The music and leisure world reacted in shock and sorrow after the tragic dying of Angie Stone, the pioneering singer-songwriter and hip-hop trailblazer who was killed in a automotive accident early Saturday morning in Montgomery, Alabama. She was 63.
Stone’s publicist, Deborah R. Champagne, confirmed the devastating information, stating that her household is heartbroken. “Quite a lot of her family members had simply spoken to her final evening,” Champagne advised TMZ.
Born Angela Brown, Stone first rose to prominence as a member of The Sequence, hip-hop’s first all-female rap group. Their 1979 hit Funk You Up grew to become one of many earliest rap information to interrupt into the mainstream, later sampled in Bruno Mars’ “Uptown Funk” and Dr. Dre’s “Hold Their Heads Ringin’.” After her years with The Sequence, Stone launched a solo profession within the late Nineteen Nineties, incomes Grammy nominations and releasing celebrated R&B hits like “Brotha,” “No Extra Rain” and “Want I Didn’t Miss You.”
Stone’s profession spanned many years, seamlessly mixing hip-hop, soul, and R&B. Her debut solo album, “Black Diamond,” achieved gold standing. She earned a number of Grammy nominations, together with Finest Feminine R&B Vocal Efficiency for U-Haul and Finest R&B Efficiency by a Duo or Group with Joe for “Extra Than a Girl” and with Betty Wright for “Child.”
A number of of Stone’s friends provided tributes following the devastating information.
Chuck D, the legendary Public Enemy frontman and Rock & Roll Corridor of Fame inductee, known as Stone a foundational determine.
“Angie Stone [was] a robust pioneer every time I considered her,” he advised the Black Press. “A basis of recent soul and hip-hop and ladies empowerment that she’s nonetheless uncredited for. A horrible loss.”
Rocky Bucano, govt director of the Hip Hop Museum, described Stone as a groundbreaking pressure.
“As a member of The Sequence, Angie B helped pave the best way for generations of girls in hip-hop,” Bucano mentioned in an electronic mail to the Black Press. “Her affect on hip-hop tradition is immeasurable, and her presence can be deeply missed. Relaxation in energy, Angie Stone. Your voice and affect won’t ever fade.”
DJ Ralph McDaniels additionally advised the Black Press that Stone’s artistry primarily was unmatched.
“Peaceable journey to our sister Angie Stone,” he mentioned. “Her voice was distinctive and direct from hip-hop’s feminine group Sequence to her solo soul songs.”
Dr. Mario Dickens of Mario Dickens Ministries additionally provided condolences.
“We’re saddened to listen to of the passing of one in all this period’s biggest memorable voices,” he mentioned. “We pray for her family members and followers,” mentioned Dickens, who prolonged his firm’s memorial printing providers to Stone’s household for free of charge.
Stone was scheduled to carry out later that day on the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Affiliation (CIAA) match in Baltimore.
CIAA Commissioner Jacqie McWilliams-Parker issued the next assertion:
“We’re heartbroken by the tragic and sudden passing of Angie Stone, an award-winning singer, a member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., a neighborhood activist, position mannequin, and mom whose soulful artistry and spirit made an indelible mark on her neighborhood, our nation, and the world. She used her unbelievable expertise, ardour, and presence to encourage and contact us with power and hope. On behalf of the CIAA household, we lengthen our deepest condolences and stand in help of all these mourning this great loss.”
