soul and R&B singer Angie Stone died on March 1, at age 63, in a site visitors accident in Alabama. Her van, coming back from a live performance, was struck by a truck after overturning, and she or he was the lone fatality.
Stone’s voice and songwriting—together with classics like “Want I Didn’t Miss You”—influenced a technology of artists. Her passing got here simply seven months earlier than D’Angelo’s premature dying, a shock, as the 2 stars left behind their son Michael Archer II, who paid tribute to each celebs in October after information of his father’s dying broke.
“I’m grateful to your ideas and prayers throughout these very tough occasions, because it has been a really tough and unhappy 12 months for me,” mentioned Archer in a press release shared with BOSSIP. “I ask that you simply please proceed to maintain me in your ideas because it is not going to be straightforward, however one factor that each my dad and mom taught me was to be sturdy, and I intend to do exactly that.”
Roberta Flack (1937-2025)
Roberta Flack, whose timeless ballads like “Killing Me Softly With His Tune” and “The First Time Ever I Noticed Your Face” grew to become cultural touchstones, died Feb. 24, at age 88. She had been residing with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in later years, a progressive neurodegenerative illness that assaults nerve cells.
Her memorial on March 10 was a star-studded celebration of her life, with Lauryn Hill, Stevie Marvel, Wyclef Jean, and Lisa Fischer amongst these honoring her legacy by way of music.
Earlier than powering by way of a teary-eyed rendition of Flack’s timeless cowl, “The First Time I Ever Noticed Your Face,” Hill shed a couple of tears whereas reflecting on Flack’s legacy.
“Her existence was a type of resistance,” Hill informed the gang throughout her speech. “I am keen on Ms. Roberta Flack… Roberta Flack is [a] legend.”
Stevie Marvel additionally paid a tribute to the R&B and soul diva with a track titled, “I Can See the Solar,” and shared a couple of type phrases in regards to the music titan, praising her for spreading her “love throughout this world.”
“The beauty of not being able to see along with your eyes is the good alternative of with the ability to even higher see along with your coronary heart. And so I knew how lovely Roberta was, not seeing her visually however with the ability to see and really feel her coronary heart,” the hitmaker added.
Irv Gotti (1970-2025)
Veteran producer and label government Irv Gotti (born Irving Domingo Lorenzo Jr.) died on Feb. 5 on the age of 54, following ongoing well being points in recent times associated to diabetes and strokes.
A towering determine in hip-hop, Gotti left an indelible mark on the style by serving to form the careers and sound of artists akin to DMX, Ja Rule, and Ashanti by way of Homicide Inc., the influential label he co-founded together with his brother, Christopher Gotti, in 1998. Earlier than launching the imprint, Gotti made his identify as an A&R government at Def Jam, the place he was instrumental in signing a number of artists to the label. Working beneath the alias DJ Irv, he additionally proved his abilities as a producer, crafting Jay-Z’s “Can I Stay” from the rapper’s 1996 debut album, Affordable Doubt.
After Homicide Inc. was later rebranded as The Inc., Gotti expanded the label’s scope past hip-hop, signing pop singer Vanessa Carlton and co-producing her 2007 album, Heroes and Thieves, alongside Rick Rubin and Stephan Jenkins of Third Eye Blind.
In early 2024, Gotti spoke overtly in regards to the toll diabetes had taken on his well being, saying the illness was regularly weakening his physique. TMZ reported that he had suffered a minor stroke greater than six months earlier as a result of diabetes-related problems. On the time, his consultant mentioned Gotti had made important life-style modifications, together with adopting a more healthy eating regimen, and had since recovered, spending time at dwelling together with his household and specializing in his well-being.
“Irv has been scuffling with diabetes for years, which prompted him to have a minor stroke over six months in the past,” Gotti’s rep mentioned in a press release. “He has since modified his eating regimen to consuming extra healthily. He’s been profitable in making a full restoration. Irv will not be in a rehab facility. He’s at dwelling together with his household, having fun with life.”
A few of his most well-known hits embody the multi-platinum observe, “All the time On Time” by Ja Rule that includes Ashanti, and Ashanti’s “Silly.”
George Foreman (1949-2025)
Boxing legend George Foreman—the two-time heavyweight champion and later, enterprise icon—died on March 21, at age 76. His household introduced his peaceable passing surrounded by family members. After profitable a gold medal in boxing on the 1968 Mexico Metropolis Olympics, George Foreman shortly established himself as considered one of America’s most promising younger athletes. Turning skilled quickly after, he stormed by way of the heavyweight division with legendary knockout energy, compiling an ideal 37–0 report with 35 knockouts by 1972, in response to NewsOne.
That very same 12 months, Foreman delivered some of the dominant performances in boxing historical past by defeating reigning champion Joe Frazier in simply two rounds to assert the heavyweight title.
Past the ring, Foreman reinvented himself as a wildly profitable businessman, turning into the face of the George Foreman Grill, which went on to promote over 100 million models worldwide. His affable character and savvy offers—together with promoting the grill’s naming rights for $137.5 million—helped construct an estimated internet value of over $300 million by 2022.
Jimmy Cliff (1944-2025)
Reggae icon Jimmy Cliff, whose music introduced world recognition to Jamaican sounds, died on Nov. 24 at 81. His spouse confirmed he suffered a seizure and problems from pneumonia.
“I’m grateful for his household, associates, fellow artists, and coworkers who’ve shared his journey with him. To all his followers world wide, please know that your help was his power all through his entire profession. He actually appreciated each fan for his or her love,” she wrote on Nov. 24.
Cliff’s hits—together with “The Tougher They Come” and “Many Rivers to Cross” — made him a foundational determine in reggae and world music. Beloved for his potential to weave social commentary into soulful, resonant music, Cliff constructed a listing that formed reggae’s world id. Themes of liberation, resilience, and nature flowed all through his work, becoming for somebody born throughout a storm and destined to shake world music.
Jimmy Cliff was a two-time Grammy winner, receiving awards for Greatest Reggae Recording in 1986 for “Cliff Hanger” and Greatest Reggae Album in 2013 for Rebirth.
Assata Shakur (1947-2025)
Activist and revolutionary Assata Olugbala Shakur died on Sept. 25 in Havana, Cuba, on the age of 78. Cuban officers and her daughter confirmed that her dying was as a result of well being problems and superior age after many years residing in exile beneath political asylum. Shakur, born JoAnne Deborah Byron and later referred to as JoAnne Deborah Chesimard after her marriage, was born in Queens in 1947. She was a outstanding member of the Black Panther Get together and later related to the Black Liberation Military.
Shakur’s life grew to become a focus of discussions on racial justice, U.S.-Cuba relations, and revolutionary activism. On Might 2, 1973, Assata Shakur and two different members of the Black Liberation Military had been stopped on the New Jersey Turnpike by State Trooper Werner Foerster and one other freeway officer. The encounter shortly escalated right into a violent confrontation, ending in a shootout that left Foerster and one other particular person useless.
Supporters of Shakur have constantly challenged the case, arguing that her trial was deeply flawed. They level to the absence of conclusive bodily proof, conflicting eyewitness accounts, and the broader historic context of legislation enforcement efforts—together with these by the FBI—to undermine and sabotage civil rights and Black energy actions throughout that period.
Regardless, Shakur escaped from jail in 1979 and finally resurfaced in Cuba, the place she was granted political asylum and lived out the rest of her life. She spent her life after jail advocating for Black liberation and ensuring her story was informed. Her 1988 autobiography, Assata, grew to become a blueprint for resistance and self-determination, broadly studied by activists, students, and younger folks trying to find a voice within the battle. Her life impressed actions like Assata’s Daughters in Chicago, and her identify was shouted in protests in Ferguson and the world over. Assata was a human rights activist and freedom fighter who stood in solidarity with oppressed folks worldwide—and for that, her legacy will endure.
Malcolm-Jamal Warner (1970-2025)
Beloved actor Malcolm-Jamal Warner died on July 21 at 54. Warner, finest identified for his position as Theo Huxtable on The Cosby Present, drowned unintentionally whereas swimming throughout a household trip in Costa Rica after being caught in a powerful present. Emergency responders tried resuscitation, however Warner was pronounced useless on the scene. Warner’s dying was formally dominated an unintentional drowning (asphyxiation by submersion).
Carl Carlton (1952-2025)
Funk and R&B singer Carl Carlton died on the age of 73 on Dec. 15, abandoning a legacy that helped outline soul and funk music throughout generations. The music titan was identified for songs like “I Can Really feel It” and his funk and soul traditional “She’s a Unhealthy Mama Jama.”
His son, Carlton Hudgens II, confirmed the information on Sunday, Dec. 14, sharing a tribute on Fb alongside a photograph of his father. “RIP Dad, Legend Carl Carlton, singer of ‘She’s a Unhealthy Mama Jama,’” he wrote. “Lengthy onerous combat in life, and you’ll be missed.”
Born Carlton Hudgens in Detroit in 1952, Carlton started his music profession at a younger age, recording within the Sixties beneath the identify Little Carl Carlton. He later dropped the nickname and located early success in 1971, when his single “I Can Really feel It” reached the Billboard Soul Singles chart. The track was a uncooked, emotional expression of affection and longing, showcasing the gritty, heartfelt vocal fashion that may develop into his signature.
Carlton reached mainstream success in 1974 together with his cowl of “Eternal Love,” which reached No. 6, cracking the High 10 on the Billboard Sizzling 100. The track, a joyful and optimistic declaration of romantic devotion, launched Carlton to a wider pop viewers whereas sustaining his soul roots. It stays some of the recognizable variations of the traditional love track.
Carlton suffered a stroke six years in the past, although an official explanation for dying has but to be introduced by the singer’s household, in response to Folks and SoulTracks.
Mickey Lee (1990-2025)
Mickey Lee, a former Massive Brother contestant whose vibrant character made her a fan favourite, handed away early Christmas night after struggling a number of cardiac arrests. She was 35.
Information of her dying got here simply days after supporters realized she had been hospitalized in vital situation.
“With profound disappointment, the household of Mickey Lee pronounces her transition on Christmas within the early night,” her household mentioned in a press release shared to Instagram. “Mickey captured the hearts of audiences nationwide by way of her look on Massive Brother, the place her authenticity, power, and spirit left an enduring impression on followers and fellow forged members alike. She can be remembered for the enjoyment she introduced into the lives of so many and for the real connections she fashioned each on and off display.”
Let’s maintain all of the Black celebrities who died in 2025 in our ideas and prayers.
