“D’Angelo Pori Jazz 2012” by Roquai is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Stop the presses. Shout it from the rooftops. In the immortal words of Funk Flex, go into the store right now and put your hand in the cash register for no reason. D’Angelo is back in the studio.

Unfortunately for ticketholders for this year’s Roots Picnic, the legendary godfather of neo-soul has announced that he will no longer be able to make his collaborative headline set with the host band. Fortunately for the rest of the world, that announcement also included a reference to progress on new music after a decade of silence. So while we’re missing out on what would have been his first public performance since 2016, we may soon finally be able to hear what he’s been up to for all these years. No pain, no gain.

In a message posted to the festival’s social channels, D’Angelo disclosed, “It is with the deepest of regrets that @must [sic] cancel my performance at the Roots Picnic in Philadelphia next weekend. But, due to an unforeseen medical delay regarding surgery @had earlier this year, @ave been advised by my team of specialist that the performance this weekend could further complicate matters.

“It is nearly impossible to express how disappointed @am not to be able to play with my Brothers ‘The Roots’. And even more disappointed not to see all of You. @am so thankful to my beautiful fans for continuing to rock with me and @Thank u for your continued support.

“@am currently in the Lab & can’t wait to serve Up what’s in the Pot! LOVE U All and will see you very soon.” He signed, “With Love, D’Angelo.”

That earthshaking message has once again stoked fervent anticipation for D’Angelo’s long-awaited fourth studio album, which flared last in September 2024, when Raphael Saadiq shared with the Rolling Stone Music Now podcast that “D’s in a good space right now.“ “He’s working on six pieces right now and he seems super excited,” the singer-songwriter and super-producer detailed. “He’s in control of his own destiny at this point. He has a management team, but they can’t make him do anything that he don’t wanna do. He knows it’s on him now, and I think that’s a different angle that he’s coming from.”

D’Angelo’s last project was 2014’s chart-topping, Grammy-winning soul-jazz epic Black Messiah. Though he’s contributed two singles to soundtracks since, that’s about all he’s done on record (“Unshaken,” with Daniel Lanois, Brian Blade and Cyril Neville for Red Dead Redemption 2, is proof of his continued artistic ascent behind closed doors). Touré and others have suggested that the musician’s clandestine habits in his active period and ultimate disappearance were caused by his reputation as a sex symbol–due in large part to the “Untitled (How Does It Feel)” video–and how it overshadowed the vital work he’d done to reinvent soul music for a new century. His absence has been less about his willingness to create music than ours to receive it.

While D’Angelo continues to recover and fans fight to settle their nerves, Roots Picnic 2025 will go on with a stand-in set from Maxwell, who joins a lineup of more than 40 acclaimed acts including fellow headliners Miguel, Tems, Latto, Jeezy, Meek Mill, Lenny Kravitz, Glorilla and Kaytranada. Among the bill’s other highlights are Musiq Soulchild’s celebration of 25 years of Aijuswanaseing, J.Period’s live mixtape with Black Thought, Pusha T and 2 Chainz and The Roots’ 30th-anniversary return to Do You Want More?!!!??!, which was also the focus of an outstanding residency at Blue Note New York in March. Tickets for The Roots Picnic are available now at therootspicnic.com.