While 2026 is starting pretty stellar for legendary singer and musician Raphael Saadiq, with him earning an Oscar nomination for his music work in “Sinners”—the feat comes after a pretty tough year for him: Not only did he lose his blood brother and Tony! Toni! Toné! founding member Dwayne Wiggins in March 2025, but he also lost his brother from another mother: D’Angelo.
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Though it’s been months since his death in October 2025, the “Brown Sugar” singer’s birthday was on Feb. 11, which would’ve seen the beloved entertainer turn 52. Sitting for an interview with The Root, Saadiq reflects on his last moments with D’Angelo and shares how he’s been dealing in the aftermath. He explained how he spent time with D’Angelo the week that he died and expressed that it took him a long minute before he could listen to his music due to their deep friendship.
“I got a chance to be with him the week he was making his transition and we had a beautiful conversation. He was a person that—he wasn’t out a lot. He wasn’t touring a lot, he was really inconsistent in the way people thought he should be. But the other person, was a very insightful person,” Saadiq told The Root. “He was very smart and [we were] very inspirational to each other. What he wanted to do, what I wanted to do. What music we liked, what challenges we would have, because we both loved music. All kinds of music, world music.”
He continued: “It was hard for me to listen to his music after he made his transition, I wouldn’t listen to it for a long time. I just started listening to it again maybe a day before his birthday.”
The “Feels Good” singer then went on to reveal that both Dwayne and D’Angelo were born days apart and jokingly noted their similar “wild streaks.” Saadiq also shared that he’s “still dealing” with the loss of the “Lady” singer—with whom he famously collaborated with in their 2002 hit “Be Here” and on D’Angelo’s iconic “Voodoo” album. He explained that while there’s no manual to help artists deal with all they’re going to have to deal with when it comes to the music industry, the “When We Get By” singer did the best he could with his time here on Earth.
“My brother and D’Angelo was born in the same month. My brother Dwayne who just passed, his birthday was on—his is February 14. It made a lot of sense, they were both alike in some of their wild streaks. But I definitely took it in, really miss him [D’Angelo]. [Gone] way too soon, what a genius and I don’t use that word lightly,” Saadiq said.
He later added: “I’m still dealing with it though, we miss him because there’s so much more we all wanna do while we’re here…He did the best that he could. He did a damn good job, he made some good music and he was a natural beast of a singer and a musician. I sing when I have to, he grew up doing it. He learned a lot from me and I learned a lot from him and that was our relationship.”
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