ANGIE STONE (1961 - 2025)

Angie Stone, the neo-soul singer who expertly merged old school r&b with modern sounds,  has tragically passed away on March 1st. She had been traveling from Alabama to her next concert in Atlanta when becoming involved in a car accident. Stone was sixty-three.

Born Angela Brown in South Carolina, she found her love of music in the church, singing gospel as part of the choir. As a teenager, Brown joined an all-female hip-hop trio, The Sequence with Cheryl Cook and Gwendolyn Chisolm. Signed to Sugar Hill Records, they had a hit with their 1980 single "Funk You Up", reaching number fifteen on the US Billboard Black Singles chart. During this time, she married Rodney Stone, a musician from the hip-hop group, Funky Four Plus One. The Sequence continued to achieve modest success before disbanding five years later.

Stone would join other bands; an electro-funk group, Mantronix, the lead vocalist of the r&b trio, Vertical Hold and soul group, Devox. She began songwriting, working on D'Angelo's first two albums and going on tour with him as well as performing on Lenny Kravitz's "5" album in 1998. This helped lead Stone to the attention of Clive Davis and she was signed to his label, J Records. 

Her solo debut, "Black Diamond" was released in 1999, a collection of hip-hip infused soul that was warmly received and critically acclaimed. Stone would record two more albums for the label before joining a revived Stax Records in 2007. She released her last album, "Love Language" two years ago that featured her version of classic Southern R&B and Philly soul.

Stone was a powerful vocalist who kept the spirit of soul music alive and well. Yet she was also a vital and gifted artist who was not fully recognized for her brilliant contributions to contemporary hip-hop soul.