Photo credit: pitchfork.com
Renowned neo-soul and R&B artist Angie Stone passed away on Sunday, March 1, at the age of 63, following a car accident after her performance in Alabama. Her representative confirmed the news via email, stating she was in a hospital at the time of her death.
Born Angela Laverne Stone in 1961 in Columbia, South Carolina, her musical journey began at an early age. Growing up in a household where her father was part of a gospel quartet, she developed a deep appreciation for music. Her involvement in choir throughout her school years and her budding talent for poetry eventually evolved into songwriting. It was during her high school days that she, along with childhood friends Gwendolyn Chisolm and Cheryl Cook, formed the hip-hop group the Sequence. They made history by becoming the first all-female hip-hop group to release a successful charting single, “Funk You Up,” in 1979, which was later sampled by prominent artists such as Dr. Dre and En Vogue.
After three albums, Stone departed from the Sequence in 1984 due to contractual disputes with Sugar Hill Records. Following the birth of her daughter, she transitioned to supporting roles in the music industry, including a notable collaboration with Lenny Kravitz as a touring saxophonist. In 1990, she signed with MCA Universal as a songwriter and co-founded the R&B trio Vertical Hold with musicians Willie Bruno and David Bright. They released two albums, A Matter of Time in 1993 and Head First in 1995, before disbanding.
Stone experienced a resurgence in her career in the late 1990s when an A&R executive at Arista Records discovered her early demos, leading to her signing a contract for a solo debut. She released the critically acclaimed and gold-selling album, Black Diamond, in 1999. The album featured memorable singles like “No More Rain (In This Cloud)” and “Everyday,” which helped shape the neo-soul genre of that period. Stone would go on to release a total of 10 studio albums, receiving three Grammy nominations throughout her career. She also contributed her songwriting talents to tracks for renowned artists including D’Angelo, Erykah Badu, and Raphael Saadiq. In 2000, she penned the theme song for the sitcom Girlfriends, in which she made a cameo appearance, and appeared in several films during the 2000s, including The Fighting Temptations and The Hot Chick. Her latest work was the 2023 album Love Language.
Source
pitchfork.com