D'Angelo's heartbroken son Michael Archer II breaks his silence

D'Angelo's devastated son has paid tribute to his father following the musician's death to pancreatic cancer at the age of 51. 

The R&B icon and neo-soul pioneer passed away after "a prolonged and courageous battle" with the disease, his family told US media Tuesday. 

Son Michael Archer II, 27, has since thanked fans and followers for their social media tributes to his father, whose death comes just seven months after Archer's mother Angie Stone was killed in a car accident. 

'I am grateful for your thoughts and prayers during these very difficult times, as it has been a very rough and sad year for me,' he said in a statement released to PEOPLE. 

'I ask that you please continue to keep me in your thoughts as it will not be easy, but one thing that both my parents taught me was to be strong, and I intend to do just that.' 

D'Angelo melded genres and opened doors as he stretched the boundaries of Black pop traditions while producing sensuous hits including Brown Sugar and the Untitled (How Does It Feel).

His risque, shirtless music video for the latter track catapulted the artist to superstardom, though he struggled with the weight of his newfound pop culture fame.

'The shining star of our family has dimmed his light for us in this life,' his family said in a widely reported statement on Tuesday evening.  

'After a prolonged and courageous battle with cancer, we are heartbroken to announce that Michael D'Angelo Archer, known to his fans around the world as D'Angelo, has been called home.'

Known as a creative perfectionist with a silky voice who could play piano and guitar, D'Angelo released three albums with RCA Records: his 1995 debut Brown Sugar, Voodoo in 2000 and Black Messiah in 2014.

The record label said in a statement Tuesday D'Angelo "was a peerless visionary who effortlessly blended the classic sounds of soul, funk, gospel, R&B and jazz with a hip hop sensibility."

D'Angelo's former partner and Parker's mother Angie Stone, a hugely successful singer in her own right,  died tragically in a car accident at age 63 in March. 

D’Angelo also has two other children: a daughter, born in 1999, and a son, born in 2010.

The former couple dated in the 1990s for four years, starting when she was 30 and he was just 19.

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Inside D'Angelo and Angie Stone's age-gap romance... before tragedy left son grieving both parents

They also collaborated musically: Stone co-wrote and co-produced D’Angelo’s 1995 debut, Brown Sugar, which earned a Grammy nomination for Best R&B Album.

But despite their success, the relationship drew criticism over the age gap.

Stone later addressed the public scrutiny in an interview with Essence, explaining the difference in their ages.

'I think because D’Angelo was my first relationship, people think that I only date young men. Because I look younger, these guys don’t know my age when they get involved with me and I don’t really know theirs, but I act on spirit,' she said at the time.

'The younger guys that I’ve dated have been mature. My man now is older than most of the guys I’ve dated, but still younger than me.’

She added, 'The criticism that D’Angelo and I received about our relationship only began once he became successful.'

'What people didn’t realize was that before he became successful there was Angie Stone from the group Vertical Hold - a strong beautiful sister who dated somebody who had not even crossed the threshold of the industry yet,' she continued.

'When I was dating him he wore glasses, had short hair and his pants were hanging down to his butt. He was just a 19-year-old kid with big shorts and nobody cared and no one saw his beauty but me.

'And I told him, ‘You are beautiful. I promise you when your record drops your lips are gonna become famous, your eyes - everything will become famous.’