Angie Stone was a singer and songwriter who had R&B hits like “Wish I Didn’t Miss You” and “No More Rain (In This Cloud).”
- Died: March 1, 2025 (Who else died on March 1?)
- Details of death: Died of injuries sustained in a car accident in Alabama at the age of 63.
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Angie Stone’s legacy
Though she became best known for her soul music of the 2000s and 2010s, Stone got her start as a rapper. She co-founded the early hip-hop group The Sequence as a teen alongside Cheryl Cook and Gwendolyn Chisholm in her hometown of Columbia, South Carolina. The trio got a big break when they went to see The Sugarhill Gang – the pioneering hip-hop group that helped launch Sugar Hill Records – and approached Sugar Hill founder Sylvia Robinson (1935–2011) backstage. When they rapped and sang for her and the band, they were impressive enough that Robinson signed them as Sugar Hill’s second act. The Sequence released three albums and had a handful of singles, including the enduring favorite “Funk You Up.”
After The Sequence disbanded in 1985, Stone focused on singing as she joined the R&B trio Vertical Hold. She was the group’s lead singer, and they released tracks like “Seems You’re Much Too Busy,” but Stone had her sights set on further success. She began writing music for other artists, including D’Angelo, with whom she was in a long-term relationship and had a son. She also wrote songs for Mary J. Blige and toured and recorded with Lenny Kravitz before releasing her debut solo album.
That LP, “Black Diamond,” dropped in 1999 to critical acclaim. It included the single “No More Rain (In This Cloud),” which topped the Adult R&B chart and was a success on R&B radio. The hit also won a Soul Train Lady of Soul Award for Best R&B/Soul Single, Solo, and Stone won another award from the organization as Best R&B/Soul or Rap New Artist, Solo.
Stone followed “Black Diamond” with “Mahogany Soul,” the 2001 album that she later said was her defining musical achievement. She was a primary songwriter on the LP, included on many best-of-the-year lists, and its topics came from her heart. Stone played bass and keyboards, as well as sing.
“Mahogany Soul” yielded the hit “Wish I Didn’t Miss You,” an R&B chart success, as well as “Brotha” and “Bottles & Cans.” Another hit was “More Than a Woman,” her duet with Joe, which brought Stone her first Grammy Award nomination. She was nominated again in 2004 for “U-Haul,” from her album “Stone Love.” A third Grammy nomination came in 2008 for “Baby,” a duet with Betty Wright (1953–2020).
As her solo career was on the rise, Stone also began an acting career, first appearing in a 2000 episode of “Moesha.” She appeared on Broadway in 2003, playing Big Mama Morton in “Chicago,” and she had roles in such movies as “The Hot Chick,” “The Fighting Temptations,” and “Ride Along.” Her other TV spots included episodes of “One on One” and “Lincoln Heights,” as well as “Girlfriends,” for which she sang the theme song.
Notable quote
“One of the things I love about music of yesterday, when I say yesterday I mean years ago, is that when they wrote songs – they wrote songs with substance. … I would love to see music take a very real turn back from a lyrical standpoint and talk about things that people deal with on a day-to-day basis. I think a lot of the buffoonery and short-lived songs are not timeless. I would like to see more timeless music come about again.” —from a 2013 interview for iRock Jazz
Tributes to Angie Stone
Full obituary: Los Angeles Times
