D’Angelo’s Posthumous Album Comes With Unreleased Michael Jackson Collaboration

D’Angelo left behind a vault of unreleased music and his family is now preparing a posthumous album that could extend the late soul legend’s musical legacy well beyond his death.

The announcement comes from his older brother Luther Archer, who confirmed during an interview with Kiss Richmond that a new project is being assembled with six tracks identified so far. The family is also considering additional releases that could include rare recordings, B-sides and an entire collection of cover songs. 

“We’ve got an album coming out,” Archer said. “There are six tracks [so far]. But then we have a whole vault of music that’s never been released.”

Perhaps the most tantalizing revelation involves a previously unreleased recording featuring D’Angelo, Michael Jackson and Mary J. Blige. The collaboration has attracted considerable attention because it would bring together three enormously influential voices in R&B and soul.

The recording may also have a history stretching back more than a decade.

In 2014, musician Jesse Johnson publicly discussed a version of Sly and the Family Stone’s “Hot Fun in the Summertime” that reportedly featured vocals from Jackson, Blige and D’Angelo. The recording was associated with Jackson’s posthumous Xscape project but did not appear on the final album.

That earlier recording could be connected to the material Archer recently discussed, although its inclusion on the forthcoming D’Angelo album has not been confirmed. 

The potential release represents an extraordinary development for an artist whose recording career was marked by both remarkable musical achievements and lengthy periods of silence.

D’Angelo released just three studio albums during his lifetime: Brown Sugar in 1995, Voodoo in 2000 and Black Messiahin 2014.

Each project helped establish his reputation as a meticulous musician who valued artistic independence over the demands of the commercial recording industry.

His death from pancreatic cancer on Oct. 14, 2025, at age 51 brought that extraordinary career to an abrupt conclusion.

However, the existence of additional recordings suggests his musical story may have more chapters. 

Archer indicated that the family is looking beyond a single album. The possibility of separate collections of alternate recordings and covers could provide a broader examination of D’Angelo’s creative process.

Questlove previously suggested that unreleased music would eventually surface, lending additional credibility to the prospect of new recordings from the celebrated singer.

For now, no official release date, album title or complete tracklist has been announced.