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Clint Black

Clint Patrick Black (born February 4, 1962) is an American country music singer, songwriter, musician, actor, and record producer. Signed to RCA Nashville in 1989, Black's debut album Killin' Time produced four straight number one singles on the US Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts. Although his momentum gradually slowed throughout the 1990s, Black consistently charted hit songs into the 2000s. He has had more than 30 singles on the US Billboard country charts, twenty-two of which have reached number one, in addition to having released twelve studio albums and several compilation albums. In 2003, Black founded his own record label, Equity Music Group. Black has also ventured into acting, having made appearances in a 1993 episode of the TV series Wings and in the 1994 film Maverick, as well as a starring role in 1998's Still Holding On: The Legend of Cadillac Jack.

Black has been nominated for 4 Grammy Awards for best Country Male Vocal Performance (1990 - "Killin' Time", 1997 - "Like the Rain", 1998 - "Something That We Do", 1999 - "Nothin' but the Taillights"), he was also nominated for 6 Grammy Awards with 1 win in the category of Best Country Collaboration with Vocals - "Hold On Partner" in 1991 (w/ Roy Rogers), "A Bad Goodbye" in 1993 (w/ Wynonna), "Still Holding On" in 1997 (w/ Martina McBride), "Same Old Train" in 1998 which got the Grammy Award (with Joe Diffie, Merle Haggard, Emmylou Harris, Alison Krauss, Patty Loveless, Earl Scruggs, Ricky Skaggs, Marty Stuart, Pam Tillis, Randy Travis, Travis Tritt & Dwight Yoakam), "When I Said I Do" in 1999 (w/ wife Lisa Hartman Black), and "Hey Good Lookin'" in 2004 (Jimmy Buffett, Kenny Chesney, Alan Jackson, Toby Keith, and George Strait).

Early life
Black was born in Long Branch, New Jersey, the youngest of four children of Ann (Scherma) and Gwin Augusta "G.A." Black, Jr.,  and lived in nearby Red Bank. His maternal great-grandfather was of Italian descent, with roots in Palermo, Sicily. The family moved back to Texas, where G.A. Black had been born and raised, before Clint was one year old. He was raised in Katy, Texas. Music was always present in the house. Black taught himself to play harmonica before he was 13, and at 14 wrote his first song. His father remarked that it was at that age that the parents "first noticed that he had a great voice". By 15, Black had learned to play guitar. As a teenager Black joined his elder brothers, Mark, Kevin and Brian, in their small band. On Saturday afternoons, the family would host backyard barbecues and invite the neighborhood to listen to the boys sing. Some weekends would attract up to 70 people. Black eventually dropped out of high school to play with his brothers, before becoming a solo act.

1983–1988: Early career
Black was initially drawn to a variety of musical genres. According to his father, he chose to focus on country music in the early 1980s, after singers George Strait and Reba McEntire moved the genre back toward the more traditional; in the style kept alive by George Jones and Merle Haggard. For six years, Black supported himself as a construction worker, bait cutter, and fishing guide, while singing at various lounges as a solo singer and guitarist. In 1987, at one of the gigs he met another guitarist, Hayden Nicholas. The two men connected musically and began a song writing partnership that would last decades. In the late 1980s, Black delivered a demo of their collaboration "Nobody's Home" to record promoter Sammy Alfano. Within two days of that delivery, Black was invited to a meeting with Bill Ham, who managed ZZ Top.

1989–1991: Breakthrough
Black soon signed with RCA in October of 1987, and at the time, RCA was considered one of the "most aggressive" labels in country music. His first album, Killin' Time, was released in 1989. Each song on the album was penned at least in part by Black; four of them were attributed solely to him, while the rest were collaborations with Nicholas. In a departure from most other country albums, Black used his road band instead of session musicians to record Killin' Time. The album was a critical and commercial success, reaching number one on the Billboard Country Albums chart and certified platinum in 1990. He made his debut in 1989 with the single, "A Better Man", which reached number one on the Billboard Hot Country Songs in early June. This marked the first time in 14 years that a debut single by a male artist had peaked at the top of the chart. In total, five singles off of his debut album reached number one, the first time any country artist had accomplished this feat. Black won the Country Music Association's Horizon Award for best newcomer in 1989. At the end of the year, his singles, "A Better Man" and "Killin' Time" place number one and number two on the year-end country singles charts. It had been 36 years since another artist had claimed both top spots in a single year. Looking back at the early stages of his career, Black recalled: "'At one point, I knew I crossed this line out of obscurity and I felt like no matter what happened from that point on I would always be remembered for Killin' Time. There was this kind of mixed feeling of remorse and excitement.'"

In late 1990, the Los Angeles Times surveyed country music industry insiders to determine which acts could be expected to sell the most records over the next seven years. Black placed second in the poll, two votes behind Garth Brooks. The survey results were surprising in that 10 of the top 20 artists named were relative newcomers to the industry; in the past, country music had been dominated by artists with several decades experience. The plethora of new acts confused some reviewers, however. Many reviewers lumped many of the new acts together; as Newsweeks David Gates wrote: "Good song, good voice, hot band: who cares which one it is this time?" Black soon became known as one of Nashville's "hat acts"; like other country artists such as Tracy Lawrence, Alan Jackson, and John Michael Montgomery, Black was a relative newcomer who wore a hat, and had "clean, neotraditional sound with pop appeal".

Killin' Time was certified platinum in 1990. Black's second album, Put Yourself in My Shoes, was released in November 1990. It reached number two on the country chart and was in the top 20 on the pop album charts. This success on the pop charts resulted from a change in the way Billboard calculated album sales; a new reliance on Nielsen SoundScan instead of information from selected record stores showed that sales of country albums had previously been under counted. The album did not meet with as much critical acclaim as his debut, but nonetheless still included several hit singles. He began touring with Alabama.

Black has been a member of the Grand Ole Opry since 1991.

1992: Lawsuits and The Hard Way
In March 1992, Black sued his manager, Bill Ham, for breach of contract; Black sought $2 million in damages and requested that Ham return $4 million in royalties. Under the terms of their initial contract, Ham controlled all publishing royalties for any song that Black wrote or co-wrote for his first eight albums. Because Black wrote all of his own music, this amounted to a fee of 20 to 30 cents per album sold. Industry standards generally counseled songwriters to form their own publication companies, so they would be able to retain more of the royalties.

Ham promptly countersued, blaming the initial lawsuit on poor advice Black received from his new personal assistant, his mother-in-law Jonni Hartman. His lawyer told the press that "Mr. Ham invested $1 million of his own money in Clint Black's career at a time when nobody else would do so. For that commitment, Mr. Black should show a little gratitude and honor his contracts".

By mid-1992, Black's first two albums had sold a combined 5 million copies. The difficulties with Ham caused a delay in the release of Black's third album, The Hard Way, which was released on July 14. The album had been expected the year previously, and during the delay the country music scene changed. Both Alan Jackson and Travis Tritt achieved greater success, and Billy Ray Cyrus became a teen idol. The competition that Black faced was now much stiffer than with his earlier albums.

According to Black, he and producer James Stroud spent more time putting this album together than either of those preceding and were "a lot more aggressive in the way we cut and mixed the album". Black was also more satisfied with the vocals on this album. Several of the songs on The Hard Way, including "Burn One Down", were initially reported to be Black's responses to his situation with Ham. Co writer Nicholas refuted the rumors, maintaining that most of those songs were written in the late 1980s.

To promote the album, Black launched The Hard Way Tour on June 26, 1992. The tour ran for 11 months. Reviewers noticed that with this album Black presented a "new, sexier image", wearing tighter clothing and in many cases leaving behind his trademark hat. Black commented simply that he was bored wearing the hat all the time.

1993–1999: Continued success
Black's fourth album, No Time to Kill was released almost a year after The Hard Way. The album received mixed reviews. The Houston Chronicle noted that Black's duet with Wynonna Judd, "A Bad Goodbye", was "precisely the kind of radio-ready, big-production ballad that record companies tend to force on their artists when they sense that their careers are in trouble....[I]t sticks out like a sore thumb in his body of work." On the other hand, a review in Time magazine thought the duet helped Black show his emotions more intensely. Some reviewers also noted that in some of the more serious songs on the album, Black's voice sounded strained. On January 30, 1994, Black performed as part of the "Rockin' Country Sunday" halftime show at Super Bowl XXVII, along with Judd, Tanya Tucker, Travis Tritt, and Naomi Judd.

One Emotion followed in late 1994. Also a platinum certified album in the US, this album accounted for five straight top five hits. First was the number four "Untanglin' My Mind", a Merle Haggard co-write. After it came the number three "Wherever You Go", three-week number one "Summer's Comin'", the number two title track and finally the number four "Life Gets Away." The latter two were also number one country hits in Canada.

In 1996, Black became the fourth country music singer to earn a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Later that year, he released his first greatest-hits package. This was led off by the chart-topper "Like the Rain", which spent three weeks at number one. After it came the number six "Half Way Up", his first single since "One More Payment" to miss the top five.

Black's next album, 1997's Nothin' but the Taillights, was released to mediocre reviews. Thom Owens of AllMusic said that the album made no attempt to change his sound, and was "sturdy" but less country than his previous efforts. Lead-off single "Still Holding On", a duet with labelmate Martina McBride, became his first single to land outside the top 10, with a number 11 peak that year. He soon recovered his chart momentum with the number two "Something That We Do" followed by two straight chart-toppers in the album's Steve Wariner-penned title track and "The Shoes You're Wearing". The next two singles – the number 12 "Loosen Up My Strings" and number 29 "You Don't Need Me Now" – were less successful.

In 1998, he made a brief foray into big band jazz when he recorded a cover of the Christmas song "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" for the soundtrack of the animated movie of the same name.

In 1999, Black released D'lectrified, which relied completely on acoustic instruments. Nevertheless, USA Today thought the "album sounds as full and brash as an electric album since he used creative arrangements and horn sections". Three of the songs on the albums were remakes of previous Black singles. Several others featured guest appearances by some of Black's idols, including Waylon Jennings, Kenny Loggins, and Eric Idle. The songs tended to be longer than most of those played on country radio, with many stretching more than five minutes.

1999–2013: Later career
Black and Hartman welcomed their first child, Lily Pearl Black, in May 2001. Black took a three-year break from the music industry to stay home with his daughter. He explained that "it ended up not being a smart career move, but it was a real smart dad move. … I wouldn't go back and try to do anything for my career in exchange for that."

During his sabbatical, Black spent time reassessing his career. After deciding he was unwilling to work within the current recording industry system, he formed his own record label, Equity Music Group. Black admitted that it was difficult to leave RCA. In his 14 years with the label, he had sold over 20 million records.

The new label operated under very different rules than those Black had begun his own career under. Artists were guaranteed ownership of their songs and were granted an equity stake in the label. The first release from the new label was Black's next album, Spend My Time; his eighth studio album was Black's first release in five years. The Houston Chronicle called it "arguably the most adventurous of his career".

In 2005, Black released Drinkin' Songs and Other Logic. Black chose the title of the album to limit himself to simple topics in his past. He explained: "I went out and bought all the music I grew up on that I didn't already have and spent three months listening to only that. Only stuff from before I started making records, so it was pre-1989—Waylon, Willie, Buck Owens, Haggard, Don Williams, Jim Croce. And what I discovered was a simplicity in song that I had moved away from. It was quite an emotional journey because these were all the songs that moved me and inspired me to do what I've been doing ever since."

Black has continued to record new material, however. In 2007, he released the single "The Strong One" the first original song he has recorded that he did not write. The song was included on his first digital EP, released on March 11, 2008. Titled "The Long Cool EP," the collection features Black's single, "Long Cool Woman", "The Strong One" and a duet with his wife titled "You Still Get to Me". Equity Music Group closed its doors in December 2008 due to economic difficulties.

Black was also a judge for the 8th annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists.

2013–present: Return to music
Since the closure of his label in 2008, Black had intermittently hinted at a new album that never materialized. In 2013, he issued a Cracker Barrel-exclusive album which featured re-recorded versions of some of his biggest hits as well as three new songs. Black stated that he hired the same musicians that had played on the original versions to perform the new ones, and that some songs were approached from a "fresh angle" while others were made to be as close to the originals as possible.

In early 2015, Black appeared with Joe Nichols on the ACM Superstar Duets special, which featured modern artists teaming up with older icons that had influenced their music. In July 2015, it was reported that Black had signed a new record deal with independent label Thirty Tigers to release an album of new studio material in the Fall. The record title was revealed shortly thereafter as On Purpose, with a release date of September 25. Black's next album, Out of Sane, was released in 2020.

Songwriting
Few country singers fill their albums primarily with their own material, and although RCA Records often pushed Black to record the material of other artists, he refused. Black recorded only his own songs until 2007, when he released the single "The Strong One". Many of his songs were the result of a collaboration with Hayden Nicholas. Their first collaboration, "Straight From the Factory", took them only 20 minutes to write, although Nicholas would later comment that "most of 'em weren't that easy".

Many listeners were incredulous that such a young man (27 at the release of his first album) could have such "a remarkably mature perspective". According to Black, "To me, a song is more than just something to sing. It's something to learn from. It's somebody else's true feeling. I'm always trying to get at the meaning. ... When I write a line, I'm doing the same thing. I'm looking at it from the perspective of if I was driving down the road listening to it, what am I gonna get out of it?"

Many of his songs make clever use of puns and other creative turns of phrase. While the wordplay in many of the songs on his earlier albums was widely appreciated, by the fourth album reviewers felt that the songs were not as high in quality. Rick Mitchell of the Houston Chronicle stated his opinion that The Hard Way "clever wordplay is no substitute for heartfelt emotion".

Film and television
Shortly after his music career took off, he began receiving offers for acting roles. He turned down every request until 1994, when he was offered a bit part in the star-studded comedy film Maverick. Although the part required very little actual acting, after the movie's release Black received an increasing number of calls from directors who thought he would be perfect for a particular role. Black has appeared in several television shows, including Wings and The Larry Sanders Show. He has since starred in the 1998 television film, Still Holding On: The Legend of Cadillac Jack, based on the rodeo star Jack Favor, who was falsely accused of double murders in Haughton, Louisiana, in 1967. Lisa Hartman Black portrayed Ponder I. Favor, Jack's wife. Black had a major role in another television movie Going Home, and appeared briefly in the 2003 film Anger Management. In 2000, Black and Hartman guest starred on an episode of King of the Hill.

He has also had a presence on various reality television shows. In 2003, Black appeared on Nashville Star, where he acted as a mentor to the contestants. Later that year, Clint also appeared on the ABC sitcom Hope & Faith in the episode "Hope and Faith Get Randy". He later produced the debut album of series winner Buddy Jewell. In 2004, Clint appeared as himself in the TV show Las Vegas. In 2008, Black was a contestant on a short-lived CBS reality show, Secret Talents of the Stars, in which he practiced stand-up comedy. The following year, he competed on the second season of Celebrity Apprentice. He was fired after the eleventh task, placing himself in fifth place, although he returned as a member of Joan Rivers's victorious team in the season finale. In 2009, Black appeared on ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.

Black has enjoyed his television experiences, describing acting as "another way for me to expand my creative canvas. ... I love to challenge myself." He believes that most of his fans "just see me as a musician who is stepping into [television and film] temporarily and either doing it alright or not". More recently, he appeared in the movies Flicka 2 in 2010 and Flicka: Country Pride in 2012.

On July 4, 2012, Black appeared on an episode of Lifetime's reality series, Coming Home, which documents servicemen and women returning to their loved ones in surprise reunions. In the episode, he is featured helping two children write a song about their Army captain father, who is returning from Afghanistan to surprise his family.

On July 24, 2012, Black is surprised by History Detectives on PBS. In the episode, the show pays a visit to his Nashville residence, to uncover the story behind an artifact given to him by his wife decades ago.

In 2020, Black and Lisa appeared in season four of The Masked Singer as "Snow Owls", notably competing as the series' first duet competitors while riding in an egg-shaped vehicle.

Clint Black participated in the seventh season of Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. His episode aired in 2021.

Musical styles and legacy
Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings, George Strait, and Willie Nelson are Black's biggest musical influences. His musical style encompasses traditional country, honky-tonk and Western swing. His voice is described as a smooth baritone and was initially compared to Merle Haggard's. Black was self-taught on harmonica, guitar and bass at an early age. On his studio albums he plays acoustic and electric guitars as well as harmonica. In concert he plays primarily guitar, but does play drums and harmonica.

Personal life
Black began dating actress Lisa Hartman in 1990. The couple kept their relationship very quiet. The first picture of the two of them together was not published until the week they were engaged. The couple married in Katy, Texas, in October 1991.

Black and Lisa Hartman Black have a daughter, Lily Pearl Black, born in 2001. As of 2002, he and his wife reside in Nashville, Tennessee, after living in Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles, California.

Grammy Awards
! scope="row" rowspan=2| 1990 ! scope="row" |1992 ! scope="row" |1994 ! scope="row" |1997 ! scope="row" rowspan=2| 1998 ! scope="row" rowspan=2| 1999 ! scope="row" |2000 ! scope="row" |2005
 * "Killin' Time"
 * Best Male Country Vocal Performance
 * Nominated
 * "A Better Man"
 * Best Country Song
 * Nominated
 * Nominated
 * "Hold on Partner"
 * rowspan=2| Best Country Collaboration with Vocals
 * Nominated
 * "A Bad Goodbye"
 * Nominated
 * "Like the Rain"
 * rowspan=2| Best Male Country Vocal Performance
 * Nominated
 * "Something That We Do"
 * Nominated
 * "Still Holding On"
 * rowspan=2| Best Country Collaboration with Vocals
 * Nominated
 * Nominated
 * "Same Old Train"
 * Won
 * "Nothin' but the Taillights"
 * Best Male Country Vocal Performance
 * Nominated
 * Nominated
 * "When I Said I Do"
 * rowspan=2| Best Country Collaboration with Vocals
 * Nominated
 * "Hey Good Lookin'"
 * Nominated
 * }

American Music Awards
! scope="row" |1990 ! scope="row" rowspan=2| 1991 ! scope="row" rowspan=2| 1992 ! scope="row" |1994 ! scope="row" |1998
 * rowspan=2| Clint Black
 * Favorite Country New Artist
 * Won
 * Favorite Country Male Artist
 * Nominated
 * Killin' Time
 * rowspan=2| Favorite Country Album
 * Nominated
 * Nominated
 * Put Yourself in My Shoes
 * Nominated
 * Clint Black
 * Favorite Country Male Artist
 * Nominated
 * Nominated
 * "A Bad Goodbye"
 * Favorite Country Single
 * Nominated
 * Clint Black
 * Favorite Country Male Artist
 * Nominated
 * }

TNN/Music City News Country Awards & TNN Music Awards
! scope="row" rowspan=3| 1990 ! scope="row" |1991 ! scope="row" rowspan=2| 1993 ! scope="row" rowspan=2| 1994 ! scope="row" rowspan=4| 2000
 * rowspan=2| Clint Black
 * Star of Tomorrow
 * Won
 * Male Artist of the Year
 * Nominated
 * Killin' Time
 * Album of the Year
 * Won
 * Album of the Year
 * Won
 * Clint Black
 * Male Artist of the Year
 * Nominated
 * George Jones and Friends
 * rowspan=3| Vocal Collaboration of the Year
 * Nominated
 * Roy Rogers and Clint Black
 * Nominated
 * Nominated
 * Clint Black and Wynonna
 * Nominated
 * Common Thread: The Songs of the Eagles
 * Album of the Year
 * Nominated
 * Nominated
 * rowspan=4| "When I Said I Do"
 * Song of the Year
 * Nominated
 * Single of the Year
 * Nominated
 * CMT Music Video of the Year
 * Nominated
 * Collaborative Event of the Year
 * Won
 * }
 * Collaborative Event of the Year
 * Won
 * }

Academy of Country Music Awards
! scope="row" rowspan=5| 1990 ! scope="row" rowspan=2| 1991 ! scope="row" rowspan=4| 1992 ! scope="row" rowspan=5| 1994 ! scope="row" |1998 ! scope="row" |1999 ! scope="row" |2000 ! scope="row" |2005
 * rowspan=2| Clint Black
 * Top New Male Vocalist
 * Won
 * Top Male Vocalist of the Year
 * Won
 * "A Better Man"
 * Single Record of the Year
 * Won
 * "Killin' Time"
 * Song of the Year
 * Nominated
 * Killin' Time
 * Album of the Year
 * Won
 * Killin' Time
 * Album of the Year
 * Won
 * Won
 * rowspan=2| Clint Black
 * Top Male Vocalist of the Year
 * Nominated
 * Entertainer of the Year
 * Nominated
 * Nominated
 * "Where Are You Now"
 * Single Record of the Year
 * Nominated
 * Roy Rogers and Clint Black
 * Top Vocal Duo of the Year
 * Nominated
 * rowspan=2| Clint Black
 * Top Male Vocalist of the Year
 * Nominated
 * Entertainer of the Year
 * Nominated
 * Entertainer of the Year
 * Nominated
 * Nominated
 * "A Bad Goodbye"
 * Single Record of the Year
 * Nominated
 * Clint Black and Wynonna
 * Top Vocal Duo of the Year
 * Nominated
 * Common Thread: The Songs of the Eagles
 * Album of the Year
 * Nominated
 * rowspan=2| Clint Black
 * Top Male Vocalist of the Year
 * Nominated
 * Entertainer of the Year
 * Nominated
 * Nominated
 * Entertainer of the Year
 * Nominated
 * Nominated
 * "Something That We Do"
 * Song of the Year
 * Nominated
 * "Same Old Train"
 * rowspan=3| Top Vocal Event of the Year
 * Nominated
 * "When I Said I Do"
 * Won
 * "Hey Good Lookin'"
 * Nominated
 * }

Country Music Association Awards
! scope="row" rowspan=3| 1989 ! scope="row" rowspan=4| 1990 ! scope="row" rowspan=3| 1991 ! scope="row" |1992 ! scope="row" rowspan=2| 1993 ! scope="row" rowspan=2| 1994 ! scope="row" |1997 ! scope="row" |2000 ! scope="row" |2004
 * Clint Black
 * Horizon Award
 * Won
 * rowspan=2| "A Better Man"
 * Song of the Year
 * Nominated
 * rowspan=2| Single of the Year
 * Nominated
 * rowspan=2| Single of the Year
 * Nominated
 * rowspan=2| "Killin' Time"
 * Nominated
 * Song of the Year
 * Nominated
 * rowspan=2| Clint Black
 * Male Vocalist of the Year
 * Won
 * Entertainer of the Year
 * Nominated
 * Entertainer of the Year
 * Nominated
 * Nominated
 * Put Yourself in My Shoes
 * Album of the Year
 * Nominated
 * rowspan=2| Clint Black
 * Male Vocalist of the Year
 * Nominated
 * Entertainer of the Year
 * Nominated
 * Entertainer of the Year
 * Nominated
 * "Hold on Partner"
 * rowspan=3| Vocal Event of the Year
 * Nominated
 * "I Don't Need Your Rockin' Chair"
 * Won
 * "A Bad Goodbye"
 * Nominated
 * Nominated
 * Common Thread: The Songs of the Eagles
 * rowspan=2| Album of the Year
 * Won
 * Rhythm, Country and Blues
 * Nominated
 * Nominated
 * "Still Holding On"
 * rowspan=3| Vocal Event of the Year
 * Nominated
 * "When I Said I Do"
 * Nominated
 * "Hey Good Lookin'"
 * Nominated
 * }

Discography

 * Studio albums
 * 1989: Killin' Time
 * 1990: Put Yourself in My Shoes
 * 1992: The Hard Way
 * 1993: No Time to Kill
 * 1994: One Emotion
 * 1995: Looking for Christmas
 * 1996: Pure Black Greatest Hits
 * 1997: Nothin' but the Taillights
 * 1999: D'lectrified
 * 2004: Spend My Time
 * 2005: Drinkin' Songs and Other Logic
 * 2007: The Love Songs
 * 2015: On Purpose
 * 2020: Out of Sane

Billboard number-one hits

 * "A Better Man" (1 week, 1989)
 * "Killin' Time" (1 week, 1989)
 * "Nobody's Home" (3 weeks, 1990)
 * "Walkin' Away" (2 weeks, 1990)
 * "Loving Blind" (2 weeks, 1991)
 * "Where Are You Now" (2 weeks, 1991)
 * "When My Ship Comes In" (2 weeks, 1993)
 * "A Good Run of Bad Luck" (1 week, 1994)
 * "Summer's Comin'" (3 weeks, 1995)
 * "Like the Rain" (3 weeks, 1996)
 * "Nothin' but the Taillights" (2 weeks, 1998)
 * "The Shoes You're Wearing" (1 week, 1998)
 * "When I Said I Do" (2 weeks, 1999)

Filmography

 * The Masked Singer (2020) - Snow Owls (with wife Lisa)
 * Flicka: Country Pride (2012) – Toby
 * Flicka 2 (2010) – Toby
 * Las Vegas "Good Run of Bad Luck" (2004) - Himself
 * Anger Management (2003) – Masseur
 * The Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch (2002) – Himself
 * Going Home (2000) – Dr. Warren
 * Still Holding On: The Legend of Cadillac Jack (1998) – Cadillac Jack Favor
 * Maverick (1994) – Sweet-Faced Gambler
 * Wings "I Love Brian" (1993) – Himself
 * Montana Christmas Skies (1991) – Clint Black, with John Denver, Kathy Mattea, Patty Loveless

title: Clint Black


text:
Talk:Translation memory

Who has deleted the links section?
So far I can remember, it was a link section, with near all existing translation memories related links on the net already classified? Were it is gone? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Pbouvier (talk • contribs) 22:58, 12 February 2009 (UTC)
 * It was deleted here per Wikipedia is not a web directory. —Angr 07:05, 13 February 2009 (UTC)
 * I think the deletion can be reverted. The deletion was not discussed in the Talk page at all.  I don't think the deleted section is what is meant by Wikipedia is not a web directory.  Does anyone know if this deletion was discussed anywhere? -- 77.168.195.155 (talk) 21:48, 18 September 2009 (UTC)
 * Not every change needs to be discussed. Wikipedia is not the place for collecting large amounts of external links to commercial sites. +Angr 08:33, 19 September 2009 (UTC)

Until now, I did not say anything about deleting the link section. But, I also support to leave the link section, as it was written by the author / the authoress. Not to admit the debate on changes that have been realized - be understood, the only unilateral and not discussed change that has been realized in this article (this is what you really mean wit the sentence: Not every change needs to be discussed...)- seems to me of a supine and more proper arrogance of the Stalinist purges than another thing. 83.58.125.105 (talk) 08:10, 21 September 2009 (UTC)Paul Bouvier
 * "Reductio ad Stalinum" is just as invalid and absurd a form of argumentation as Reductio ad Hitlerum. Any external links in this article have to comply with WP:EL, in particular under "Links normally to be avoided": "Links to web pages that primarily exist to sell products or services, or to web pages with objectionable amounts of advertising. For example, in the mobile phone article, don't link to web pages that mostly promote or advertise cell-phone products or services." Likewise, in the article on translation memories, we shouldn't link to web pages that mostly promote or advertise translation memory software. +Angr 10:50, 21 September 2009 (UTC)

Amen. If you have such a rough mind, I do not believe suitably to continue this discussion. It is clear that at the end you will end up by erasing the whole wikipedia or will left only articles just worth for nothing, because even the translation standards have a commercial part(standards are free, but certifications are not) see the cart right at the top: http://www.lisa.org/Standards.30.0.html). So you can already begin to erase also the links of all pages that links to such pages and every time we will be more those that will be grateful to you...Pbouvier (talk) 20:33, 3 October 2009 (UTC)
 * I think most of the deleted links can be (or already are) incorporated into Computer-assisted translation --N-lane (talk) 10:30, 5 October 2009 (UTC)

History of translation memories
I know of no important TM research later than the late 80s. I myself wrote a tiny experimental system called TRANSFORMULATOR at the TAUM project for MT at the University of Montreal in 1970-71, but it was just a precursor and nobody cared about it. So far as I know, the early work that led to commercialisation of the concept was done by Flemming Svanholm and his team at IBM European Language Services, Denmark,around 1989 and was marketed as part of IBM's TRANSLATIONMANAGER in the early 1990s. The implementation of TM was due not just to the concept but also to the vast increase in cheap, fast computer storage. Translatology (talk) 12:06, 14 July 2009 (UTC)

Translation memories availble online
I think it would be useful to allow people to see what really is TM and how it works by pointing one availble online. I know one service only providing search online: http://glosbe.com/tmem/. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 89.75.134.226 (talk) 11:38, 28 August 2011 (UTC)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Talk:Translation memory


text:
Denholm Elliott

Denholm Mitchell Elliott (31 May 1922 – 6 October 1992) was an English actor. He appeared in numerous productions on stage and screen, receiving BAFTA awards for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Trading Places (1983), A Private Function (1984) and Defence of the Realm (1986), and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Mr. Emerson in A Room with a View (1985). He is also known for his performances in Alfie (1966), A Doll's House (1973), A Bridge Too Far (1977), Maurice (1987), September (1987), and Noises Off (1992). He portrayed Marcus Brody in the Steven Spielberg and George Lucas films Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989).

The American film critic Roger Ebert described him as "the most dependable of all British character actors." The New York Times called him "a star among supporting players" and "an accomplished scene-stealer". He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) by Queen Elizabeth II in 1988.

Early life
Elliott was born 31 May 1922, in Kensington, London, the son of Nina (née Mitchell; 1893–1966) and Myles Layman Farr Elliott, MBE (1890–1933), a barrister who had read law and Arabic at Cambridge before fighting with the Gloucestershire Regiment at Gallipoli and in Mesopotamia. In 1930, Myles Elliott was appointed solicitor-general to the Mandatory Government in Palestine. Three years later, following a series of controversial government prosecutions, he was assassinated outside the King David Hotel and buried in the Protestant Cemetery on Mount Zion. Elliott's elder brother Neil Emerson Elliott (1920–2003) was a land agent to Lady Anne Cavendish-Bentinck.

Elliott attended Malvern College and trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London. He was asked to leave the academy after one term. As Elliott later recalled, "They wrote to my mother and said, 'Much as we like the little fellow, he's wasting your money and our time. Take him away!'"

In the Second World War, he joined the Royal Air Force, training as a wireless operator/air gunner and serving with No. 76 Squadron RAF under the command of Leonard Cheshire. On the night of 23/24 September 1942, his Handley Page Halifax DT508 bomber took part in an air raid on the U-boat pens at Flensburg, Germany. The aircraft was hit by flak and subsequently ditched in the North Sea near Sylt, Germany. Elliott and four of his crewmen survived, and he spent the rest of the war in Stalag Luft VIIIb, a prisoner-of-war camp in Lamsdorf (now Łambinowice), Silesia. While imprisoned, he became involved in amateur dramatics. He formed a theatre group that was so successful it toured other POW camps playing Twelfth Night.

Career
After making his film debut in Dear Mr. Prohack (1949) he went on to play a wide range of parts, including an officer in The Cruel Sea and often ineffectual and occasionally seedy characters, such as the drunken journalist Bayliss in Defence of the Realm, the criminal abortionist in Alfie, and the washed-up film director in The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz. Elliott and Natasha Parry played the main roles in the 1955 television play The Apollo of Bellac. He took over for an ill Michael Aldridge for one season of The Man in Room 17 (1966)

Elliott made many television appearances, which included plays by Dennis Potter such as Follow the Yellow Brick Road (1972), Brimstone and Treacle, (1976) and Blade on the Feather (1980). He starred in the BBC's adaptation of Charles Dickens's short story The Signalman (1976). He also co-starred in the made-for-TV film The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, starring Jack Palance, produced by Dan Curtis, music composed and conducted by Bob Cobert (Curtis and Cobert were also, at that time, working on the famed Gothic horror soap opera Dark Shadows (1966–1971).

In the 1980s he won three consecutive British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Awards: Best Supporting Actor for Trading Places as Dan Aykroyd's kindly butler, A Private Function, and Defence of the Realm. He received an Academy Award nomination for A Room with a View. He became familiar to a wider audience as the well-meaning but confused Dr. Marcus Brody in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. A photograph of his character appears in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and a reference is made to Brody's death. Also, a statue was dedicated to Marcus outside Marshall College, the school where Indy teaches. In 1988 Elliott was the Russian mole Povin, around whom the entire plot revolves, in the television miniseries Codename: Kyril.

Having filmed Michael Winner's The Wicked Lady (1983), Elliott was quoted in a BBC Radio interview as saying that Marc Sinden and he "are the only two British actors I am aware of who have ever worked with Winner more than once, and it certainly wasn't for love. But curiously, I never, ever saw any of the same crew twice." (Elliott in You Must Be Joking! (1965) and The Wicked Lady and Sinden in The Wicked Lady and Decadence). Elliott had worked with Sinden's father, Sir Donald Sinden, in the film The Cruel Sea (1953). He co-starred with Katharine Hepburn and Harold Gould in the television film Mrs. Delafield Wants to Marry (1986) and with Nicole Kidman in Bangkok Hilton (1989).

In 1988 Elliott was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for his services to acting. His career included many stage performances, including with the Royal Shakespeare Company, and a well-acclaimed turn as the twin brothers in Jean Anouilh's Ring Round the Moon. His scene-stealing abilities led Gabriel Byrne, his co-star in Defence of the Realm, to say, "Never act with children, dogs, or Denholm Elliott."

Despite being described by the British Film Institute's Screenonline as an actor of "versatile understanding and immaculate technique," Elliott described himself as an instinctive actor and was a critic of Stanislavski's system of acting, saying, "I mistrust and am rather bored with actors who are of the Stanislavski school who think about detail."

Personal life and death
Elliott was married twice: first to actress Virginia McKenna for a few months in 1954, and later to American actress Susan Robinson, with whom he had two children, Mark and Jennifer, the latter of whom died by suicide in 2003. Long after Elliott died, it was claimed he was secretly bisexual.

Elliott was diagnosed with HIV in 1987 and died of AIDS-related tuberculosis at his home in Santa Eulària des Riu on Ibiza, Spain, on 6 October 1992 at the age of 70. Tributes were paid by actors Sir Donald Sinden and Sir Peter Ustinov, playwright Dennis Potter and former wife Virginia McKenna. Sinden said, "He was one of the finest screen actors and a very special actor at that. He was one of the last stars who was a real gentleman. It is a very sad loss." Ustinov said, "He was a wonderful actor and a very good friend on the occasions that life brought us together." Potter commented, "He was a complicated, sensitive, and slightly disturbing actor. Not only was he a very accomplished actor, he was a dry, witty, and slightly menacing individual. As a man, I always found him very open, very straightforward and very much to the point." Ismail Merchant described Elliott as "an all-giving person, full of life ... He had an affection and feeling for other actors, which is very unusual in our business."

His widow set up a charity, the Denholm Elliott Project, and collaborated on his biography. Susan Elliott died on 12 April 2007, aged 65, in a fire in her flat in London.

title: Denholm Elliott


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D'Angelo

Michael Eugene Archer (born February 11, 1974), better known by his stage name D'Angelo, is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. He first garnered attention after co-producing the single "U Will Know" for R&B supergroup Black Men United. His debut studio album, Brown Sugar (1995), was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and received widespread acclaim from music critics, who have credited the album for ushering in the neo soul movement. His third single, "Lady", reached the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100.

D'Angelo would then collaborate with artists such as Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill, and then-girlfriend Angie Stone. His next album, Voodoo (2000), debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 and continued to receive critical acclaim. The album's lead single "Untitled (How Does It Feel)", earned him the Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance; likewise, Voodoo won Best R&B Album. Following this period, D'Angelo became increasingly uncomfortable with his growing status as a sex symbol. This was followed by numerous personal struggles, including alcoholism, which resulted in limited musical output for several years.

After over a decade spent mostly out of the public eye, he then released his third studio album, Black Messiah, in 2014. The album was met with critical acclaim and peaked at number five on the US Billboard 200. The same year, D'Angelo was hailed as the next Marvin Gaye by GQ. D'Angelo also contributed to the soundtrack for the 2018 video game Red Dead Redemption 2, performing the song "Unshaken".

Early life
D'Angelo was born Michael Eugene Archer in South Richmond, Virginia. His father was a Pentecostal preacher and D'Angelo was raised in an entirely Pentecostal family. Archer's musical talents were discovered very early as a child. He was 3 when he was spotted by his 10-year-old brother playing the house piano. After the formation of his native-Richmond, Virginia musical group, he and Precise found success performing in the Amateur Night competition at Harlem, New York's Apollo Theater in 1991. The 18-year-old dropped out of school and moved to New York City as an attempt to develop his music career. The group previously enjoyed some notice in Richmond, evenly dividing their repertoire between soul covers and originals while D'Angelo accumulated compositions of his own and developed his songwriting skills. The group's turnout on Amateur Night resulted in three consecutive wins and cash prize, and upon returning home to Richmond, D'Angelo was inspired to produce an album and began composing material. This took place after a brief tenure as a member of the hip hop group I.D.U. (Intelligent, Deadly but Unique).

1991–1995: Brown Sugar
At the age of 17, D'Angelo met Afropunk Festival partner Jocelyn Cooper, who signed him to Midnight Songs LLC, her joint venture publishing company administered by Universal Music Publishing Group after hearing a demo of the hip hop group I.D.U. (Intelligent, Deadly but Unique), which D'Angelo produced and rapped in. After signing, Cooper introduced D'Angelo to musicians Raphael Saadiq, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, and Angie Stone to collaborate as songwriters. Cooper then introduced D'Angelo to Fred Davis, Head of A&R and Gary Harris at EMI Music. After an impressive audition D'Angelo was signed to a recording contract in 1993. Cooper also introduced D'Angelo to attorney Kedar Massenburg who helped negotiate his contract. Massenburg later became D'Angelo's manager.

In 1994, his first significant success came in the form of the hit single "U Will Know". D'Angelo co-wrote and co-produced the song for the all-male R&B supergroup Black Men United, which featured R&B singers such as Brian McKnight, Usher, R. Kelly, Boyz II Men, Raphael Saadiq, and Gerald Levert. D'Angelo composed the music for "U Will Know", while his brother, Luther Archer, Midnight Songs LLC writer, wrote the lyrics. Originally featured on the soundtrack to the film Jason's Lyric (1994), the single peaked at number 5 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks and at number 28 on the Billboard Hot 100. The music video for "U Will Know" featured D'Angelo as the group's choir director; he reprised the role for the live performance of the song at the Soul Train Music Awards. That same year, he wrote and produced the song "Overjoyed" for the Boys Choir of Harlem, which appeared on their studio album The Sound of Hope (1994). The success of "U Will Know" helped build the buzz surrounding D'Angelo, which was followed by a number of highly promoted showcases, and added to the buzz among music industry insiders.

Brown Sugar was released in July 1995. Although sales were sluggish at first, the album was eventually a hit. The album debuted at number six on the US Billboard Top R&B Albums chart in the week of July 22, 1995. It ultimately peaked at number four in the week of February 24, 1996, and spent a total of 54 weeks on the chart. Brown Sugar also spent 65 weeks on the Billboard 200 and peaked at number 22 on the chart. It sold 300,000 copies within its two months of release. The album had been selling 35,000 to 40,000 copies a week through to November 1995, and by January 1996, it had sold 400,000 copies. With the help of its four singles, including the gold-selling Billboard Hot 100 hit "Lady" and R&B top-ten singles "Brown Sugar" and "Cruisin", the album reached sales of 500,000 copies in the United States by October 1995. On February 7, 1996, it was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, following shipments in excess of one million copies in the U.S. The album was certified gold in Canada on May 9, 2000. Its total sales have been estimated within the range of 1.5 million to over two million copies.

1996–2000: Reduced activity and Voodoo
Following the success of his debut album Brown Sugar in 1995, D'Angelo became less active in the music scene and released limited solo work. After touring for two years to promote the album Brown Sugar, D'Angelo suffered from writer's block. Of the setback, D'Angelo later stated "The thing about writer's block is that you want to write so fucking bad, [but] the songs don't come out that way. They come from life. So you've got to live to write." During this period, he generally released cover versions and remakes, such as a cover of the Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell duet song "Your Precious Love" with Erykah Badu for the soundtrack to High School High (1996). D'Angelo also covered Prince's "She's Always in My Hair" for the Scream 2 soundtrack (1997), as well as the Ohio Players' "Heaven Must Be Like This" for the Down in the Delta soundtrack (1998). He also appeared on a duet, "Nothing Even Matters", with Lauryn Hill for her debut solo album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1998).

The much-delayed follow-up to Brown Sugar, Voodoo, was released in 2000 on Virgin Records after EMI Records Group was absorbed by the label. Voodoo received rave reviews from contemporary music critics, who dubbed it a "masterpiece" and D'Angelo's greatest work. The album debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 320,000 copies in its first week. It entered the Billboard 200 on February 12, 2000, and remained on the chart for 33 consecutive weeks. As of 2005, the album has sold over 1.7 million copies in the US, according to Nielsen SoundScan. In 2001, Voodoo won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Album at the 43rd Grammy Awards which was awarded to D'Angelo and recording engineer Russell Elevado. The album was executive produced by then manager and creative collaborator, Dominique Trenier.

Its first two singles, "Devil's Pie" and "Left & Right", peaked at number 69 and number 70 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The latter was commercially aimed at R&B and hip hop-oriented radio stations due to the prominence of rappers Redman and Method Man on the track. According to Rich Ford, Jr., producer of the "Left & Right" music video, both the single and the video went commercially unnoticed due to MTV's refusal to place the song's video in rotation, serving as punishment for missing the deadline for its initial premiere. The fifth single "Feel Like Makin' Love" was less successful, reaching number 109 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks. "Send It On", the album's fourth single, achieved moderate chart success, peaking at number 33 on Billboard's Pop Singles chart. The album's third single, "Untitled (How Does It Feel)", became its greatest chart success, peaking at number 25 on the Hot 100 Singles and at number two on the R&B Singles chart. Its infamous music video helped in boosting the song's appeal, as well as D'Angelo's. Billboard wrote of the video, "It's pure sexuality. D'Angelo, muscularly cut and glistening, is shot from the hips up, naked, with just enough shown to prompt a slow burning desire in most any woman who sees it. The video alone could make the song one of the biggest of the coming year". It earned three nominations for the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards, including Video of the Year, Best R&B Video, and Best Male Video.

2001–2013: Personal struggles and delayed album
Towards the end of his worldwide tour in support of the album that same year, D'Angelo's personal issues had worsened, affecting performances. He became more conscious of and uncomfortable with his status as a sex symbol, and after the tour D'Angelo returned to his home in Richmond, Virginia, disappearing from the public eye. Several of D'Angelo's peers and affiliates have noted the commercial impact of the "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" music video and The Voodoo Tour as contributing factors to D'Angelo's period of absence from the music scene. His former music manager, Dominique Trenier, explained his disappointment in the music video's impact in a 2008 interview for Spin magazine. Trenier was quoted as saying that "to this day, in the general populace's memory, he's the naked dude".

According to tour manager Alan Leeds, the experience "took away his confidence, because he's not convinced why any given fan is supporting him." Following the suicide of his close friend, MTV-affiliate Fred Jordan, in April 2001, he started to develop a drinking problem. As his alcoholism escalated, plans for a live album and a Soultronics studio effort, both originally set for after the tour, were scrapped, and impatient Virgin executives cut off funding for the expected 2004 solo album.

By 2005, D'Angelo's girlfriend had left him, his attorney had become displeased with him, and most of his family was not in touch with him. He also parted ways with manager Dominique Trenier and tour manager Alan Leeds. After a car accident and an arrest on DUI and marijuana possession charges, D'Angelo left Virgin Records in 2005 and checked into the Crossroads Centre rehabilitation clinic in Antigua. In 2005, his recording contract was acquired by J Records, following rumors of D'Angelo signing to Bad Boy Records. Despite no solo output, D'Angelo collaborated with some R&B and hip hop artists during this period between albums, appearing on albums such as J Dilla's The Shining (2006), Snoop Dogg's Tha Blue Carpet Treatment (2006), Common's Finding Forever (2007), and Q-Tip's The Renaissance (2008).

D'Angelo's subsequent solo work was extensively delayed. Production for a full-length follow-up to Voodoo was stagnant, as he was working on and off mostly by himself during 2002. D'Angelo attempted to play every instrument for the project, striving for complete creative control similar to that of Prince. Russell Elevado described the resulting material as "Parliament/Funkadelic meets the Beatles meets Prince, and the whole time there's this Jimi Hendrix energy". However, those who previewed its songs found it to be unfinished. In the years that followed, D'Angelo's personal problems worsened, descending to drug and alcohol addiction. In January 2005 he was arrested and charged with possession of marijuana and cocaine. Various mugshots began circulating around the time, showing the singer looking overweight and unhealthy, in stark contrast to the muscular D'Angelo seen in promotion for Voodoo. In September 2005, a week after being sentenced on the drug charges, he was involved in a car accident, and was rumoured to be critically injured. However, a week after the crash a statement was issued by D'Angelo's attorney stating that he was fine continuing to say "He is anxious to finish the recording of his soul masterpiece that the world has patiently awaited.

No more was revealed on the new album until 2007, when Questlove leaked an unfinished track on Triple J Radio in Australia. Entitled "Really Love", the track was an acoustic flavored jam with a laid back swing feel. The leak apparently soured relations between the two. D'Angelo released a CD/DVD compilation album entitled The Best So Far…, first released on June 24, 2008 on Virgin Records. The compilation features songs from his two previous studio albums, Brown Sugar and Voodoo, as well as rarities and a second disc, a DVD of previously unreleased videos. Around the same time, the compilation was released digitally without the Erykah Badu and Raphael Saadiq featured songs, under the title Ultimate D'Angelo.

In late November 2011, D'Angelo announced a series of 2012 European tour dates. The tour kicked off January 26 in Stockholm, Sweden with its final show on February 10. The tour featured a selection of hits from his two previous albums and songs from his upcoming album, which was close to completion. He premiered 4 new songs: "Sugah Daddy", "Ain't That Easy", "Another Life" and "The Charade" which were well received. On June 9, 2012, he joined Questlove for the annual Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival's Superjam. He didn't play any of his original material and this marked the first time in nearly 12 years that he performed on stage in the US. On September 1, 2012, D'Angelo performed at Jay-Z's Made in America festival where he again performed the new songs, "The Charade" and "Sugah Daddy". On October 7, RCA Music Group announced that it was closing J Records, Arista Records, and Jive Records. With the shutdown, D'Angelo (and all other artists previously signed to those labels) would release his future material on RCA Records.

2014–2020: Black Messiah and "Unshaken"
D'Angelo released his third studio album, Black Messiah in December 2014. D'Angelo originally wanted to release Black Messiah in 2015, but the controversial decisions in the Ferguson and Eric Garner cases inspired him to release it earlier. On December 12, 2014, Kevin Liles, D'Angelo's manager, shared a 15-second teaser of the album on YouTube. Two days later, the track "Sugah Daddy", which had been part of D'Angelo's set list since 2012, premiered at 3am EST and 1,000 downloads were available on Red Bull's 20 Before 15 website. After an exclusive listening party in New York produced by Afropunk festival founder Matthew Morgan and Jocelyn Cooper, Black Messiah was released digitally on December 15 through iTunes, Google Play Music, and Spotify. The album's unexpected release was compared to Beyoncé's self-titled release in 2013. On January 13, 2015, "Really Love" was released to urban adult contemporary radio in the US.

The album was met with universal acclaim from critics and it currently has a 95/100 mean score on review aggregator Metacritic. In its first week of release, Black Messiah debuted at number five on the Billboard 200 and sold 117,000 copies in the United States. In its second week, the album dropped to number twenty five on the chart and sold another 40,254 copies. In the United Kingdom, it debuted at number 47 on the UK Albums Chart with first-week sales of 7,423 copies. D'Angelo supported Black Messiah with a tour called The Second Coming. His band, once called "The Testimony" and later renamed "The Vanguard", includes drummer Chris Dave, bassist Pino Palladino, guitarists Jesse Johnson (The Time) and Isaiah Sharkey, vocalists Kendra Foster (sometimes replaced by Joi Gilliam), Jermaine Holmes, and Charles "Redd" Middleton, keyboardist Cleo "Pookie" Sample, jazz trumpeter Keyon Harrold, saxophonist Kenneth Whalum manning the horn section, and D'Angelo as the lead vocalist, playing the electric grand piano, electric guitar, and even the band's conductor at certain moments. D'Angelo and The Vanguard's Second Coming Tour commenced in New York on February 7, 2015, and concluded in Austin on November 6, 2015, with a total of 57 shows in Europe, Asia and North America. At the 58th Annual Grammy Awards, Black Messiah won Best R&B Album while "Really Love" won Best R&B Song and was nominated for Record of the Year. Black Messiah, Beyoncé's self-titled album (2013), Run the Jewels' Run the Jewels 2 (2014), and Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp a Butterfly (2015) were noted as laying the groundwork down for the politically charged releases that happened in 2016, which included Rihanna's Anti, Kanye West's The Life of Pablo, and Beyonce's "Formation".

In June 2015, D'Angelo confirmed to Rolling Stone that he was working on more material for a new album, calling it "a companion piece" to Black Messiah. D'Angelo performed Prince's "Sometimes it Snows in April" on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in April 2016 accompanied by Maya Rudolph and Gretchen Lieberum as a tribute to the musician, appearing 'overcome with emotion' at the passing of a major influence. D'Angelo contributed to the soundtrack for the 2018 video game Red Dead Redemption 2. He sang on the song "Unshaken" which was produced by Daniel Lanois. He had previously served as a playtester for the game itself due to his love for the series. The game's music team eventually invited him to perform on a song, which was finished in a week. "Unshaken" was later released as a digital single on January 4, 2019.

2021–present: Verzuz
On February 14, 2021, D'Angelo appeared on Instagram Live to announce that he would be performing at the Apollo Theater on February 27, 2021, in cooperation with the American webcast Verzuz. The event was billed as D'Angelo VS Friends and featured no opponents; instead, D'Angelo performed a solo set with shared performances with his peers and collaborators, Keyon Harrold, Method Man & Redman, and H.E.R..

On June 10, 2021, D'Angelo performed at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival in New York City for "The Songs of Red Dead Redemption 2". He performed his 2019 single "Unshaken", which was his contribution to the game's soundtrack. D'Angelo performed as a guitarist and the lead vocalist, with soundtrack producer Daniel Lanois, singer Rhiannon Giddens, and members of his band "D'Angelo and The Vanguard", including guitarist Jesse Johnson and vocalists Jermaine Holmes and Charles Middleton by his side.

In 2024, he featured alongside Jay-Z on the song "I Want You Forever" from the soundtrack to the film The Book of Clarence.

Artistry and influences
In a 1995 interview, he discussed the influence that musician Prince had on his approach to recording his debut album, stating "I was one of those guys who read the album credits and I realized that Prince was a true artist. He wrote, produced, and performed, and that's the way I wanted to do it." According to D'Angelo, the hip hop influence present on the album "came from the Native Tongues movement – Tribe Called Quest, Gangstarr and Main Source." In a February 1999 interview with music journalist Touré, D'Angelo discussed his original inspirations to produce music, stating "The sound and feel of my music are going to be affected by what motivates me to do it". On his visit to South Carolina, D'Angelo stated that he "went through this tunnel, through gospel, blues, and a lot of old soul, old James Brown, early, early Sly and the Family Stone, and a lot of Jimi Hendrix", and "I learned a lot about music, myself, and where I want to go musically". In the same interview, he cited the deaths of rappers Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G. as having a great effect on him during the period. During the production of his second studio album D'Angelo recorded numerous hours of unreleased, original material, as well as covers of his influencers' material. Collectively referred to by D'Angelo as "yoda", these influencers included soul artist Al Green, funk artist George Clinton, and Afrobeat artist Fela Kuti.

In 2023, Rolling Stone ranked D'Angelo at number 75 on its list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time.

Personal life
In the 1990s, D'Angelo dated soul singer Angie Stone. She was his muse for his Brown Sugar album and he helped her produce her debut album Black Diamond, released in 1999. Angie Stone and D'Angelo have a son together, born in 1997. D'Angelo also has two other children: a daughter, born in 1999; and a son, born in 2010.

Discography

 * Studio albums
 * Brown Sugar (1995)
 * Voodoo (2000)
 * Black Messiah (with The Vanguard) (2014)

Tours

 * Brown Sugar Tour (1996)
 * The Voodoo World Tour (2000)
 * Occupy Music Tour (2012)
 * The Liberation Tour (2012)
 * The Second Coming Tour (2015)

Blockbuster Entertainment Awards
!Ref.
 * 2001
 * Himself
 * Favorite Male Artist - R&B
 * Nominated
 * Nominated

Grammy Awards

 * rowspan="3"| 1996
 * Brown Sugar
 * Best R&B Album
 * Nominated
 * rowspan="2"| "Brown Sugar"
 * Best R&B Song
 * Nominated
 * rowspan="2"|Best Male R&B Vocal Performance
 * Nominated
 * 1997
 * "Lady"
 * Nominated
 * 1999
 * "Nothing Even Matters" (with Lauryn Hill)
 * Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal
 * Nominated
 * rowspan="3"| 2001
 * Voodoo
 * Best R&B Album
 * Won
 * rowspan="2"| "Untitled (How Does It Feel)"
 * Best Male R&B Vocal Performance
 * Won
 * rowspan="2"| Best R&B Song
 * Nominated
 * rowspan="2"|2003
 * rowspan="2"| "Be Here" (with Raphael Saadiq)
 * Nominated
 * Best Urban/Alternative Performance
 * Nominated
 * 2004
 * "I'll Stay" (with Roy Hargrove)
 * Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals
 * Nominated
 * rowspan="3"| 2016
 * Black Messiah
 * Best R&B Album
 * Won
 * rowspan="2"| "Really Love"
 * Record of the Year
 * Nominated
 * Best R&B Song
 * Won
 * }
 * Nominated
 * rowspan="3"| 2016
 * Black Messiah
 * Best R&B Album
 * Won
 * rowspan="2"| "Really Love"
 * Record of the Year
 * Nominated
 * Best R&B Song
 * Won
 * }
 * Best R&B Song
 * Won
 * }

MTV Europe Music Awards
!Ref.
 * 1996
 * "Lady"
 * MTV Amour
 * Nominated
 * Nominated

Pollstar Concert Industry Awards
!Ref.
 * 1996
 * Himself
 * Best New Rap/Dance Artist Tour
 * Nominated
 * Nominated

Rober Awards Music Prize
!Ref.
 * rowspan=2|2012
 * Voodoo
 * Best Reissue
 * Nominated
 * rowspan=2|
 * rowspan=5|Himself
 * rowspan=2|Best Live Artist
 * Nominated
 * rowspan=5|2015
 * Nominated
 * rowspan=5|
 * Best Group or Duo
 * Nominated
 * Comeback of the Year
 * Nominated
 * Best R&B
 * Won
 * Black Messiah
 * Album of the Year
 * Nominated
 * Best R&B
 * Won
 * Black Messiah
 * Album of the Year
 * Nominated
 * Album of the Year
 * Nominated

title: D'Angelo