Grammy-nominated R&B singer Angie Stone dies in car crash
The 63-year-old singer-songwriter found a sweet spot in the early 2000s as neo-soul began to dominate the R&B landscape.
Grammy-nominated R&B singer Angie Stone, a member of the all-female hip-hop trio The Sequence and known for the hit song Wish I Didn’t Miss You, has died in a car crash.
At about 4am local time, the vehicle she was travelling in back to Atlanta from Alabama “flipped over and was subsequently hit by a big rig”, music producer Walter Millsap III told The Associated Press.
Everyone else in the cargo van survived except Stone, he said.
Mr Millsap said he learned the news from Stone’s daughter, Diamond, and longtime The Sequence member Blondy.
Stone was scheduled to perform at the half-time show of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) men’s championship basketball game on Saturday.
CIAA chaplain Pastor Jerome Barber called for a moment of silence at the game.
CIAA commissioner Jacqie McWilliams-Parker said they were heartbroken by the loss.
“She used her incredible talent, passion, and presence to inspire and touch us with strength and hope,” Ms Parker said.
The 63-year-old singer-songwriter created hits such as No More Rain (In This Cloud) which reached number one for 10 weeks on Billboard’s Adult R&B airplay chart, Baby with soul singer Betty Wright, another number one hit, and Wish I Didn’t Miss You and Brotha.
She found a sweet spot in the early 2000s as neo-soul began to dominate the R&B landscape with the emergence of singers such as Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, Maxwell and D’Angelo.
Her 2001 album Mahogany Soul reached number 22 on the Billboard 200, while 2007’s The Art Of Love & War peaked at number 11.
The church-grown singer was born in Columbia, South Carolina.
She helped form The Sequence, the first all-female group on the hip-hop trailblazing imprint Sugar Hill Records, becoming one of the first female groups to record a rap song.
The group recorded Funk You Up, which has been sampled by numerous artists, including Dr Dre.
After finding success in the early 1980s, Stone later joined the trio Vertical Hold before launching her solo career.
A Soul Train Lady of Soul winner, Stone went on to showcase her acting chops with film roles in The Hot Chick starring Rob Schneider, The Fighting Temptations which starred Cuba Gooding Jr and Beyonce, and Ride Along led by Ice Cube and Kevin Hart.
She also hit the Broadway stage as Big Mama Morton in Chicago, and she showcased her vulnerability on the reality TV shows Celebrity Fit Club and R&B Divas: Atlanta.
