Grammy-nominated R&B singer Angie Stone, a member of the pioneering all-female hip-hop trio The Sequence and best known for the hit Wish I Didn’t Miss You, tragically died in a car crash early on Saturday. She was 63.
Around 4 a.m., the vehicle she was travelling in flipped over while returning to Atlanta from Alabama and was subsequently struck by a lorry, according to her longtime manager and music producer Walter Millsap III. He confirmed the news in an email to The Associated Press.
Stone was the only fatality in the crash, while all other passengers in the van survived, Millsap said.
The Alabama Highway Patrol reported that the 2021 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van overturned on Interstate 65 at approximately 4:25 a.m. before being hit by a 2021 Freightliner Cascadia lorry driven by a 33-year-old Texas man.
Stone was pronounced dead at the scene. The crash occurred about eight kilometres south of Montgomery’s city limits.
The van’s driver and seven other passengers were taken to Baptist Medical Center for treatment. Authorities are still investigating the cause of the accident.
Millsap said he was informed of the devastating news by Stone’s daughter, Diamond, and her longtime The Sequence bandmate, Blondy.
“We never imagined we would receive such heartbreaking news,” Stone’s children, Diamond and Michael Archer, said in a statement via the SRG Group. “We are still trying to process this and are completely shattered.”
Millsap added, “We are truly devastated by this unexpected tragedy, and words cannot express our grief.”
Stone had been scheduled to perform at the halftime show of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) men’s championship basketball game on Saturday. CIAA Chaplain Pastor Jerome Barber led a moment of silence in her honour.
CIAA Commissioner Jacqie McWilliams-Parker expressed sorrow over her passing, stating, “She used her incredible talent, passion, and presence to inspire us and give us strength and hope.”
The singer-songwriter was behind several R&B classics, including No More Rain (In This Cloud), which topped Billboard’s Adult R&B Airplay chart for ten weeks, Baby with soul legend Betty Wright, and Wish I Didn’t Miss You and Brotha.
Stone found her niche in the early 2000s when neo-soul flourished, alongside artists like Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, Maxwell, and D’Angelo.
Her 2001 album Mahogany Soul peaked at No. 22 on the Billboard 200, while 2007’s The Art of Love & War reached No. 11.
Born in Columbia, South Carolina, Stone grew up singing in church. She co-founded The Sequence, the first all-female group signed to the influential hip-hop label Sugar Hill Records, becoming one of the genre’s pioneering female acts.
The group recorded Funk You Up, a track that has been widely sampled by artists, including Dr. Dre.
After early success in the 1980s, Stone later joined the R&B trio Vertical Hold before embarking on a successful solo career.
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