After having success as a member of the Sequence, an early female rap group, she re-emerged in the 1990s as a practitioner of sultry, laid-back R&B.
By Danny R. Johnson – Jazz and Pop Music Critic
Angie Stone, a hip-hop pioneer with The Sequence and later an R&B star known for hits like “No More Rain (In This Cloud)” and “Wish I Didn’t Miss You,” died on Saturday in Montgomery, Ala. She was 63. Her agent, Deborah Champagne, reported she passed away after a car crash following a performance.
The night before her death, Stone had a Mardi Gras performance at the 2025 Grand Marshal’s Ball in Mobile. Stone performed at a Mardi Gras event in Alabama on Friday, February 28. The singer and her crew had left the performance in Montgomery early Saturday morning when their vehicle “flipped over and was subsequently hit by a big rig,” Stone’s longtime manager, Walter Millsap III, told The Associated Press.
“It is with deepest sympathy that we express our condolences to the Stone family during this difficult time,” wrote Isadore B. Sims, president of the Mobile Area Mardi Gras Association, in a social media post-Saturday. “We were truly saddened to hear of Angie’s passing and our hearts go out to you all.”
Sims praised Stone’s final performance Friday.
“Her talent captivated everyone in attendance, and her presence truly elevated the event,” Sims said. “Never could we have imagined that it would be the last time we would have the honor of witnessing her perform.”
“We are deeply saddened by her passing,” stated her children, Diamond Stone and Michael Archer, via the SRG Group. “We never expected this horrible news and are completely heartbroken.”
“We are truly devastated by this unexpected and unfortunate tragedy,” Millsap added, “and there are simply no words to express how we feel.”
Stone was scheduled to perform at the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association Men’s Championship basketball game on Saturday afternoon in Baltimore. A moment of silence was held for her during the event.
Stone was part of the neo-soul movement with artists like Erykah Badu and Lauryn Hill. Her albums “Black Diamond” (1999) and “Mahogany Soul” (2001) were certified gold. Known for her sultry alto voice and songwriting, Stone’s work featured laid-back tempos and layered instrumentation. Billboard magazine praised her as a songwriter, producer, and singer set to become a Grande Dame of R&B. By the late 1990s, she was already an industry veteran and collaborator with top acts.
She first emerged in 1978 with Cheryl Cook and Gwendolyn Chisolm as the Sequence and the first female group signed to Sugar Hill Records. The trio, known for singles like “Funk You Up” and “Funky Sound (Tear the Roof Off),” influenced many artists.
Stone then worked for over a decade as a songwriter and backup singer for acts like Mary J. Blige, Lenny Kravitz, and D’Angelo. Despite her success, she found working behind the scenes frustrating. “I knew it wasn’t my talent… After a while, I started to feel used,” she told The Los Angeles Times in 2000.
The timing was a factor for Stone. In the early 1990s, she was part of two R&B acts, Vertical Hold, and Devox, but their sound wasn’t mainstream. It wasn’t until artists like Hill and Badu had hits that Stone gained recognition. “I think I was ahead of my time,” she told The Associated Press in 1999.
Born Angela Laverne Brown in Columbia, S.C., on Dec. 18, 1961, she began singing in church, where her father was in a gospel quartet. Her mother was a hospital technician.
1979 Stone and her friends auditioned for Sylvia Robinson of Sugar Hill Records backstage at a concert. Impressed, Robinson signed them. They moved to New York to record. Stone later married and divorced Rodney Stone, aka Lil’ Rodney C of Funky Four Plus One.
She is survived by her daughter from that marriage, Diamond Stone; a son from her relationship with D’Angelo, Michael D’Angelo Archer II; and two grandchildren.
Stone had Type 2 diabetes and openly discussed her weight loss journey. In 2006, she lost 18 pounds on “Celebrity Fit Club.” She acted in films like “The Hot Chick” (2002), “The Fighting Temptations” (2003), and “Ride Along” (2014). She played Mama Morton onstage in Broadway’s “Chicago” (2003). Stone also appeared in TV series such as “Girlfriends,” for which she sang the theme song. She recorded 10 studio albums, with “Love Language” (2023) being her latest, featuring the track “Old Thang Back” with her son Swayvo Twain.
