Grammy Award nominated Columbia native killed in crash, officials say
Columbia native Angie Stone, a Grammy Award nominated neo-soul musical star, was killed Saturday in a crash, officials said.
The 63-year-old Stone's death was confirmed by music producer Walter Millsap III, who told The Associated Press that Stone had been traveling in a van to Atlanta after a concert when it 'flipped over and was subsequently hit by a big rig.'
'The Alabama Highway Patrol said in a news release that 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 AP.
Stone died at the scene, which was about 5 miles south of Montgomery.
Millsap told The AP that the eight other people who were in the van survived. Further information on their conditions was not available.
'My heart breaks for Angie Stone and her family,' former South Carolina state representative and CNN commentator Bakari Sellers said on social media. 'May she rest in power. She meant so much to this community and is a true icon.'
Stone was scheduled to perform at the halftime show of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association men's championship basketball game Saturday in Baltimore, officials with the association said in a statement.
'We are heartbroken by the tragic and sudden passing of Angie Stone, an award-winning singer, a member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., a community activist, role model, and mother whose soulful artistry and spirit made an indelible mark on her community, our nation, and the world,' CIAA Commissioner Jacqie McWilliams-Parker said in the statement.
Stone's journey began as Angela Laverne Brown when she was born in 1961 in Columbia, where she grew up and went from singing in church to forming the early hip-hop trio the Sequence, the Los Angeles Times reported.
She was a member of the congregation at First Nazareth Baptist Church and her alma mater was C.A. Johnson High School, where she received an honor in 2015.
Stone later moved to New York where she signed a recording contract with Sugar Hill Records and the Sequence, one of rap's first female groups, had a hit with 1979's 'Funk You Up,' which Dr. Dre later sampled for his 'Keep Their Heads Ringin,' ' according to the Los Angeles Times.
'I was self-taught. I was hungry, I was thirsty, I was ambitious,' Stone said during a 2020 interview on 'The Breakfast Club.'
Stone later joined another musical trio, Vertical Hold, before launching her solo career, the AP reported.
Around that same time, she also wrote songs for and performed with Lenny Kravitz, Mary J. Blige and D'Angelo, the latter who she had a romantic relationship with and they had a son in 1998, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Stone is survived by her two children, daughter Diamond and son Michael D'Angelo Archer II, US Weekly reported.
During Stone's career as a solo artist she had hits with singles 'No More Rain,' 'Wish I Didn't Miss You,' 'More Than a Woman,' and 'U-Haul,'among other songs. The latter two were both nominated for Grammy Awards.
She had gold records with her 1999 debut album 'Black Diamond' and the 2001 follow up 'Mahogany Soul,' which have combined for more than a million sales, according to bestsellingalbums.org.
'My music is as close to real soul music as you're going to get. Everything else is watered down,' Stone told The State in 2015.
Stone was also a prolific actress, appearing in a combined 40 movies and TV shows, according to IMDB.
'Angie Stone's voice and spirit will live on forever in the hearts of those she touched,' her publicist Yvonne Forbes told CNN.
'I've been in the game for 50 years. My first solo album is 25 years old. I've put in a lot of work over the years,' Stone said in a Jan. 13 Instagram post. 'God gave me this gift and I have shared it with the world.'
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