Angie Stone, Grammy-nominated R&B singer, dies in car crash

Yahoo

02-03-2025

The Brief
Grammy-nominated R&B singer Angie Stone, member of The Sequence, was killed in a car crash Saturday at 63.
According to Stone's longtime manager, Walter Millsap III, at around 4 a.m. Saturday morning, the vehicle she was riding in back to Atlanta from Alabama "flipped over and was subsequently hit by a big rig," he told The Associated Press.
Stone was scheduled to perform at the halftime show at the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association men's Championship basketball game on Saturday.
Grammy-nominated R&B singer Angie Stone, known for "Wish I Didn't Miss You" and a member of The Sequence, was killed in a car crash Saturday at 63.
According to Stone's longtime manager, Walter Millsap III, at around 4 a.m. Saturday morning, the vehicle she was riding in back to Atlanta from Alabama "flipped over and was subsequently hit by a big rig," he told The Associated Press.
Millsap said everyone else in the cargo van survived except Stone.
Millsap said: "We are truly devastated by this unexpected and unfortunate tragedy and there are simply no words to express how we feel."
Stone was scheduled to perform at the halftime show at the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association men's Championship basketball game on Saturday.
CIAA Chaplain Pastor Jerome Barber called for a moment of silence at the game. "She used her incredible talent, passion, and presence to inspire and touch us with strength and hope," Parker said.
Apparently, the 2021 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van turned over on Interstate 65 about 4:25 a.m. Saturday before being hit by a 2021 Freightliner Cascadia truck driven by a 33-year-old man from Texas, according to the Alabama Highway Patrol.
Angie Stone was pronounced dead at the scene, the highway patrol said.
The crash was about 5 miles (8 kilometers) south of the Montgomery city limits.
The singer-songwriter made hits like "No More Rain (In This Cloud)" which reached No. 1 for 10 weeks on Billboard's Adult R&B airplay chart, "Baby" with legendary soul singer Betty Wright, another No. 1 hit, and "Wish I Didn't Miss You" and "Brotha."
Stone was known for her unique sound in the early 2000s as neo-soul began to dominate the R&B landscape with singers like Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, Maxwell and D'Angelo.
Her 2001 album "Mahagony Soul" reached No. 22 on the Billboard 200, while 2007's "The Art Of Love & War" peaked at No. 11.
Stone grew up in the church in Columbia, South Carolina, where she helped form the singing group, The Sequence.
They were one of the first female groups to record a rap songs like "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 going solo.
″I'm an only child, so my dad and my mom are my life, and when I was I kid I'd look up to my dad,″ she told the AP. ″He was very influential in what I wanted to do."
Stone was hospitalized for congestive heart failure, before turning her life around, losing over 40 pounds and eating healthier, according to the AP. At the time, she was just grateful to be alive and making music.
In 2007, she told the AP: "Now, I feel like I'm heading toward a happy ending. I've been in the business since 1979. I've struggled, but now I can truly say I've made it."
A Soul Train Lady of Soul award winner, Stone also acted in movies like "The Hot Chick," "The Fighting Temptations," and "Ride Along." She performed on Broadway as Big Mama Morton in "Chicago" and shared her personal side on reality shows like "Celebrity Fit Club" and "R&B Divas: Atlanta."