After serving as the face (and muscular torso) of New Soul earlier this decade, D'Angelo has kept to Axl Rose-like levels of anonymity and secrecy, especially after a 2005 drug bust. D'Angelo's new album, tentatively titled James River, has also become sort of like Chinese Democracy, in that its release date has been liquid, and singles have been released periodically since D'Angelo's 2000 album, Voodoo.

 

On January 20, 2009, D'Angelo broke his silence to celebrate Barack Obama's inauguration, and to announce James River would be out in the summer of 2009 and he'd be touring in the spring. As Guns N' Roses fans can surely tell you, this is subject to change (and likely will), but at least D'Angelo is in a phase where he's still teasing us with the new album's release date, not just vaguely working on it.